Funding to Support Trails Planning, Public Access, and Community Revitalization
Sixteen Hudson Valley communities received a total of $136,100 in matching grants from the Hudson River Valley Greenway for projects that will help update zoning and comprehensive plans, create trails, and provide interpretation at historically significant sites. The grants were awarded by the Hudson River Valley Greenway Board of Directors at their recent meetings held in Hyde Park.
The Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program provides funding to participating Greenway Communities to further a regional planning strategy consistent with the five Greenway criteria: regional planning, natural and cultural resource protection, economic development, public access, and heritage and environmental education. The next deadline for Greenway Grants Program is September 8, 2017.
“These sixteen projects will help to improve walkability, provide an opportunity for interpretation of historic sites, and shape future growth and preservation in these communities. The Greenway is pleased to make these awards to assist in improving these communities,” said Scott Keller, Acting Executive Director of the Hudson River Valley Greenway.
The following projects will be supported by the Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program:
- $10,000 to the Village of Altamont, Albany County, to install a series of interpretative panels with bi-lingual text placed at historically significant sites throughout the village. Based on the Museum in the Streets (MITS) program.
- $7,500 to the Village of Green Island, Albany County, to review and revise its zoning code to update it in accordance with the Village’s Community Action Plan.
- $7,500 to the Town of Guilderland, Albany County, to create a pedestrian trail plan that will emphasize connections between neighborhoods, community facilities, and neighboring communities.
- $10,000 to the Town of New Scotland, Albany County, to consolidate the efforts of its planning committee and update its comprehensive plan.
- $7,500 to the Town of Chatham, Columbia County, to complete and implement a comprehensive plan.
- $10,000 to the Town of Ghent, Columbia County, to hire a consultant to audit its recently revised Commercial Zoning Code and assist with the review of its Residential and Agricultural Zoning code, to ensure consistency with the goals and objectives of the Town’s 2009 Comprehensive Plan.
- $5,000 to the Village of Millerton, Dutchess County, for its Eddie Collins Park Revitalization Plan. This will be a comprehensive recreational development plan to create a multi-purpose, outdoor recreational area used for athletics and special events by residents and the public at large.
- $10,000 to the Town of Red Hook, Dutchess County for development of a complete streets strategy which will keep a broader range of street types and standards for rural roads and traditional neighborhoods.
- $6,100 to the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, for the Wappinger Greenway Trail Restoration & Access Initiative. This grant provides funding to restore an important trail segment and access point which was washed away by erosion.
- $7,500 to the Town of Blooming Grove, Orange County, to update its comprehensive plan to reflect changes to the community’s vision as well as demographic and land development trends since the adoption of the Town’s comprehensive plan in 2005.
- $10,000 to the Town of Cornwall, Orange County, to reorganize and update its comprehensive plan.
- $7,500 to the City of Newburgh, Orange County, to implement a Complete Streets Phase II project. This is the second year rollout of a demonstration project to increase pedestrian safety, connectivity, and improve streetscapes in downtown Newburgh through low-cost intervention.
- $7,500 to the Village of Haverstraw, Rockland County, for its Riverside Development Concept Plan for a riverfront property adjacent to the village center.
- $10,000 to the Town of New Paltz, Ulster County, to address planning and zoning issues and create a ‘vision’ plan for the "gateway area" of the Town.
- $10,000 to the Town of Woodstock, Ulster County, to develop and implement a new comprehensive plan.
- $10,000 to the Village of Ardsley, Westchester County, to update their Comprehensive Plan and develop a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program Plan, the first village-wide planning process since 1964.
The Hudson River Valley Greenway is a unique state-sponsored program established by the Greenway Act of 1991. More than 84% of municipalities within the Greenway area have designated themselves as “Greenway Communities.” The program is designed to encourage projects and initiatives related to the intersecting goals of natural and cultural resource protection, regional planning, economic development, public access, and heritage and environmental education. It provides technical assistance and catalytic grant funding for planning, water and land trails, and other projects that reinforce these goals. In keeping with the New York tradition of home rule, the Greenway program has no regulatory authority and participation by municipalities in Greenway programs and projects is entirely voluntary. The Greenway also manages the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area in partnership with the National Park Service.
