Railroad signs development study
A new partnership agreement between the city of Poughkeepsie and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is called transit-oriented development. But it could also be called a win-win deal.
Metro-North President Howard Permut and Mayor John Tkazyik signed a memorandum of understanding May 13Â to explore what the document calls “smart growth” options in the area around the train station with the potential of recreational, residential and commercial development for city residents.
The first step will include an economic analysis and conceptual plan, funded with $40,000Â from the New York Department of State Smart Growth Program Grant.
“The difficult economy that we all face right now is an important motivating factor,” Permut said. “Our mutual desire is to create more and better business opportunities, to build attractive residences and to provide greater access to the beauty of and recreational possibilities of the Hudson River waterfront, something that”™s free and available to all.”
“This is the hub,” said Charles S. North, president and CEO of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce. “It certainly makes common sense to have people and businesses clustered together around the transportation center.” He was standing in the large, airy waiting area above the parking garage Metro-North completed at the Poughkeepsie railroad station in 2001, with an atrium featuring views west to the Hudson River, south to the Mid-Hudson Bridge and north to the Walkway over the Hudson.
“We have transportation and the waterfront right here within walking distance of each other,” North said. “There”™s so many opportunities staring us right in the face.” A mix of residential, professional office space and recreation is what North sees as the best development track for the area, with a hotel and “a bakery or two,” restaurants and perhaps a theater or amphitheater on the waterfront. Economic analysis is expected to begin this summer, then the railroad and the city will develop a conceptual plan for the station area and then hold public meetings to hear from stakeholders such as businesses, residents and commuters.
The city will draft zoning regulations for the area that includes land owned by the railroad and about three to five acres of city property west of the station on Water Street, the memorandum of understanding stated. There are no plans to involve privately owned land.
“This framework agreement will ensure that the Hudson River waterfront and the station environs will grow in a way that will benefit the city of Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County as a whole,” said James Sedore, an MTA board member who represents Dutchess County.
The transit-oriented development idea is not unique to Poughkeepsie. Harrison in Westchester County announced a development campaign with Metro-North in 2008 and the city of Beacon launched its initiative in 2007. No final plans or action has emerged from either initiative, but the idea of clustering residential, business and recreation opportunities near a transit hub has proved popular.
“The Poughkeepsie train station has been an integral part of the development of the waterfront area over the last century,” Tkazyik said. “With the support of Dutchess County, Metro-North, the MTA and waterfront property owners, we will be developing a long-term blueprint for future expansion into the next century.”