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Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 14, 2008

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Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 14, 2008 Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 14, 2008 Prepared by the Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan Committee With the Assistance of Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2 Public Input and Future Direction .............................................................. 8 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats ..................................................... 8 Vision Statement ......................................................................................................... 12 Goal Statements .......................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 3 Strategies and Recommendations ........................................................... 15 Programs and Policies ................................................................................................. 15 Regulatory Programs and Amendments ..................................................................... 23 Capital Improvements ................................................................................................. 40 Other Strategies Needed to Attain Goals .................................................................... 42 Chapter 4 Implementation Steps and Priorities ..................................................... 44 A. Action Plan: Recommended Time Table for Implementation ............................... 45 B. Action Plan: Short Term Regulatory Related Strategies ........................................ 59 Chapter 5 Appendices................................................................................................ 67 A. Town Profile .......................................................................................................... 67 B. Demographics......................................................................................................... 98 C. Income, Employment, & Educational Profile ...................................................... 107 D. Local Government and Public Services ............................................................... 117 E. Maps ..................................................................................................................... 121 F. Public Input Results .............................................................................................. 122 G. Illustrations of Conservation Subdivision Design ............................................... 181 H. Model for Farmland Prioritization ....................................................................... 183 I. Farm Operation as defined by NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets ...... 185 1 Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 2008 Acknowledgements Comprehensive Plan Committee Charles Brassard William First James Folz John Lee Christopher Post Gretchen Stearns Norma Barnard, liaison, Zoning Board Judith Zink, liaison, Planning Board Consultants Community Planning & Environmental Associates Nan Stolzenburg, AICP Donald Meltz Former Members of Comprehensive Plan Committee and Participants John Blaauw Michael Brandon Gary Steenburn Tonya Stockman, Secretary Town Board James Keegan, Supervisor William Blaauw Clifford Weigelt James Van Deusen Michael Johnston Town Office Mary Hoose, Town Clerk Martha Pizza, Deputy Town Clerk Claverack Comprehensive Plan Committee Focus Groups Economic Development Richard Koskey Mark Fingar Tom Benton Bill Barrett Sedat Pakay Russ Beck Ted Filli Richard Cross Robert Laporta Historic Preservation & Architectural Compatibility Ted Filli Jr. Joan Koweek Linda Gatter Mike Leonard Ian Nitschke Allen Miller Mike Carr 2 Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 2008 Open Space & Recreation Jim Folz Jennifer Post Rebecca Stowe Marie Leicht Barbara Ullman Howard Brandston Katy Cashen George Rodenhausen Housing Bob Kavanaugh Tom Daus Shailer Evans Linda Guntert Bill Jacoby Martin Baumgold Enid Futterman Walter Jutkofsky Jim Cashen Agriculture & Farms Peter Reiss Dan Northrup Richard Harrison Ken Runyon Betsy Cashen Chris Cashen Laurie Fiederlein Peter Chiaro David Hawes Barry Burch Hamlets & Community Centers Cyndy Hall Charles Schram Joan Steiner Norman Mintz Tom Hotalen Sue McKinney Peggy Lampman John Isaacs This plan was produced with partial funding provided by a grant from the Hudson River Valley Greenway 3 Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 2008 Chapter 1 Introduction What is a Comprehensive Plan? A Comprehensive Plan is a road map that guides a municipality’s decisions related to its future growth and development. It expresses the vision, goals, strategies, and policies of a town and is intended to be implemented over 10 to 15 years. Laws of New York State authorize, but do not mandate, towns and villages to develop comprehensive plans. New York State considers adoption of a comprehensive plan to be a critical tool to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the people of the Town and a primary tool to consider the needs of the people. A comprehensive plan is thus the policy foundation upon which communities are built. These plans are called “comprehensive” because they cover a wide range of topics. In Claverack, the public participation process was used to identify relevant topics to our residents. Does the plan itself establish regulations and laws? No, a comprehensive plan offers direction, guidance and recommendations but is not, in itself, a law. Any laws needed to implement this Plan must be developed through a later, separate process according to the laws of the Town and the State of New York. However, all land use laws must be in accordance with an adopted comprehensive plan so it is not unusual for zoning, site plan review, subdivision or other local laws to be amended to reflect the recommendations made in the plan. Overall, a comprehensive plan is a written document that identifies the goals, objectives, principles, guidelines, policies, standards, and strategies for the growth and development of the community. It is designed to answer three critical questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How do we get there? Why Prepare a Comprehensive Plan? There are many reasons for preparing a comprehensive plan including: • To establish a community vision. • To understand your assets and liabilities. • To protect important resources. • To improve economic conditions. • To provide direction for governmental agencies. • To improve access to financial and technical assistance. Implications of Having a Comprehensive Plan 4 Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 2008 There are several implications to a Town once they have adopted a comprehensive plan: • All government agencies, including county, state and federal jurisdictions, involved in planning any kind of capital projects within the Town of Claverack must consider this plan before they start the project. That means the Town has a much larger stake in what other governmental agencies want to do when they are proposing a project in Town. • Community consensus and support can be built on the shared vision, goals, and strategies presented in the Plan. • Programs and regulations may be adopted to implement the Plan to protect the Town’s resources and encourage desired development and growth. • The Comprehensive Plan is also important to help the Town in obtaining grant monies to implement the Plan. • In New York State, all local land use regulations must be in accordance with a comprehensive plan (Section 272-a). The Plan is the basis for regulatory programs. All land use laws should be reviewed and updated where necessary, to be in accordance with this Plan. Town Input and Data Collection The Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan is a result of an intense research and planning effort. In April 2005, the Claverack Town Board formed a Comprehensive Plan Committee to conduct a planning process and draft a plan for the Town. With the assistance of planning consultants, the Committee developed and implemented a planning process that included several stages as follows: Stage 1: Data was collected to develop a profile and inventory of Claverack. This included learning about the resources of the Town including the environment, history, culture, population, and development patterns. It also included involving the public to find out what they felt were the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing the community, and what their vision is for their future. The issues, goals and recommended strategies detailed in this comprehensive plan are based upon many studies of information and data gathered about the Town of Claverack, as well as from the input of many Town residents coordinated by the Committee. These studies and analyses include: • A survey of all households • Two community visioning sessions • Two sessions each of six focus groups (each focus group covered a different topic) • Comprehensive mapping of all resources, land uses, and growth patterns 5 Town of Claverack Comprehensive Plan April 2008 • Analysis of population profiles and projections • Analysis of existing housing conditions, affordability, and availability • Analysis of community facilities, recreation and education resources • Analysis of transportation resources • Analysis of environmental conditions of the Town Stage 2: As a result of learning all about
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