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Comprehensive Planning

Comprehensive planning in Shandaken

• The deadline for written comments on the current draft plan is Wednesday, April 13th. Comments to the Comprehensive Plan Committee can be:
  • emailed to Shandaken Town Supervisor Robert G. Cross, Jr. at supervisor@shandaken.us and cc'd to Chuck Huffine, Stantec Consulting Group, at chuffine@stantec.com. To do so, simply click here.
  • sent via fax to 845-688-2041
  • delivered in person to the Comprehensive Plan Committee at their meeting at the Shandaken Town Hall at 7:00 pm on Wednesday

• Proposed Comprehensive Plan for the Town of Shandaken (Draft, March 2005) - Prepared by the Stantec Consulting Group Inc. The six sections of the draft are available online (in PDF format) on the Town's web site:
  Intro & History
  Shandaken Today
  Shandaken Tomorrow
  Implementation
  Next Steps
  Appendix

  As stated on page I-2 of the draft, two critical sets of resources have been used in the course of preparing this plan:

  Previous Reports
  

• "Resource Protection and Economic Development Strategy for the Route 28 Corridor," Route 28 Corridor Committee, 1994. This committee was chaired by developer Dean Gitter.
• "Tourism Development Plan for the Central Catskills," Central Catskills Planning Alliance, 1998
• "Catskill Forest Preserve Public Access Plan," NYSDEC, 1999
• "West of Hudson Economic Development Study for the Catskill Watershed Corporation," July 26, 1999
• "Shandaken Wild Forest Draft Unit Management Plan," NYSDEC, June 2003
• "Ulster County Transportation Plan," April 2003
• "Ulster County Land Use Plan"
• 2002 "Draft Proposed Comprehensive Plan" (December 11, 2002) - from the Town's web site
• 2001 "Draft Proposed Comprehensive Plan" (July, 2001) - prepared for the Shandaken Comprehensive Plan Committee by Shuster Associates (See Ulster County Planning Board Recommendation regarding this draft.)

  Public Involvement
  

• Town-wide Comprehensive Plan Survey (June, 2000) - The statistical results and analysis of a town-wide survey of property owners and registered voters
• Shandaken Comprehensive Plan Community Workshops (November, 2000) - This is a summary of results of two community workshops held last November.
• Public Meetings: Throughout the development of past and current plans, several public meetings were held to provide a forum for comment on the draft plans.
• Public Comprehensive Plan Committee Meetings

  Other Related Documents
  

• Approved Comprehensive Plan Proposal from Stantec Consulting Group Inc. (July 22, 2004) - from the Town's web site
• Town Board Resolution - This resolution, adopted on February 14, 2000, retains Shuster Associates to complete the Town Comprehensive Plan.
• Comprehensive Plan Grant Application - This application for a $9,600 grant was prepared in July, 1999 and submitted to NYS Department of State. The grant was awarded in January of 2000.

How the Current Draft Comprehensive Plan Matches Up Against What the Public Asked For Please consider the following issues when you come to speak at the comp plan public hearing on Wednesday, April 6 at the Phoenicia Elementary School, 7pm. Come early! Hamlets and "Designated Hamlets" Survey results: Concentrate growth in hamlets, preserve rural character and open space along 28. New Comp Plan: Change zoning law to expand hamlet designations to include previously non-hamlet areas, and allow more commercial growth along 28. Reliance on Tourism for Economic Development Survey results: Diversify economy beyond tourism. Encourage arts, crafts, e-commerce, cottage industry, small business. Limit size of large scale development. New Comp Plan: Cuts out phrase "large scale terrain altering development generally discouraged" Expands commercial growth outside hamlets on undeveloped large parcels. Emphasis on tourism, primarily Belleayre ski area and tourist railroad. Cell Towers instead of Cell Service Survey results: Locate unobtrusive "stealth" cellphone antennas to provide widest possible state of the art cellphone coverage and maximize town tax revenues. New Comp Plan: Build tall cellphone towers, even on private land that generate no tax revenue for town. Many hollows will still go without cellphone coverage. Emphasis on Expanding Multimodal Transportation and Riverwalks Survey results: Strong support for "rail to trail" use of railroad right of way and stream side parks. Hiking, biking, cross-country ski and horseback riding rated highest priority. New Comp Plan: Emphasis on expansion of tourist railroad that would severly limit public use of railroad right of way. Traffic, Signs, and Stop Lights Survey results: Improve public transportation to reduce traffic congestion and safety hazards. Preserve rural scenic driving experience along 28. New Comp Plan: Increase traffic volume. Build more highway surfaces, intersections, roundabouts, lights and signage. Disaster Plan & Facilities Survey results: Improve disaster readiness of emergency services. No new expensive municipal building projects. New Comp Plan: Build expensive new town shelters and facilities. Who will pay? Comprehensive Community Center Survey results: Expand recreational opportunities for swimming, ice skating, and hiking, etc. No big new buildings proposed. New Comp Plan: Build expensive new town government mall at taxpayer expense. Housing Survey results: Encourage affordable housing for residents. New Comp Plan: Includes language that could make the town responsible to provide housing for transient and seasonal low wage workers that new commercial development brings in. Clear cutting and Steep Slopes Survey results: Enforce the town's current zoning laws that limit development on fragile hillsides, steep slopes, wetlands and hilltops. New Comp Plan: Weaken the zoning laws to allow more and denser development. Outdated and Inaccurate Data Survey results: Recommends more studies to get accurate up to date data. A main concern: Traffic congestion and hazards right now. New Comp Plan: Uses old, misleading statistics which make it appear that 28 is underused and could sustain huge traffic increases without harming community. Encourages more traffic congestion.

Information about the process

• Developing the Comprehensive Plan: Part I - The first in a three-part series on the basics of putting together a comprehensive plan by Michael Chandler, a Professor and Community Planning Extension Specialist at Virginia Tech who regularly conducts planning commissioner training programs and workshops across the country (from the Planning Commissioners Journal).

• Implementing Comprehensive Plans: Turning Values into Action - Contemporary, "values-driven" comprehensive plans possess two key attributes. First, they are shaped by the issues and values identified by citizen participants in the planning process. Second, they connect citizen values and goals with a clearly defined agenda for action. This paper by three acredited planners explores the experiences of two communities that are implementing comprehensive plans prepared using values-driven planning processes.

New York State guidelines and regulations

• Creating the Community You Want: Municipal Options For Land Use Control - This is a section of a NYS Department of State brochure that deals with comprehensive planning. The brochure is a primer that briefly describes both the importance of planning to identify how a municipality wishes to develop, as well as the regulatory techniques available to help it realize its goals.

• Defining A Community Through The Comprehensive Plan - Opinion of the NYS Department of State Counsel's Office.

• New York State Town Law, Section 272-a - The State Legislature has enacted this statute to guide local town boards through the comprehensive plan process.

Plans of other New York towns

• Draft Comprehensive Plan for the Town of Gardiner (August, 2004) - The plan states that "all development will be designed to protect water resources, and to preserve important natural features" and that "through incentive zoning, transfer of development rights, and other measures, hamlet areas can receive growth that would ordinarily occupy or fragment large areas of open space."

• Town of Warwick Comprehensive Plan (August, 1999) - In adopting this plan, the Town established a goal of protecting agriculture and open s