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Comprehensive Plan Special Board Releases Survey Results
Good response gives glimpse into what residents like and dislike in Village
by Kevin Foley
Cold Spring Villagers love their small town redoubt on the Hudson and would change little of its characteristics while they worry over threats from economic forces that might ruin the riverfront environment or the charm of locally-owned Main Street businesses according to the long-anticipated resident survey conducted by the Comprehensive Plan Special Board.
The results of the survey were revealed to an attentive audience of approximately fifty people at the Cold Spring Firehouse on Thursday, January 10, 2008. Anne Impellizzeri, leader of the survey group, emceed a neatly produced one-hour PowerPoint presentation, which she said was the culmination of more than six months of volunteer effort. "If we had gone to an outside consulting firm that specializes in this it would have cost $10,000-20,000, so we saved the Village that much money," said Impellizzeri who emphasized how committed the survey group was to making sure the results accurately represented the views of the responders.
Distributed in May 2007 to the 1,595 eligible residents aged 18 and over, the survey asked people a series of questions in different forms about village character, the waterfront business and economic development, government and public resources, quality of life and community resources and housing and buildings.
326 valid surveys, a 20% response rate, were returned, which is generally considered a healthy number for such studies. By comparison public opinion polls are based on much smaller samplings of the population.
The survey, which included a variety of multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions also offered the opportunity for personal expression, resulting in over 2,500 written comments which had to sifted through by the survey working group.
The three things people like best about their Village are its small town quality with easy walking to places, peacefulness and ability to commute to New York City; the environmental aspects, especially the river; and the strong sense of community among the people.
93% of respondents said they planned to live in Cold Spring for the next ten years. A significant number of this group are people who have already dwelled in Cold Spring for 15 years or more. Some residents, however, expressed anxiety over school taxes as a possible impediment to staying in the village.
Preserving the natural splendor of the area, the waterfront, the views and open spaces as well as the architectural character and small town feel were the highest priority of residents when thinking about what to preserve of Cold Spring for future generations.
The fire company, police, ambulance service, street maintenance, snow clearance and garbage collection were all broadly approved of by survey participants with the fire company, composed mainly of village residents, receiving the highest approval rating of 89%.
Despite evident satisfaction with life in the village, there are aspects residents would improve if given the opportunity. Parking, or the lack of spaces to do so, was the biggest concern on the list of three items survey participants would change. Significant dissatisfaction with parts of village governance was also evident focusing on the inconsistent policies of non-elected boards and the enforcement of village ordinances.
Residents would also change the recreational landscape, making the river more accessible with more dock space, bike paths and a swimming pool. More ethnic restaurants and more local businesses that served local needs were also thought needed by a number of people.
A movie theater topped the list at 39% of specific businesses people would like to see with a coffee house, a laundromat, more bed and breakfasts and a shoe repair shop following in order of importance. A few residents voiced nostalgia for the old Dockside bar.
Laughter interrupted the presentation when Anne Impellizzeri mentioned that one correspondent wrote that residents should receive a 10% discount at local restaurants to which Depot proprietor Tom Rolston gruffly replied from the audience, "forget it!"
Implications for the zoning code included a distinct dislike for house construction that is out of scale with the present architectural and historical flavor of the village. And while residents appreciate the need for economic growth many would not like to see any chain or national franchise stores on Main Street, or anywhere else in the village for that matter.
Many residents emphasized the need to be active in trying to limit residential and business growth in the surrounding areas of Philipstown and Putnam County.
In response to questions about health care more than half of the residents said the village needed an urgent care facility, which in answer to uses of property sites many thought should be located at the old Butterfield Hospital site.
Others would use that site for senior housing, or a community center for everyone with many suggestions for a gym. 45% voted for the Marathon battery site on Kemble Avenue to be used for parking while a smaller group thought some form of recreation would be better. Another group would leave it as open space.
The Grove restoration project received a 30% endorsement for some non-profit use consistent with its historical character while smaller groups called for its transformation into a commercial use or just tearing it down.
More fireworks, fewer cars, a boat to West Point, burying the electric power lines and creating a model green village were among the more anecdotal comments made in the survey which the Comprehensive Special Board will now continue to study as it works to gather more data on village life with an eye toward creating a new master plan for the residents to consider.
Toward the end of the meeting there was a brief discussion of trying to get feedback from younger members of the community working with the Haldane School. "After all it will be their village someday, they should have say," said an audience member.
At the close Impellizzeri was enthusiastically applauded for her presentation, which she accepted on behalf of all who had worked on the survey. Copies of the report, summary as well as the entire documentation of the survey, will be available at the Cold Spring Village Hall and the Butterfield Library.
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