Washingtonville Comp Plan Wrapping Up - Will the Final Edit Reflect what the Community Asked For?
- ejreporter
- 5 hours ago
- 5 min read
Editorial
Washingtonville held what may be its second to final Public Hearing session, wrapping up Washingtonville’s new Comprehensive Plan. This time discussions progressed into code issues, after Planner Bonnie Franson presented a review of intent, content and methods. But the public spoke, largely along the same debates as earlier discussions, focusing on issues of where the Village might be able to to boost income, and the future of the 150-acre Casazza farmland piece along the Gateway into the Village. Owners of the property and their attorney complained that the zoning for too much of that land in the new Comprehensive Plan remains Agricultural Business and want more space alotted for "Affordable Housing". They said that Agriculture /Farming is no longer a viable business enteprise in New York. Statistics, however show otherwise and while some areas of New York currently have not continued as much farming as others, many farms have redesigned their business model to successfully offer kids activities like petting zoos, summer camp programs, crafts and entertainment along with home brewed beer and other drinks for both younger and older adults. Farm to table dinners and recreational activities at these farms are a highpoint in the lives of many area residents. Chester Agriculture and their Farm Store is in the adjacent town and has become a huge success.
Within a 10-mile vicinity of the Casazza Farm, just a few of those successes include: Blooming Hill Farm, Wright FamilyFarm, Roe’s Orchards, Lincolndale (Dembeck) Farm, Pine Hill Farm, Long Lot, C. Rowe & Sons, and more than a half dozen equestrian farms. Hay sales are also successful in surrounding towns, including at least one of them producing and selling about 20,000 bales a year.
The Statistics
No more farming in New York??
Actual statistics of the farming in our state shows that is still very active and successful in New York as per the following:
In 2024, New York had 30,650 farms, with farmland accounting for 21.6 percent of the state's area. Key agricultural products include: milk, corn, cattle, apples and eggs.
During the very lengthy development of this nearly completed plan, the owners had more than ample time to negotiate a variety of uses that would fit the desires of both their family and the community of which they are a part. While there is significant non-buildable wetland, there is still ample room for affordable housing to be developed in such a way that will not destroy the Village’s "Gateway View” and in fact it could be an attraction for both housing and recreation.
This beautiful historic farm brings with it owners who feel “It’s my land and I should be able to do what I want with it." The owner and attorney said “This is a ‘Taking’”, intimating that someone is stealing something that is rightfully theirs. But what about the rest of the community that relies on its image of historic beauty and mountain vistas. Many of them have also spent a lifetime or even several generations working and saving to secure their nests in an area with stunning views in the ”Country”. And what would happen to the success or failure of the community at large if their “brand” of likeminded people with similar goals of maintaining this Oasis out of the NYC's rush and dirt and crime with endless walls of concrete is obliterated? Like in many other areas of our lives, people seem to be stuck with 'all one thing or all another', with little or no common ground or significant effort to seek a place they can 'meet in the middle'.
And “Yes”, there is an important reason that thousands fled NYC during COVID…. So many in fact that roads had to be closed. I think we all still have a bit of PTSD about it. In the earlier days of Washingtonville, Blooming Grove and Cornwall, when tuberculosis attacked the City dwellers they came here for the clean, fresh and disease free air. And so, for them there is also a risk of a “Taking” of their life goals, the value of their homes, and to a certain extent a taking of their health if their environment is overbuilt There are numerous levels of reasonable perspective in this quadrangle of visions. The Owners and the Village and the County each have rights toward best land use policies, and in New York home municipalities have broad “Home Rule” powers. This is why the Town of Blooming Grove has kept a relatively good balance between housing and environment, while the Village of South Blooming Grove used their Home Rule powers to change their codes and build, build, build. The State of New York has certain areas where it can step in, especially where safety is concerned. But even then sometimes a municipality can override a new state decision unless it has an important (and very obvious) health or safety issue.
Further, there have already been numerous local issues of damages caused by overbuilding without proper drainage to the Southeast, from VSBG to and through parts of Monroe, and obviously some of these practices already made their way last year to the Moodna Creek, whose water resources were tinted with an illegally applied greenish dye to hide turbidity from a poor drainage system on steep slopes. The Moodna is crucial to Washingtonville's success and needs to be protected. If water discharges, sewage inflow and traffic grow more significantly they could create impacts that are not able to be mitigated. This is why it is important that Senator Skoufis has gotten a bill passed through the Senate that recognizes it as an important inland waterway.....an attribution that will (if passed by the House as well) open doors for grants and improved oversight.
Video - Taken last week - Poor planning once again caused flooding of Prospect Road in the Village of South Blooming Grove. The problem of "Clear-Cutting" should most of the time be considered poor planning, especially in areas with steep slopes because there is nothing left to absorb excess water as it flows downward. The Town is in litigation with New York's DEC for failure to oversee these drainage issues effectively and failure to issue appropriate fines and insist that Stop Work orders be respected on 2 projects, where the impacts cross municipal lines, and so the Town turned to the State of New York. Proper building codes, land use regulations and code enforcement must be written carefully into this new book of codes to do its best to keep this from happening in the Village of Washingtonville, and the Village also should vigorously complain if construction puts health and safety of residents and/or their homes at risk.
But here is the Catch-22, where additional housing is needed.IF an Owner, Town or Village trusts that the builder they plan to sell the land to is a reputable and honest firm, that is great. But, seller beware! Once it has changed hands the new owner is free to sell it to another builder who may or may not be as honest! This is not as uncommon as one might think. As the saying goes, "Money talks".
What the Community of Washingtonville Asked For - Recreation and Community Center, Protected View, Affordable Housing Small Shops,
No big buildings or warehouses, Senior Housing, Veterans Housing & a Community Garden.
The need for Affordable Housing is a very valid concern. However, it is never
ok to build past a level that begins to fail both human health, the natural health of the environment, and the quality of life of both its people and wildlife.
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