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VOORHEESVILLE—The Village Board of Trustees will hold its second and final public hearing on a proposed Comprehensive Plan on Thursday, June 7, at 7 p.m., at the village firehouse at 12 Altamont Road. This hearing will be the last opportunity for village residents and business owners to comment on the updated draft plan before it is officially adopted by the board.
According to village officials, “The Comprehensive Plan is a road map for the Village that identifies steps and actions that the Village may take over time to enhance its quality of life. It is not regulations or laws. The Plan sets the considerations that will inform discussions and decision-making at many different levels in the Village.”
The plan was developed in response to concerns about the direction of future growth and development in the village and a noted lack of cohesive guidelines for influencing such things. A planning process directed at South Main Street in 2015 recommended the development of a formal village-wide “Comprehensive Plan,” which began in 2016. (Much of the Main Street Master Plan has been incorporated into the comprehensive plan.)
Pushback against two proposed commercial projects served as the primary impetus for a moratorium against all commercial building that was imposed in June 2017, until a comprehensive plan could be completed.
A formal comprehensive plan accomplishes multiple things:
• Achieves overall community consensus
regarding vision, goals, and strategy for
the future of the village;
• Establishes guidelines for bodies of
leadership to consider when approving
projects or passing laws;
• Increases access to state grant
funding, which often requires a formal
comprehensive plan to ensure that
funding is spent “in pursuit of a
well-defined public goal;”
• Provides a comprehensive compendium
of data, maps, and details about current
conditions in the village.
“The Village Board intends to use this plan as a checklist of actions as well as a roadmap for establishing policies and programs,” reads the draft plan dated May 2018. “The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals should also refer to the Plan when reviewing projects to ensure consistency with community goals. Landowners and businesses can use the Plan to better understand the resources and conditions in the Village as they make personal decisions about individual properties.”
After a year and a half of gathering community input and a review process conducted by a Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee and the Board of Trustees, the draft plan identifies the village’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats—and presents strategies to “maintain the strengths, fix the weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities, and prevent threats from occurring.”
Some of its major recommendations include (but are not limited to):
• Implementing streetscape
improvements as detailed in the 2015
“All Aboard Main Street Revitalization
Plan;”
• Updating of stormwater planning,
instituting methods to mitigate
flooding, and further protecting water
quality and recreation in the Vly Creek;
• Adding more flexibility to allow for
use of two-family homes in more
districts, additional mixed-use
buildings on South Main Street, and
accessory apartments;
• Using the conservation subdivision
design method to ensure that new,
major subdivisions include protection
of open spaces and the environment in
the Residential A district;
• Planning for capital improvements
on a five-year rolling basis;
• Evaluating sewer expansion to
South Main Street locations; and
• Updating zoning and subdivision
laws “to foster new development that
is consistent with community character,
ensure that business districts are
sensitive to different needs in
different locations, adjust lot
dimensions and development standards
so new development will match
existing neighborhood character,
limit heavy industrial uses, limit new multi-family uses to a proposed
new mixed use (business and
residential) zoning district near
Foundry Road with strict development
standards, and protect wetlands,
floodplains, and other natural
resources.”
A strategy for implementation is also included in the plan. Strategies, listed by theme— Community Character, Environment, Walkability/Linkage, Business Development, Housing Opportunities, Infrastructure, Village Capacity, or Recreation/Community Event Access and Improvements—give a target date for completing each and identify the village agency or organization best able to provide leadership for that action. The strategy “matrix” is intended to help organize the implementation of the plan over the next 15 years and allow the community to observe progress.
Once the plan is adopted by the trustees, it will be sent to the Albany County Planning Board for review. An environmental SEQRA process also needs to be completed. If additional considerations are raised as a result of either, further tweaking of the plan may be required.
The May 2018 draft plan has been posted on the village website. Hard copies are available for review in both the Village Office and at Voorheesville Public Library.
