Economic growth. Preservation of the rural environment. A tough balance growing ever more delicate in Ulster County.
Into the fray recently stepped Paul Beyer, special assistant for the environment for New York state, who addressed a packed house at Kingston”™s Wiltwyck Golf Club about the state”™s new smart growth initiative.
The event was hosted by the Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO).
Introductory remarks were made by Dennis Doyle, director of the Ulster County Planning Board and president of the board of directors at RUPCO. “Make no mistake, Ulster County will change,” Doyle said. “We need you to help us foster development and revitalization for a diverse community.”
Beyer, who previously served on the board of directors at the Partners for a Livable Western New York, based in Buffalo, said Gov. Eliot Spitzer has developed a smart growth agenda designed to pull together many disciplines of state government, from environmental protection to economic development to transportation.
Beyer said that smart growth wasn”™t just related to environmental preservation, but also was linked to the economic vitality of a region. He noted that smart growth consists of three aspects ”“ centers, borders, and connections.
The first relates to maintaining vibrant town and village centers. Sprawl is not only harmful to the environment, but also unsustainable financially, Beyer said. Yet unchecked growth continues to be a threat: According to a study by The Brookings Institute, if the current pattern of land development remains unchecked, most of the natural resources in the Hudson Valley will be severely threatened within the next decade.
Sprawl not only frays centers, but it also lacks borders, since it moves outward in an amorphous way. Borders, such as green belts of farm land, help focus growth inward, on centers.
Connections refers to the importance of linking different land uses in communities, through development of a mixed-use plan. This type of planning encompasses a variety of functions, such as transportation and public works.
Beyer noted that a state economic development group conducted a survey asking business people what attracted them to various areas of the state. “Two major quality-of-life factors rose to the top, which were access to outdoor recreation and vibrant diverse urban centers,” said Beyer. “We know that if you plan out communities better, people not only enjoy living in them but they are more economically competitive. Studies and surveys conducted on quality of life show that vibrant cities and outdoor recreation attract talented and young knowledge workers, which in turn brings in more economic investment.”
Spitzer has created a $2 million fund in the 2007-08 budget, under the Environmental Protection Fund, for his smart growth initiative. The funds are being targeted to three regions with specific needs: the economically depressed communities in the Adirondack Park, the Route 28 corridor in the central Catskills, and the lower Hudson Valley.
In later comments, Beyer said that the governor had committed $500,000 of smart growth money to the lower Hudson Valley. “Smart growth will help to shape that growth and development to avoid the pitfalls of sprawl ”“ environmental, fiscal and economic ”“ and to promote livable communities, which make New York more competitive in attracting economic growth,” Beyer wrote in an e-mail.
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In the Route 28 corridor, which is tied to an agreement the state reached with developer Crossland Ventures, which plans to build a mega-ski resort at Belleayre Mountain, another $500,000 will be distributed among the nearby towns and villages. The money will be targeted to capital improvements, such as the sprucing up of facades, streets and sidewalks, and more attractive signage, to draw more tourists and businesses to the area.
“We”™re trying to focus our resources, rather than just give out money,” Beyer said at the breakfast. “We”™re bringing our planners together and sending them out to the field as much as possible.” He said that the state might consider rewarding points to towns that matched the state funds for planning purposes.
Beyer said smart growth, which traditionally applied to upscale housing, needs to encompass affordable housing. “It”™s not just about preserving architecture, but also ensuring people are not priced out of the market. Smart growth needs to incorporate diversity into the planning process. If affordable housing is planned correctly, it can lose its stigma.”
Responding to a suggestion by Kevin O”™Connor, executive director of RUPCO, that the state create incentives to spur planning among communities that encourages smart growth, Beyer said, “I”™d like to set conditions for the receipt of infrastructure funds. The state won”™t subsidize something unless it”™s built into the grant review process; that”™s the direction I”™d like to go in.”
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