Sharon Springs Inc’s plans to turn the Imperial Baths’ Inhalation Building into a 10-room hotel with both indoor and outdoor spas, got a long, long awaited thumbs-up Monday from the Schoharie County Planning Commission.
In September, the CPC had ruled SSI’s application was incomplete because it was missing a variance from Sharon’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
In October, the ZBA granted the variance, addressing concerns that the $1 million project is in a flood plain, bringing it back to the CPC.
SSI has said it needs the income it expects the Inhalation Baths project to generate so it can move ahead on the long-stalled work at the Imperial Baths.
A CPC decision nearly stalled again Monday after mailed-out maps and documents failed to arrive, but members agreed to give SSI architect Clemens McGiver and attorney Joanne Crum the floor despite the missed deadline.
While the lower floor of the Inhalation Building is in the flood plain, no one will be sleeping there, Ms. Crum said; the hotel will be on the upper floor, while the spa will be on the bottom.
“There’s not too much difference between what we saw in September and what we’re seeing tonight,” said CPC member Jim Buzon after they heard about some relatively minor changes in plans on a Main Street crosswalk, parking, lighting, and the flood plan.
“I think they’ve addressed it all.”
And with that, it was done; CPC members voted unanimously to approve SSI’s site plan.
It was July 2022 that SSI reps first presented plans for the scaled-down Inhalation Building Project; in February, they agreed to work with consultant Lamont Engineers to address some of the Sharon Joint Planning Board’s concerns.
SSI’s Kyu Sung Cho said once they had the final approval, he expected to open the small spa in 12-18 months.
The Chos have already spent an estimated $5 million on the Imperial Baths, they estimated.