The Gardiner Town Board began reviewing a draft outline of an updated Town Comprehensive Plan from consultant David Church that included comments from the public at an Aug. 3 meeting at the Town Hall.

Based on conversations in late 2020 and into early 2021, the Town Board advanced a project to “update” the 2004 adopted Town Comprehensive Plan.

Church, who retired as Orange County’s planning commissioner in 2020 following 18 years of service, was hired by the Town of Gardiner to draft a revised Comprehensive Plan.

A town’s Comprehensive Plan helps guide decisions and investments. Its goals are intended to shape the overall pattern of development so that it conforms to the vision for the Town of Gardiner, which hasn’t updated its plan since 2004.

Residents were invited to comment and participate in revising the plan via a town-wide mailing to 2,600 individuals in May. Approximately 70 separate invitations were also sent to farmers and property owners inviting them to comment on the plan directly or to attend a July special meeting to discuss agriculture in the town.

The board’s Comprehensive Plan Worksheet is available on the town’s website and residents can still chime in with their opinions.

Supervisor Marybeth Majestic, however, said it is “getting a little late to do it since we’re starting to work on our drafts. They could still do it, but I’d say do it now. And then the next opportunity (to comment) will come during a public hearing.”

Majestic conducted one in-person interview at the Town Hall with the Gardiner Senior Resource Committee and also met with farmers and farm property owners at Majestic Park.

All other interviews used a combination of Zoom and phone-in options due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews with official Town boards and committees were recorded and were conducted as public meetings with a quorum of the applicable members present, along with members of the public able to observe.

Among the groups who participated included the Climate Smart Gardiner Task Force, the Town of Gardiner Planning Board, Gardiner Library staff, the Town of Gardiner Open Space Commission, the Gardiner Senior Resource Committee, the Town of Gardiner Parks & Recreation Committee, the Gardiner Association of Businesses, the Town of Gardiner Environmental Conservation Commission and farmers and farm property owners in Gardiner.

Over two dozen individual written comments were received. Some of those came as a follow up from individuals in group interviews and some from other individuals via phone or e-mail. Other opinions were received from Town of Gardiner Superintendent of Highways Brian Stiscia, representatives of the Wallkill River Watershed Association, Riverkeeper and the Mohonk Preserve.

Majestic said she was happy with the public engagement and said the input was critical to update the current plan.
“I was really impressed,” Majestic said. “I went to a fire department meeting and there were about 18 volunteer members there. They had good questions. They gave us good feedback. On a weekday night down at the park, we had 18 people show up for that. This is an opportunity for people to be heard. I would have been pleased with more than we did receive. But considering dealing with this through a pandemic, I’m pleased with what we’ve gotten with the outreach that we did.”

Church estimated that he had done 15 to 20 comprehensive plans as a consultant over the years. In Ulster County, Church said he’s worked on comprehensive plans for Saugerties, the Town of Plattekill, a collaborative effort with the towns of Wawarsing and Rochester and for Ulster County.

“It’s been fairly easy to get people to agree to be interviewed and comment,” Church said of his work in the Town of Gardiner. “Sometimes it’s really hard to pull people out, particularly in strange times like this. We weren’t quite sure whether people would agree to participate and how they would do it in the pandemic. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised with that.”

According to the updated draft presented to the Town Board, “the majority of the goals and recommendations of the 2004 (Comprehensive) Plan are still valid but need to be reviewed and refreshed with new perspectives. They also need fuller clarity and more action to implement, as repeatedly voiced by Town officials and citizens during the public engagement of this Plan Update.”

As a supplement, the Plan Update brings in some important, new elements to the Town Plan. These include:

• Sustainable Gardiner. Goals and actions toward the Town adapting to a changing climate while ensuring open space protection and a balance of economic, environmental and community sustainability.

• Housing Diversity and Affordability. Goals and actions towards the Town meeting the housing needs of the community and region at a time when a diversity of available housing has been shrinking.

• Senior Needs. Goals and actions for meeting the needs of resident seniors and older individuals who are a growing sector of the Town of Gardiner but who need unique facilities and services to remain active participants in the community.

• Natural Resources Inventory (NRI). Incorporation of the completed and adopted NRI, which includes documentation of the Town’s important natural, historic and scenic resources, and working landscapes, into the Comprehensive Plan and into planning and zoning decisions.

• Government Operations. Incorporation of goals and actions to maintain and improve a smart and efficient Town government matched to the other goals of the Comprehensive Plan.

Deputy Supervisor Laura Walls, who has been spearheading the project, said the Town Board will review the draft outline and the public comment section and meet in public again to work on the document in the near future. The plan can be modified until Dec. 15, when the board will adopt it in its final form.

“They have and they haven’t,” Walls replied when asked if things in Gardiner have changed significantly since the current Comprehensive Plan was adopted 17 years ago. “A lot of the goals are still very valid. There may be some wording changes and there will be some additions likely.”