Sam Raudins reports for Columbia-Greene Media that a zoning amendment proposed that would allow a few eating and drinking establishments in a residential part of Hudson may not be needed. On Sept. 8 the Hudson Common Council’s Legal Committee found that a 2018 Hudson law could be applied to the area west of Third Street where officials want to allow restaurants. But this current law only allows for buildings used for commercial purposes to petition the planning board to use a space for “eating and drinking places.” “We can take that language and probably make some changes to it ... and have it apply in the R4 also,” Hudson city attorney Jeff Baker said. Common Council President Thomas DePietro said the city with a housing crisis doesn’t want to lose residential spaces. In August, First Ward Alderperson Jane Trombley said having establishments in a residential zone would be a “degradation,” but was now happy that this older law would not allow existing residences to be converted. The Common Council's next formal meeting is Sept. 21, and wgxc.org has a live webstream. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.