The Village Development Review Board last night gave its approval to Brenda Benoit-Blakeman for changes to an apartment contained in her building on Central Street which also houses her First Impressions Hair Salon.
However, after strong concerns expressed by closely abutting neighbors and a site visit by the Village Development Review Board, that group denied Benoit-Blakeman’s request to put in a wheelchair ramp that would have accessed a third entrance to her shop.
The ramp would have gone along an off-street, non-visible-to-the- public portion of her building and followed along a path from the Pleasant Street side of the property. The narrow opening coming from a parking area is shown in the photo. A wheelchair would have fit through the space but it would have been tight.
This morning Benoit-Blakeman did not seem too surprised at the Village DRB’s decision but admitted that, “Yes, I’m disappointed.” She says with renewed concerns by businesses in Woodstock coming into compliance with federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards she had wanted to offer ramp access to her wheelchair-using clients.
However, Benoit-Blakeman, who said she is not interested in changing the historic character of the front of her brick building with a ramp, shrugged as she worked on a client’s hair, “There’s got to be a Plan B. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll try something else.” She said she also has new questions as a result of the process concerning details of business/residence permitting.
For the moment, Benoit-Blakeman says she’ll work with her builder to make changes to the apartment and go from there.
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 