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Photo: Led Klosky Brendan Coyne, Mayor James Kane, Deputy Mayor David Carnright James Gagliano Richard Gaillard Ledlie Klosky, Chair Mary Aspin, Deputy Chair Dominic Cordisco William Grisoli Lorraine McGuinness Lee Murphy, Chairman and Planning Board Member Jeff Small, Planning Board Chairman Peter Duggan Jerry Gage Barbara Gosda Kirk MacDonald Andy Maroney Chris Olander Harriet Sandmeier Kris Seitz Jeff Small Mark Edsall, Former Deputy Mayor and liaison to the Comprehensive Plan Committee Cornwall Conservation Committee Jeanne Mahoney, Village Clerk and Robin Hastey, Web Coordinator Lanc & Tully Engineering and Surveying, PC This plan was funded in part by a grant from the Hudson River Valley Greenway. The Comprehensive Plan Committee thanks John Kidd and John Kidd Promotions for allowing the use of the following photographs from the Cornwall Summer Quarterly in 2017: Cub Scouts Pack 6, Jones Farm Tractor, Cornwall ‐on‐Hudson bandstand concert, Bannerman Castle and Kayaks, SK engine #2 Fair‐Ferris wheel. i 1.0 Introduction and Executive Summary ……….……………………………………………1 1.1 Vision and Goals……………………………………………..…………………………………….1 1.2 A Brief History…………………………………….……………………………………………….2 1.3 A Comprehensive Plan …………………………………………………………………………….6 1.4 The Comprehensive Planning Process……………………..……………………………………....7 2.0 Existing Conditions …..….………………………………………………………………….8 2.1 Geography …………………………………………………………………………………………8 2.2 Utilities and Infrastructure.….……………………………………………………………………..8 2.3 Parks, Recreation, Natural Features and Cultural Resources …………………………………….10 2.4 Governance and Municipal Services………………..…………………………………………….15 2.5 Demographics……………………………………………………………………………………..16 2.6 Existing Zoning …………………………………………………………………………………..19 2.7 Build-Out Analysis………………………………………………………………………………..22 3.0 Comprehensive Plan……………………………………………………………………….24 3.1 Goal 1: Preserve the Village’s Unique Character…...……………………………………………24 3.2 Goal 2: Support and Enhance Economic Vitality……………...…………………………………28 3.3 Goal 3: Promote a Range of Sustainably Located Affordable Housing Options….……………..30 3.4 Goal 4: Protect Natural Resources and Encourage Conservation ….………………...………….32 3.5 Goal 5: Enhance the Quality of Life for Village Residents …….………………………………..34 3.6 Goal 6: Address Long-Term Infrastructure Requirements ……………………………………….36 4.0 Implementation ……………………………………………………………………………38 Appendices Appendix A: Historic Homes and Sites Appendix B: Zoning Considerations Appendix C: Cornwall Natural Resource Inventory Appendix D: A Summary of Parcels in the Village ii 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Welcome to the comprehensive plan for the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, a thriving community of about 3,000 citizens nestled on the bank of the Hudson River between Albany and New York City. The Village is a unique place and a proud part of the history of the Hudson Valley, with one foot in the mighty Hudson at Donohue Memorial Park and the other foot firmly planted on the spectacular Storm King Mountain. Historic, peaceful, beautiful and welcoming – the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson has a lot to offer to its residents, businesses and our visitors. A thoughtfully articulated, up-to-date Comprehensive Plan, based on public and stakeholder input as well as a review of relevant available data, can and should set the priorities for coordinated action by officials, staff and volunteers – that is the intent of the plan presented here. While the overall land use pattern of the Village is largely established, this document lays out a strategy for allowing appropriate growth while protecting and enhancing those attributes which define the Village. As presented this plan meets the statutory requirements of New York State Village Law, providing framework and guidance for all future land use decisions and public or private improvements in the Village. Photo: Lorraine McGuinness Analysis of census data, building department data, At Donahue Memorial Park municipal utilities, parks, open space, cultural resources and existing zoning was completed as a first step in the planning process. Once this information was compiled, the Comprehensive Plan Committee undertook public outreach and open deliberations that resulted in the development of the following vision and goals to guide the plan. These are expanded upon in Section 3. 