by Sara Pasti
Co-Chair, Comprehensive Plan Committee
The April issue of the Beacon Dispatch included a summary of findings from the Beacon Basic Studies Inventory and Analysis document prepared by city planning consultants Frederick P. Clark Associates. As indicated in that article, the Inventory and Analysis document shows where Beacon has been and where it is now and provides the basis for the comprehensive plan that will soon begin to shape Beacon’s future physical, economic, social and environmental development and conservation.
Since April, significant progress has been made toward the completion of the comprehensive plan, currently scheduled to be presented in draft form to the City Council and the public at the end of the year. Of primary importance during the summer months has been the involvement of Beacon’s residents in the planning process. This involvement ensures that the Comprehensive Plan truly represents the needs and interests of the entire city.
Community Visioning Workshops
In June, four visioning workshops were held over an intensive two-week period. These workshops were held in elementary schools throughout the city to encourage participation by a diverse group of residents. Attendance levels varied, ranging from 20 to 65 people. Participants represented a wide cross-section of residents of all ages and ethnicities. In total, more than 120 people attended the workshops.
At the workshops participants answered questions about Beacon’s quality of life and their experience of living here, including their concerns and their hopes for the future. Several clear themes and directions emerged from participants’ responses, as follows:
Small Town in a City
• Maintain Beacon’s small-town atmosphere
• Ensure that new development is consistent with the scale and pattern of the existing built environment
• Maintain Beacon’s cultural, economic and racial diversity
Natural Beauty, Historic Heritage
• Protect, enhance and promote Beacon’s natural features
• Return vacant buildings to economic use
• Target underutilized infrastructure and properties for recreation and/or community use
• Acquire open space
Main Street
• Link Main Street, the riverfront and the train station
• Improve Main Street’s “transition” area between the East and West Ends
• Strengthen Main Street businesses
• Increase the commercial tax base to stabilize rising residential property taxes
• Cultivate the growing artist community as an economic driver, but
also diversify the business mix to create jobs and ensure that Beacon
is self-sufficient—Beacon should not become a bedroom community
Government’s Role: Community Development and Services
• Improve community relations with the Police Department and increase the Department’s effectiveness
• Establish a community center for seniors and young adults
• Encourage good quality design in new houses and new business structures
• Encourage good quality, affordable housing
• Improve Route 52 with regard to visual aesthetics and commercial development opportunities
• Rezone the central part of Main Street to create a central square
and encourage the development of new housing above the ground floor in
order to increase residential density in this section of the Beacon
• Rezone Beekman Street for new housing and require urban design that connects the riverfront areas to Main Street
A Summary Report of the Community Visioning Workshops was prepared by consultants BFJ Planning. This document contains all recorded responses to five specific questions asked at each of the four workshops. It provides a valuable snapshot of residents’ hopes and concerns at this particular time in the City’s history. Participants’ visions for Beacon’s future are summarized in this statement:
“Nestled between the Hudson River and Mount Beacon, the City of Beacon is a place of striking beauty. This is where we proudly invest in preserving our small-town character, protecting, enhancing and promoting our natural environment and historic features, cultivating our racially-, culturally- and economically-diverse community, and maintaining a high quality of life within safe, walkable and attractive neighborhoods.”
Public Opinion Surveys
In addition to the Visioning Workshops, surveys were mailed to every Beacon household and made available to the public at City Hall and the Howland Public Library. These surveys included a series of questions and priority choices that addressed Planning Goals, Community Services, Housing Types, and Land Use Policy and also offered opportunities for residents to record their Vision for Beacon and provide general demographic information. A total of 524 completed surveys were returned, representing returns from approximately 10% of all households (an expected rate of return). Results from the surveys are now being used in conjunction with visioning workshop responses to develop draft chapters for Beacon’s new comprehensive plan.
Next Steps
The Beacon Comprehensive Plan Committee is currently meeting every two weeks to gather input from key stakeholders and experts, including business owners, directors of facilities, City of Beacon staff, and many others on topics that include housing, economic development, community facilities, infrastructure and land use.
Following several months of meetings to gather input, the Comprehensive Plan Committee will work with its consultants Frederick P. Clark Associates to prepare a draft plan for presentation to the public and the City Council. Public hearings will be held to gather additional public input prior to the completion of the plan and its presentation to the City Council for approval.
For information about the comprehensive planning process you may contact Committee Co-Chairs John Gunn at johnfgunn@verizon.net or Sara Pasti at sarapasti@aol.com. The public is also invited to attend meetings of the Planning Committee, dates and times of which are posted on the City’s web-site.
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For a copy of Beacon’s Basic Studies Document, a Comprehensive Inventory and Analysis of Beacon in 2006 providing current demographic, geographic, housing, land use and other information about Beacon:
http://www.cityofbeacon.org/Reports/comprehensive_plan_survey.htm
For a copy of the Summary Report of the Community Visioning Workshops, providing information about Beacon residents’ vision for the future of Beacon:
http://www.cityofbeacon.org/Reports/FINAL_Summary_Report.pdf
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