Westchester County Greenway
Compact Plan
The Westchester County Greenway Compact
Plan, The Greenprint for a Sustainable Future, is available for public
review at the Municipal Building and the Hastings Library, and on the Village’s
web site. Also available is Proposed Local Law No. 9 of 2005 that adopts the
Greenway Compact Plan for Hastings and amends the Zoning Code to direct
reviewing agencies to consider the Compact Plan’s policies as
appropriate.
The Board of Trustees has scheduled a
Public Hearing for Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building
to consider the advisability of adopting the Proposed Local
Law.
Hastings has been a Greenway Community
since 2001. This local law will elevate the Village from the status of a
Greenway Community to a Greenway Compact Community, qualifying it for number of
benefits including technical and funding assistance from the Greenway and
possible scoring preference over non-compact communities on state
grants.
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Westchester County Greenway
Compact Plan |
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Westchester
County is one of 13 counties that make up the Hudson River Valley
Greenway (Greenway).
The Greenway was established by the State of New York by the
Hudson River Valley Greenway Act of 1991.
The Greenway is a voluntary regional cooperation among 242
communities within 13 counties bordering the Hudson River. |
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created to facilitate the development of a voluntary regional
strategy for preserving scenic, natural, historic, cultural and
recreational resources while encouraging compatible economic
development and maintaining the tradition of home rule for land use
decision-making.
The 1991 Act established the Greenway Council, a New York
State Agency to: |
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Work with local government to enhance local land use
planning
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Create a voluntary regional planning compact for the
Hudson River Valley\
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Provide community planning grants, compact grants
and technical assistance to help communities develop a vision for
their future |
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The Hudson River Valley Greenway Act
describes the “Greenway criteria” as “the basis for attaining the
goal of a Hudson River Valley Greenway”.
The
Greenway Criteria is:
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The
Greenway planning approach is to think regionally ~ plan
locally. The
Greenway Compact program takes community planning one step further
by providing a process for voluntary regional cooperation to further
the Greenway criteria of natural and cultural resource protection,
regional planning, economic development, public access, and heritage
and environmental education. The Greenway has designated the
counties as the basic planning areas for the development of the
Greenway Compact.
Westchester County is preparing to produce a Compact Plan
that will be presented to municipalities for adoption
consideration |
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Greenprint for a Sustainable Future
In June 2005, the Hudson River Valley Greenway approved the
Westchester County Greenway Compact Plan, The Greenprint for a
Sustainable Future. The plan was prepared by the Westchester
County Department of Planning as part of the Hudson River Valley
Greenway initiatives and was adopted by the Westchester County
Planning Board on June 2, 2004. Click here to view a PDF of the document (10.6
megs). In addition, the plan may be viewed at the
Westchester County Department of Planning, 432 Michaelian Office
Building, White Plains, New York.
Westchester County is one of only two counties in the 13-county
Greenway region that has an approved Compact Plan. As of March 17,
2005, seven Westchester municipalities - Village of Tarrytown,
Village of Croton-on-Hudson, Town of Ossining, Town of Cortlandt,
City of Peekskill, Village of Buchanan and Village of Briarcliff
Manor - have taken action to become a Compact Community.
Participation is important. The County Planning Department
encourages all Westchester communities to participate in this
voluntary program. Participation will qualify them and assist other
communities for a number of important compact benefits including
technical and funding assistance from Greenway and possible scoring
preference over non-compact communities in the evaluation of
applications for other State Grants. The Greenway grant application
process is simple and can result in the awarding of significant
funds to assist your community with projects such as updating a
comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance or the undertaking of
special land use studies.
Becoming a Compact Community requires that a municipality adopt a
local law amending the local zoning ordinance to state that
consideration will be given to Greenprint policies
when certain land use decisions are made. The adoption of such a
local law does not limit home rule nor does
it enable Westchester County or the State to
impose any regulations upon the municipality.
Planning Department staff is available to come to local meetings
to present Greenprint and discuss the potential
benefits of becoming a Greenway Compact Community. Please contact
Tracey Corbitt, AICP, Associate Planner at (914)-995-2090 or by
e-mail at tsc1@westchestergov.com.