1.1 Vision and Goals The Vision for the Village of Cornwall‐on‐Hudson is to maintain and protect the character and quality of life of the Village, including its neighborhoods, the fragile, beautiful mountains and river as well as the scenic open spaces, parks, historic buildings, and community facilities. Equally important is the development of a strong, balanced economic base. This plan, beginning with the goals set forth below, provides the framework for the implementation of this vision. GOAL 1. Preserve the Village’s unique character 1 GOAL 2. Support and enhance economic vitality GOAL 3. Promote a range of sustainably located affordable housing alternatives GOAL 4. Protect natural resources and encourage conservation GOAL 5. Enhance the quality of life for Village residents GOAL 6. Address long term infrastructure requirements 1.2 A Brief History In 1609, as Henry Hudson sailed aboard the Half Moon up the river that would one day bear his name, he came across the beautiful view afforded by what became known as Cornwall Bay. The Half Moon’s log recorded “this is a pleasant place to build a town on.” This was the future site of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson. Time passed, and it wasn’t until 1685 that Colonel Patrick MacGregorie, his brother-in-law and a party including William Sutherland settled on both sides of the mouth of Moodna Creek, which The Old Bandstand in the Center of Hudson Street feeds into the Hudson River. They started the earliest settlement in Orange County, creating a trading post in what is now the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson. Settlement initially occurred at Cornwall Landing, a hamlet on the Hudson River below Butter Hill. It was the only river landing in the town. During the Revolutionary War, from 1776 to 1778, the Continental Army constructed two chain booms and two chevaus de fris across the Hudson River near West Point to prevent British ships from sailing upriver. When General George Washington would check the work, he would visit his friend Jeremiah Clark, a delegate to the Continental Congress, at his home, which was located on the site of what is now the Village’s municipal parking lot. Cornwall-on-Hudson and the surrounding region on the West Side of the Hudson was a beehive of military activity throughout the Revolutionary War due to the strategic importance of the river. The Hudson River has always been an important method of transportation and in 1807 Robert Fulton’s steamboat, The Clermont, passed the hamlet of Cornwall Landing, where the village’s Donahue Memorial Park is located. Cornwall Landing was a bustling commercial center in the 1800s, with docks, a brickyard, the house builder Mead & Taft Company (employing 500 people), a post office, a passenger train station, a firehouse and residences. Coal, produce and other goods were sent to New York City. Cornwall Landing was also home to the Ward brothers, world champion rowers, who had their own dock. The steamboat Mary Powell would dock at Cornwall Landing bringing passengers up from the city. A giant jetty, designed as a railroad-loading platform, arrowed some 800 feet out 2 into the river. Counting the mainline and its spurs, which led onto the trestle, there were 27 tracks. Train passenger service ended in 1959. In 1788, New Cornwall Town was born, and as the Town grew commercially, people followed. In 1840, Daniel Taft and Charles Mead opened their building construction business, an event that marked the beginning of prosperous times for manufacturing that would span several decades and lead well into the 20th century. In fact, by the last The Rowing Dock at the Riverfront quarter of the 1800’s, Cornwall Landing had become well-known as the largest river-based coal transit location in the east. In the early 1880s, residents voted to create a Village within the Town of Cornwall and the Village of Cornwall was incorporated in December of 1884. The first meeting took place in January of 1885 with Thomas Taft, owner of the Mead & Taft Company, as president. The Village’s highest elected officials were called presidents until 1914 when the title changed to mayor. Taft, a Captain in the 124th Orange Blossoms Regiment during the Civil War, promoted electric power and improved telephone service. Village leaders also had the good judgment to assure that the Village had an excellent water supply by building the Upper Reservoir in Black Rock Forest; water remains an essential and high-quality part of the Village today. The writer Nathaniel Parker Willis came to Cornwall in the 1850s to improve his health. He wrote so glowingly about the area in the Home Journal and his book Outdoors at Idlewild that it became a destination for his friends and New York City residents. He gave Moodna Creek and Storm King Mountain their names. Historian and politician Lewis Beach, who served three terms as a New York congressman, also moved to Orange County and in 1873 wrote the first history of Cornwall. He stated that “the three things which conspire to give Cornwall the prominence it enjoys, are 1st The salubrity of the air; 2nd The beauty of the scenery; 3rd Its accessibility to the city.” These statements still ring true today. The early Village Board held its meetings at various locations, including the former Library Hall, built by Erard A. Matthiessen on the corner of Idlewild Avenue and River Avenue. Library Hall provided space for many activities, including dancing, lectures and plays. The site later became the home of Storm King Theater. Matthiessen also built a bank next door and later donated it to the Village as its first Village Hall. The bank building is now a restaurant with remnants of its past: a huge safe from its banking days and lettering on a glass arch that reads Board Room recalls the building’s past.