Schoharie’s Comprehensive Plan is a living, breathing roadmap for the future that balances character with economic growth.
That’s what consultant Nan Stolzenburgh and the volunteers who spent a year and a half rewriting the 30-year-old document told community members at public hearing on the draft changes and updates.
A power outage moved the meeting across the street from 300 Main to the Lutheran Church—as good a metaphor as any for the Advisory Committee, which worked through some difficult discussions to find the “sweet spot,” Ms. Stolzenburgh said.
The draft revisions lay out a vision for the community and its goals that looks about 10 years down the road, she said, and when adopted, will give the town, village, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals the backdrop for asking, “Does this decision get us closer to our ideal? Or not?”
Comprehensive Plans are requirements for any type of grant writing, and state agencies like DOT have to consider them when, for example, proposing things like eliminating Main Street parking.
Often, communities follow up a Comprehensive Plan review by looking at their subdivision and zoning regs; the town has already received a $90,000 Smart Growth Community Planning and Zoning Grant to plan for development and housing while mitigating their impact on the viewshed in the I-88 and Routes 7 and 30A corridor.
It’s that corridor, the Gateway to the Schoharie Valley, that concerned Councilwoman Marion Jaqueway at the hearing.
“There is only one Gateway,” Ms. Jaqueway said, and it needs to be protected; the language in the draft is “wishy-washy,” she said. “I feel like what is being allowed…caters to the developer. Exactly what size is the biggest building that can go in there [the Highbridge site]?”
Locking in those specifics is the job of the Land Use Law, answered Mayor and Advisory Committee member Colleen Henry.
“You do have to appease people for economic development,” added Jenna Risse, another Advisory Committee member and ZBA chair.
Both Ms. Jaqueway and Planning Board chair Dawn Johnson applauded the Advisory Committee on its work.
But holding up a well-worn copy of the Land Use Code, Ms. Johnson said she’d like to see a stronger definition of “community character.”
“And I’d like to see it get into the glossary for the Land Use Law,” she said.
Community character was on the list of concerns an Advisory Committee survey asked about.
Also: Economic growth, housing, environment, infrastructure, and qualify of life.
The document, Ms. Stolzenburgh said, has a lot of tools for the town and village to use in decision-making and includes maps that will eventually be “clickable.”
The entire draft is online at either the Town of Schoharie website at https://www4.schohariecounty-ny.gov/government/town-of-schoharie/ or the Village of Schoharie Website at https://www.schoharievillage.org/.
It’s also available at the town and village offices at 300 Main Street.
Deadline for written comments is 5pm Wednesday, March 12; the town and village will hold their own public hearing on the plan at 7pm on the 12th at their offices.
Changes can still be made in the plan; both the town and village will have to adopt it by resolution.
Comments can be dropped off at the town and village offices, mailed to PO Box 544 or 219, Schoharie, or emailed to schoharietownclerk@midtel.net or villscho@midtel.com.