Westchester's Greenway Plan Hailed as Model for Hudson Valley -- by the Half Moon Press

July, 2001 issue

Westchester's Greenway Plan Hailed as Model for Hudson Valley Westchester County's plan to preserve and enhance the scenic, historic and cultural resources of the Hudson River shoreline has been praised by a state agency as a model for other Hudson River Valley counties.

The Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council decided in June to adopt Westchester County's "Greenway Compact Plan," making it the second one to be endorsed in the 13-county Hudson River Valley region.

The plan includes projects such as the Hudson RiverWalk, County Executive Andy Spano's vision for a promenade that stretches from Yonkers to Cortlandt, and a unique signage program for the Route 9 area that will utilize a new logo to help draw people to downtowns, historic sites, parks and trailways. The signage program has been an ongoing project of the Historic River Towns of Westchester under the supervision of Diana Saltel, Associate Planner with the county planning department.

The 13 counties from Saratoga to Manhattan are working on plans to develop local projects that meet the overall goals of enhancing the region. Besides the recognition, counties and all municipalities in counties that have formally adopted plans could now be eligible for special benefits including grants, technical assistance and advantages over non-compact communities in competitive state funding.

The Westchester Compact Plan provides strategies for communities to work together to strengthen tourism and economic development, waterfront renewal, downtown revitalization and smart growth.

Carmella Mantello, executive director of the Greenway Communities Council, which was created in 1991 to provide a voluntary forum for regional planning in the Hudson River Valley, praised Westchester for its efforts in promoting regional planning and inter-municipal cooperation.

"The Westchester Compact Plan is a major accomplishment in the valley and we hope that other counties will follow the example set by Westchester," she said.

The Westchester Compact Plan is comprised of the County's long-range planning policy document "Patterns for Westchester" and four subregional plans which provide detailed strategies related to greenway objectives. John Chervokas, Supervisor of the Town of Ossining and Chairman of the Historic River Towns of Westchester, congratulated the County on the community-based involvement to draft the plan. "The plan provides valuable recommendations on how communities can work together to improve quality of life in the region," he said.

In order to qualify for the benefits, Westchester's municipalities must locally endorse the Westchester Greenway Compact Plan. The Village of Croton-on-Hudson, City of Peekskill and Town of Ossining will be convening public hearings in their communities soon to discuss the adoption of a local law endorsing the Compact Plan.