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The
benefits of becoming a Greenway Compact Community are:
- State agencies must, "to
the fullest extent practicable", coordinate their activities with
Compact communities and conduct their activities in a manner
consistent with the Greenway Compact
- The provisions of the
Greenway Compact must be made part of State Environmental Quality
Review Act and Historic Preservation Act reviews.
- Compact communities may
regulate the location and construction of boathouses, moorings and
docks within fifteen hundred feet of their shorelines.
- Compact communities
receive technical and financial assistance for community planning
efforts. This includes up to 50% matching grants for basic
community planning and for any changes to local planning and
zoning needed to enter the Compact.
- Compact communities have a
potential 5% rating advantage over non-compact communities for
receiving competitive state funding for Greenway projects.
- Compact communities have
the opportunity to offer a streamlined environmental review
process for activities, which are consistent with regional
Greenway plans.
- Compact
communities are provided protection from lawsuits brought against
communities because of the acquisition of land or the adoption of
local land use regulations consistent with a regional Greenway
Plan.
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further information, contact:
Tracey
S. Corbitt, AICP Associate Planner (GIS) Westchester County
Department of Planning
148 Martine Avenue,
Room 432
White Plains, NY 10601
(914) 995-2090
tsc1@weschestergov.com
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VILLAGE OF HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON
PROPOSED LOCAL LAW NO. 9 OF
2005
A local law to adopt Westchester County Greenway
Compact Plan, The Greenprint for a Sustainable Future…the Westchester
Way.
1. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 44-0119 of the Environmental
Conservation Law of the State of New York, the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson
hereby adopts the statement of policies, principles and guides detailed in
The Greenprint for a Sustainable Future…the Westchester Way, the
Westchester County Greenway Compact Plan, by which the Village of
Hastings-on-Hudson becomes a participating community in the Greenway
Compact.
2. Proposals to amend the Compact Plan may from time to time be made by the
Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council (hereinafter referred to as
"Greenway Council") in response to requests from participating communities.
Within 90 days of receipt of any such proposal from the Greenway Council, the
Village of Hastings-on-Hudson shall determine by resolution whether to accept or
to reject such proposed amendment. Any proposed amendment so accepted shall be
considered an amendment of the Compact Plan as adopted by the Village of
Hastings-on-Hudson. Any proposed amendment rejected by the Village of
Hastings-on-Hudson will not be considered to be an amendment of the Greenway
Plan for the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, and notice of such rejection shall
promptly be provided to the Greenway Council.
3. It is stated policy of the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson that, to the
extent the Village amends its current, or enacts new, land use laws and
regulations, such new or amended laws and regulations, where appropriate, should
be designed to be consistent with the Compact Plan.
Section 2. Amendment of Zoning Code
To implement the Compact Plan in the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, the
Zoning chapter of the Code of the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson is hereby
amended by the addition of the following provision:
§ 295-160. Greenway Compact Plan.
By Local Law No. [to be inserted] of 2005, the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson
has adopted the Compact Plan, as amended from time to time, as a statement of
policies, principles, and guides to supplement other established land use
policies in the Village. In its discretionary actions under this Zoning Code,
the reviewing agency should take into consideration said statement of policies,
principles and guides, as appropriate.
Section 3. Home Rule of Authority
Nothing in this Local Law adopting the Compact Plan, or in becoming a
participating community in the Compact Plan is intended, or shall be construed
(a) to limit the home rule authority of the Village under State Law to make
local land use and zoning decisions, (b) to authorize any other entity to
supersede the Village's land use laws and regulations or to impose any
requirements on the Village, or (c) to prevent the Village in its sole
discretion from adopting a local law at a later date for the purpose of
withdrawing from the Greenway Compact or Westchester County Greenway Compact
Plan.
Section 4. Separability
If any part or provision of this Local Law or the application thereof to any
person or circumstance be adjudged invalid by any court of competent
jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in its operation to the part of
provision or application directly involved in the controversy in which judgment
shall have been rendered and shall not affect or impair the validity of the
remainder of this Local Law or the application thereof to other persons or
circumstances, and the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson hereby declares that it
would have passed this Local Law or the remainder thereof had such invalid
application or invalid provision been apparent.
Section 5 Effective Date
This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing in the office of the
Secretary of State in accordance with Section 27 of the Municipal Home Rule
Law.