The End of Open Space?
by Cynthia Owen Philip
As many of my readers have probably divined, the interconnectedness of things appeals to me. Events, objects and even people are like rings made by pebbles thrown into still water. Their circles grow wider and wider. Sooner or later they intersect.
The environment in which we live has that same relatedness. Take our fair, rolling countryside. A few more houses are going up, but it is more or less bucolic. There may not be so many cows as yesteryear, but there's still plenty of open space: sweeping hayfields, upland meadows, steep cedar-strewn slopes, great estate lawns.
I hear from all sides, however, that this cherished rural character is seriously threatened. Large projects are being planned that will have severe impacts—vastly increased truck and personal motor vehicle traffic, ground water and stream pollution, devastation of scenic ridge lines, for instance. They'll reach far beyond the towns in which they're located. Even with our many excellent land management tools, the only way for the towns affected to deal with them is to work together toward common goals while the projects are still in the planning stage.
A case in point is the sports-oriented development now being planned on 400 acres in the town of Milan and 1800 acres in the town of Pine Plains. (For those of you who drive the Taconic, it's the Carvel property above the Route 199 intersection.) It is slated to have nearly a thousand residences. Although currently envisioned as second homes, they would increase the population of both towns dramatically. The development began in the 1970s with an 18-hole golf course, a club house, a maintenance facility and a scattering of houses, mostly in Milan. Plans are to totally refurbish this section and, over the entire property, to add nine more holes of golf, a practice range, tennis courts, an equestrian center and 975 dwelling units—a few garden apartments, the rest on one- and two-acre lots, some on six-acre lots. The crowning ornament will be a club house and restaurant complex at the very top of the highest ridge, which the public at large will be invited to join. The existing public roads will remain open, but the new roads will be private. While not exactly a gated community, there will be no reason for anyone but residents and their guests to use them.
As I write, the Hudson Valley Club, as this new community is called, is just entering the state environmental review process. In addition to the two towns, there are twelve "involved agencies" and fourteen "interested agencies." ("Involved" and "interested" are terms of art relating to degree of impact. They range from the New York State DEC to local Conservation Advisory Commissions.)
The two towns have been working together for several months to figure out which questions that concern them both should be asked of the developer. In addition, Milan has adjusted its border zoning to conform to the land use of its neighbors. (Regrettably, Pine Plains still has no zoning ordinance, although it has a comprehensive plan ready to send to the electorate.) That's a good start at broad planning.
An even more gigantic residential development is planned for the 524 acres between Route 32 and the west bank of the Hudson River in the City of Kingston and the Town of Ulster. It's designed to contain 2182 dwelling units in 408 mid-rise and 248 low-rise apartment buildings: 764 garden apartments, 640 town houses, and 122 single family houses. There will be extensive commercial space as well. Called "The Landing," because that's where the Kingston-Kipsbergen (Rhinecliff) ferry berthed from 1751 to 1851, the plans look more like an updated Levittown-on-Hudson to me. Among the impacts worrying communities on our side of the river—especially Rhinebeck—are the cluttering of the view shed, the disturbance of the flood plain, the glare of night-time lighting, and the cars that will be added to Rhinecliff's already overburdened Amtrak parking lots. This development has passed through the first stages of state environmental review. Fourteen involved agencies, fourteen interested agencies and seven required mail destinations are participating.
Several industrial projects are in the works as well. To the north, the proposed site of the enormous St. Lawrence Cement Plant in the Town of Greenport, outside Hudson, is within the famous view shed of Olana. Its central smoke stack would be six times taller than Olana's tower, and three times taller than the Statue of Liberty. In fact, it would be the tallest structure between New York City and Albany. It's estimated that toxic air from the plant would reach as far away as Maine within six hours. Moreover, the operation of the plant would require huge diesel trucks to make over 150 round trips a day carrying cement to New England and fly ash to whatever dumping grounds can be found.
Smaller, but no less arresting, is the proposed Red Wing Sand and Gravel mine on Turkey Hill in Milan. It's estimated that this project would generate six trips every hour, every working day, by 45-ton, 24-wheel dump trucks lumbering—or speeding—down country roads.
Finally—for the moment—no plan has yet to be devised to protect our region from a mishap at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant to the south.
What to do?
There is no question that growth is coming to northern Dutchess and southern Columbia counties. Fortunately, the quality of that growth is still in the hands of its residents. A series of good organizations are already on hand to help us: Scenic Hudson, Friends of Hudson, Winnakee Land Trust and a plethora of town, state and federal planning agencies, including the Columbia and Dutchess Land Conservancies. Some, but not all, are subject to be called on for the State environmental review process, if indeed that review is set in motion. At this critical time, however, their work will not be enough. The alert, informed participation of every full time and second home resident will be needed. So, study up! Read the newsletters and flyers that come your way. Attend town planning board and special meetings. If you can't, write letters; they become a part of the record. Think regionally as well as locally. Talk planning with your friends. It's going to be a long haul. But I think you'll find helping to shape the environment within which you live is a great satisfaction. In short, working for "smart growth," as they call it, is certainly far better than resigning yourself forever to hapless, dumb growth. Once something is built, it's virtually impossible to unbuild it, at least for the next fifty years!
