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Cold Spring Community Prepares for New Master Plan
Resolution to push plan forward sits with Village Board of Trustees
by Allison Dunne
Volunteers from the Cold Spring Master Plan Coordinating Group hosted a Public Forum with the Village Board of Trustees on September 25, 2006 to inform, take questions, and garner more interest from Cold Spring residents in serving on various sub-sets of the Group. The forum was the latest result of a motion passed in July by the Village Board that allowed the Group to meet monthly to hold discussions regarding an update of the Village's Master Plan. After holding public organizational meetings in August, the public forum in September was the Group's first meeting that included speakers and intended to reach out further to the Village community at large.
Village of Cold Spring Mayor Anthony Phillips told the standing-room only crowd at the Village Hall of his concerns about formulating a new master plan given that some master, or comprehensive plans in other towns and villages have recently been turned down by New York State officials because the plans are deemed incomplete, or too restrictive, with some having been challenged by developers. He cited the Town of Montgomery's master plan as one example.
Cold Spring Architect and Chair of the Coordinating Group for the Village's Master Plan Z.I. Sanchez pointed out that the group is examining Cold Spring's 1987 Master Plan, with plans to retain applicable portions and update the rest, considering new State and planning guidelines. In addition, she said it is important for Master Plan Committee members to think about how they envision Cold Spring developmentally both now, and five years from now.
Sanchez also mentioned that the Village has already received a Greenway grant to update the master plan, and is awaiting word about additional funding from the Department of State.
Invited speaker Jeff Anzevino, an advocacy planner for riverfront communities with Poughkeepsie-based Scenic Hudson, told community members about what he has seen that has worked and what has not in other locales. He said the key is in the zoning amendments that are passed after a comprehensive plan has been approved. He also said passing local laws is what achieves results, laws that are consistent with the master plan. He reminded community members that the master plan is neither a legal document, nor a wish list. He said the plan is a reflection of a community's goals, intended to set forth actions to achieve those goals.
Anzevino warned that the process of putting together a master plan can divide the community, and he advised residents to be inclusive of dissenting views. He said public participation at all phases is important, as too often a plan is nearly complete, and then others start hearing about it and come out at the last minute to oppose the parts they consider onerous.
He also cautioned against being too restrictive in crafting the plan, and he encouraged using the media often to promote the plan.
Master plans for Albany County's Town of Bethlehem; Dutchess County's Hyde Park; Ulster County's Town of Lloyd (in which Anzevino lives); Dutchess County's Rhinebeck; and Orange County's Warwick are ones that Anzevino said he liked, in large part because they provide for strong environmental protection.
Another invited speaker was Sara Pasti, co-chair of the City of Beacon Comprehensive Plan Committee. Beacon's plan is still in the draft stages. Pasti shared her experiences, and said one of the best pieces of advice her committee received was to get lots of public input. To do this, Pasti said her committee held "community visioning workshops" for those who were not inclined to fill out mailed surveys. Pasti said the workshops were held at different times and places to ensure the greatest and most varied attendance. In retrospect, she said four workshops would have sufficed, and said given the size of Cold Spring, two such workshops would likely be enough for the village, should committee members decide to hold such workshops.
As for surveys, Pasti said 10 percent of her committee's surveys were returned; that's out of 15,000 residents, and it's a figure with which Pasti said she was pleased. By comparison, Anzevino noted that Rhinebeck had very good community participation for its survey, with 35 percent having responded. Pasti handed out the Beacon survey to show what a survey can include, such as what is important to residents in terms of commercial and residential development.
Anne Impellizzeri, who heads up the survey group for the Cold Spring Master Plan coordinating group, said one idea for the survey process is to involve Haldane Central School District statistics students in the process. She said she is trying to work out this possibility with Haldane High School Mathematics Teacher Todd Mensch.
Pasti also underscored the importance of a community vision statement for the master plan. In addition, for Beacon, she said, it has been helpful to bring in different consultants. Scenic Hudson's Anzevino noted that, finances depending, it is up to Cold Spring committee members to decide whether to undertake the Master Plan entirely on their own; hand it off to a consultant; or try a mix of doing the plan with the advice of a consultant along the way. He pointed out that with community creation of the plan comes a sense of ownership.
Beacon's Pasti said she thinks it is important to consider forging inter-municipal arrangements. For example, Pasti said Beacon community members are concerned about development in neighboring Fishkill, and the effects on Beacon. Some Cold Spring community members talked about how development in Beacon and Philipstown could affect the Village of Cold Spring. Philipstown adopted its own Master Plan in March 2006.
Prior to Anzevino and Pasti, and in addition to Impellizzeri, other heads of various Cold Spring Master Plan groups gave some updates. One was Liz Armstrong of the Data Mining group, who spoke about the need to inventory historic homes, as well as that which is considered important along the waterfront.
Donald McDonald, who is the chairman of the Village's Zoning Board of Appeals, is the lead for the mapping group. He said there are three basic categories in need of mapping: natural resources; physical characteristics; and community characteristics. He said Putnam County could produce the maps for free, but there is a long wait time. He said the Hudson Highlands Land Trust could produce the maps, but that would cost money. Another option, said McDonald, is for Cold Spring residents to volunteer to produce the maps with various computer programs.
As Sanchez pointed out, the Village of Cold Spring Board of Trustees is considering a resolution to get the Master Plan process underway, a timeframe deemed too long by a certain audience member, who continually asked when the go-ahead might occur. At the end of the forum to another of this resident's inquiries, Mayor Phillips exclaimed, "Soon."
As for questions, Village of Cold Spring Trustee Edward Mancari asked Beacon's Pasti the City's budget to create its new Master Plan, to which Pasti replied, $100,000, a budget, judging from Mancari's expression, considerably larger than Cold Spring's.
Mayor Phillips asked Pasti if Beacon held on to some of its 1974 Master Plan, to which Pasti replied, about one-half.
Pasti said it is helpful to put all information regarding the Master Plan on a Web site. In fact, there is a Web site up from the Cold Spring Master Plan Committee at www.coldspringmasterplan.org. It's a site Cold Spring Village Trustee Phil Heffernan said is temporary while the Village puts together its own. Mayor Phillips noted that any information pertaining to the Master Plan posted on a Web site would also be available with the village clerk.
The next Master Plan Community Forum is planned for on Monday, October 23 at 7pm.
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