The Town of Stuyvesant’s adopted Comprehensive Plan was formally adopted in February of 1996. This Plan was developed over a 2 ½ year planning process with a Town appointed “Greenway Committee” and professional services from Saratoga Associates. Funding for this Plan came from a grant from the Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council, as Stuyvesant was the 1st agricultural community to promote a comprehensive plan which would address local history, current issues, and shares the views of the community while reflecting the Greenway Heritage Conservancy goals of;
- Natural and Cultural resource protection
- Regional planning
- Economic development
- Public access
- Heritage and environmental education
Some of the key issues being discussed at the time was the Hudson river itself as Stuyvesant has nine miles of Hudson River shoreline within the town, more than any other town in Columbia County, and at that time there was limited access and a great deal of public interest in development along the water front. Over the past 28 years there has been improvements in access provided by partnering with state agencies that control much of that Riverfront. The improvements are not exactly what some residents desired years ago, but I think we are appreciative of what we did gain.
Stuyvesant has always been an Agricultural community and that continues to be an important factor as it is our leading Economic Development opportunity as well as maintaining scenic open space for all of our community to enjoy. Agriculture is a constantly challenging industry and we are fortunate to have a number of growing farm operations, recent years have also brought in a number of smaller specialty farms to our area that offer new opportunities for growth. Agri-Tourism and Agribusiness have brought to light newly proposed uses for areas within our town and public support and input needs to be explored, so that proper regulations can be included in our zoning code.
Stuyvesant appointed a 2nd “Greenway Committee” in 2006 to review the 1996 comprehensive plan and make recommendations for updates. I chaired that committee as a then councilman and we met for years reviewing and discussing goals and objectives of the 1996 plan. We did collect some good survey information at the time, and received some help from scenic Hudson staff and others as requested but never engaged a “professional firm” to help make formal modifications to our town plan. In 2011 the town board adopted the finding statement of that committee, but it never got included in our town plan for formal readopting.
The town board has made a number of changes to our Town Zoning Code to keep current with issues such as wind and solar energy, but we recognize that recent years have brought a change to the residency of Stuyvesant, Covid years have relocated folks to Columbia County in general, Technology has now allowed for more residents working from home, interest in climate change, affordable housing, and newer forms of agriculture have created newer challenges that were not imagined years ago; and we have a need and desire to obtain an updated Comprehensive Plan in order to develop a current zoning code to guide our future growth.
The Stuyvesant Town Board understands that a well-developed Comprehensive Plan is statement of a community’s goals and a conceptual road map for how to achieve them. That plan should look ahead and express town goals for the future. Responding to a wide variety of situations that may arise, calls for a plan that allows creativity, responsiveness to public input and evolving community needs to accomplish each community goal. We also recognize that this will require the assistance of a professional firm and we are seeking grant funding for that goal. As much as we need a professional firm, they cannot do their job effectively without input from local residents. Our town planning and zoning boards know best what issues are challenging our town.
We have planned a joint workshop for April 30th at 6pm at our town hall. This is an open meeting where I look to gather ideas from all involved. Those ideas can become goals for either a grant application or direction for a professional firm to guide us through this process. Please come and discuss your perceived challenges that could help guide Stuyvesant for years to come!