Village of Washingtonville Turns Corner Toward Final Version of New Comp Plan

Lead Planner for the project, Bonnie Franson of Nelson, Pope Voorhis

After hundreds of hours of work and revision  detailing  14 Zoning Districts with over  50 allowable land uses that will each have bulk tables and detailed codes, the Village's new DRAFT Zoning Map was unveiled at Thursday's Comprehensive Plan Meeting. It will be presented at a Public Session(s) before finalization, and there are still a few 'kinks' to work out, but the majority of its bones and flesh are done and it shows a colorful mix of significant green space - Agricultural and  remaining Open Space and Floodplain, plus blocks of 5 different allowable sizes  for Single-Family Housing, Multi Family Residential, Office Residential and Office Commercial  mostly along East Main Street (with discussion of potential adaptive re-uses), AG Business, Downtown Commercial,  General Commercial and  a section for Light Industry where it already exists.  

The map as a whole has three special Overlays: one for Historic Buildings/Homes, one for Scenic Gateway, and one for Floodplain (of which there is much, given that the Village is somewhat of a basin fed by the surrounding mountain ridges and the Moodna, Cromline and Seeley Creeks.)

The plan was created by the Village's official representatives, volunteers, and under the guidance of  an entire team from Nelson Pope Voorhis Planners under the guidance of Planner Bonnie Franson. All meetings were open to the public.  A first look at the map shows it to be a lovely mix of about 1/3 green (due to the 2 large farms), Vern Allen, Park  Lasser  Park, Sewell Park, Woodfield Park, Fireman's Memorial Park, Mays Field, the sports fields and greenery at the WHS Middle and High School, and the floodplain areas along the Moodna Creek  which also have the  beginnings of the new branch of  the Schunnemunk Rail Trail running alongside, It's a regular occurrence that during committee sessions people comment "Wow, we sure are a lot of water, given the Creeks floodplains and wetlands." 

In addition to the many historic colonial homes scattered throughout Washingtonville,  there are the large bright yellow squares of housing developments to the Northwest and Northeast just outside of town, most of them also including park areas, open space and wetlands..  The new Comprehensive Plan also includes a project to create a Historic District that will function to highlight Washingtonville's identity as a main  community intersection between the colonial communities east of the Hudson River and west to Goshen along with the connections to NYC that functioned as one of the main corridors to spread settlers throughout the Northeast.

The Village Business Center shows its compact nature, and how it creatively dealt with expanding northward business along Main Street's Colonial homes while keeping their beauty by creating a zone for Office Residential and another for Office Commercial. They created a corridor along Main Street to the North that with criteria to retain the "colonial look" enabled business with "adaptive reuse" plans, updating and renovating  colonial  homes with office space  for a variety of doctors, realty, insurance offices and the like.  Most of the remaining area that is buildable is just before and at the Southern Gateway in the area of the former Spears property and the Casazza 150-acre farmland and floodplain acreage, and just to the West of Ahern Boulevard.  

The "Gateway" between Woodcock Mt. Rd. and the Moodna Creek is being carefully looked at for "Mixed Use" while retaining a priority to protect the Woodcock Mt. View with a "Scenic Gateway Overlay", but still to include some new small businesses, especially given that the Schunnemunk Rail Trail is coming across adjacent to it. This is expected to bring an influx of visitors, tourists and shoppers as well as hikers.  There is also potential  for Senior-Active Adult  Housing with walkable open space and access to the Village Center shops. An opportunity for Veteran Housing  and a Continuing Care Retirement Community are also allowable projects in the overall plan.

But never fear!  The Committee has spent a tremendous amount of time thinking creatively and looking at what other communities have done that was successful and also fun. And residents of the Village contributed their ideas and priorities in a comprehensive Public Session several months ago that put a high priority on incusion of a Community Center and a Pavilion in the Gateway area. Last week the Committee debated about a dozen potential new venues and where in the village they would likely be successful (and where not).  Child Care got a "No" for Main Street in  the Village Center given the traffic dangers it would  present by shuffling little ones in and out of buildings and across the street daily... let alone the possibility of more buses in an already congested area.  But  on the "Yes" list (in particular Districts) were numerous Entertainment Venues, Golf courses, Stables and Riding Academies, Museums, Performing Arts and Film Studios, Music Instruction, Artisan Craft Gallery, Entertainment Production Studios and Event Venues and Agritourism (activities on a farm or ranch that allows the public to participate in rural activities for entertainment, education or recreation, a venue which has become very popular in our region).

There are still  months until this Plan reaches  a "finished" status. But the team is seeing the end of the tunnel and is as eager as the public  to have another round of important input before wrapping it up.  So keep an eye on the Village Calendar and notices in the Courier Journal, for dates of the remaining monthly open meetings and the relatively soon to come "Final Public Session(s) '', because now is the time you can still have input on the future of your home  and  community.