Area planners brace for rapid growth

By TOM KANE

Growth is always an issue facing county planners under normal circumstances, but rapid growth challenges planners in the extreme, no matter how experienced.

Local and state demographics show that population growth and development are moving steadily northward, mainly from the metropolitan New York area. Orange County has experienced intense growth that is taxing its resources and infrastructure and eating up its open space.

How fast that growth travels into Sullivan County—with or without casinos—is the question of the moment.

“No doubt about it, growth is going to be fast even without casinos,” said John Riley, executive vice president of the First National Bank of Jeffersonville. “With casinos coming, the stakes are going to be a lot higher if we don’t plan well. The job that I see for [Sullivan County Commissioner of the Division of Planning and Community Development] Bill Pammer is to sell the need for good planning right now to the local officials in the towns since land-use power is in their hands.”

Sullivan 2020

What is Pammer going to do to meet the rapid pace? On board since May 2004, Pammer has revved up the rewriting of the county’s comprehensive plan, a process started by former planning commissioner Alan Sorensen.

In a spirited effort to bring about change, Pammer initiated his planning called Sullivan 2020, held community meetings to gather information about important issues on the minds of county residents and created a county-wide steering committee of citizens, local officials and businesspeople to generate ideas and act as a sounding board for projects he wishes to initiate.

“There’s been a level of complacency for the last 30 years in the county that has to be changed,” Pammer said. “I grew up here and I’ve seen it.”

“Things like Sullivan 2020 are important,” said Robert Burrows, a member of the 2020 Steering Committee from the Town of Highland. “In the face of rapid growth I think the county has to give us some data on what’s happening now in regard to increased growth to motivate people. Everybody doesn’t agree that quick growth is going to happen in our town. I also think that the county has to help towns like ours redo their comprehensive plan so that we’ll be ready when rapid growth happens.”

Inter-municipal cooperation

“Inter-municipal cooperation is the biggest challenge the planning department has to face as the pace of growth quickens,” Pammer said. “It’s going to be key to coordinate all the political jurisdictions in the county as they look at planning.”

As an example, his department has begun dialogues with the school districts in projecting realistically what the enrollments are going to be in the future, he said. “They’re going to need this as they face future growth.

“As far as towns and villages are concerned, we need to make a checklist for them on what they need to look at in regard to infra-structure, zoning, residential development, technical assistance they need from us, etc.” he said.

“We have several examples of inter-municipal cooperation going on now,” Pammer said. “The Town of Fallsburg and the Village of Woodridge have joined efforts to promote several joint infrastructure projects,” he said. Other examples are cooperation between Thompson and the county to construct a major housing project; Rockland and Mamakating are coordinating on a flood management project. “There are a number of other joint projects in the works. We’re building dialogue and working relationships on issues that have a regional impact.

“And we’re all this without compromising home-rule,” he said. “It’s a question of getting them to see it.”

An urbanized county and a green space

Pammer said that people shouldn’t be afraid as the rapid pace moves the county towards being an urbanized county. “It’s inevitable,” he said. “There will be a concentration of population more in the eastern part of the county with the western county being a kind of green space. That gives the west a unique character. I’ve seen that happen in other areas of the country,” he said. “One method [to develop green space] is to encourage farmers to give a portion of their farms to cluster housing while the rest of the farm remains operating,” he said.

Lesson from Orange County

“Sullivan County has to move through the kinds of things that Orange did about five to ten years ago,” said David Church, Orange County planning director. “What we’ve done and are still doing is offering a full range of assistance programs to towns in things like helping them write grants and offer them technical assistance that they otherwise would not get.”

Orange now gives grants to help towns develop a comprehensives plan. “The comprehensive plan is key to a town and which will guide them to insure smart growth as they face the future,” he said. “Sullivan may have to do that. It will help them manage development and be able to choose the best design in dealing with a particular development.”

Experience is the best teacher, Church said.

“What’s going to be a challenge for Sullivan County is to realize that they have choices,” he said. “They don’t have to accept everything that developers throw at them.” When growth is rapid, many things will be thrown at them that they don’t have to take, he said.

One good program that Sullivan has in place and Orange does not is the Main Street Revitalization Program. “That program is giving Sullivan a leg up,” he said.

Another thing Orange did that Sullivan could imitate is to create an Orange County Planning Federation made up of town officials and business people, he said.

“Also, we’re offering training sessions, not only for officials, but for their staffs as well,” Church said. “These folks are the gatekeepers and they have to be informed and on board.”

The Pike County experience

“There’s no doubt that our growth has been pretty rapid,” said Michael Mrozinski, Pike County director of planning. In 1970, the population was 12,000, “now its 53,000 and counting,” he said.

“As people leave the metropolitan area looking for a home, they head west and end up liking what they see in Pike County—low taxes, easy commute to New York City, beautiful scenery, beautiful towns.”

Under growth pressures, Pike is getting the residents more involved. “To begin with, we decided to redo our comprehensive plan but with a new intensity. At the beginning of the comprehensive process a few months ago, we surveyed our residents to find out what they think the main issues are in facing growth,” he said. “We held a series of public hearings throughout the county to get their input further. Now, we’re going to create a number of scenarios that will show residents where we’ll be in 20 years, or 30 years. People in the townships need to see this.”

Our river towns

In part due to the efforts of the Visioning the Upper Delaware initiative, town officlas and residents have been exploring different land use techniques and studying other areas that have experienced rapid growth.

Beyond a doubt, planning is in the works and is revving up to meet the challenge.