Concerns include community character, funding
The Cold Spring Village Board on Wednesday (Feb. 19) received a report from a consultant it hired to examine how the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for the Hudson Highland Fjord Trail addresses potential impacts on the village.
Ted Fink of Greenplan, who attended via Zoom, reviewed his 42-page analysis with the board and went over what he considers shortcomings, including:
■ New York State Parks, the lead agency for the DGEIS, chose the generic approach to assessing the Fjord Trail, rather than a Site-Specific Environmental Impact Statement. A more detailed analysis may be required in certain areas, such as the proposed route from Dockside to Little Stony Point, he said. “The Little Stony Point to Dockside stretch is a perfect place for a site-specific deep dive,” Mayor Kathleen Foley said in response. “Drill down at a level of specificity that the village, our waterfront and our community deserve. Once you build in the river, there’s no going back.”
■ The assessment of HHFT’s impact on village character is inadequate, Fink said. The DGEIS relies on a consultant’s assessment of regional impacts rather than Cold Spring’s vision of itself. State courts have stated that defining community character is the municipality’s prerogative, he said.
■ The relevance of Cold Spring’s Comprehensive Plan, Local Waterfront Revitalization Strategy and local zoning law assessments is not adequately considered, said Fink. DGEIS statements of “no impacts” are not substantiated and the assessment of zoning laws fails to address impacts on residential areas, he said.
■ New revenues are needed to offset village HHFT-related expenses, he said, despite the DGEIS conclusion that HHFT will have no impact on community services funded by the village. Details regarding a required HHFT endowment have not been made available for public review as part of the review process, he said.
■ The report understates HHFT’s potential impact on emergency services, he said. Village police and other first responders have expressed concern in particular about Dockside Park, which has only one road in and out.
Fink was asked to condense his findings and provide an executive summary that highlights the major concerns. The board will review the update at its Wednesday (Feb. 26) meeting.
In other business …
After closing a public hearing, the board granted a 10 percent property-tax exemption to volunteer first responders with two years of service. Putnam County, Philipstown, Nelsonville and the Haldane and Garrison school districts have enacted similar legislation.
Consultants hired by municipalities to attack a project have free rein to come up with just about any critique under the sun. They have no accountability and are naturally conflicted. It’s one of the reasons I quit this business.
Gosh, the same can be said of designers who are paid to please their clients. Sometimes it’s hard to say no. It does seem though, that asking pertinent questions from a huge developer is prudent.
After all my experiences here in Putnam Valley (Tim probably knows of at least a few) I would say that the bias, lack of accountability and conflicts usually work against the taxpayers rather than the government entities.
Tim Miller is spot on. And we, the taxpayers, both in Cold Spring and Philipstown, are paying for these “studies” at the behest of some of our elected officials in the hope they will endorse their agendas. Rather than loosely and irresponsibly claiming that “the people” want something, let’s hold a referendum — an objective survey — to understand what we all want. That would stop a lot of wasted time and taxpayer dollars. It’s time for transparency in our community.
Suggesting that the Fjord Trail should be put up for a referendum ignores state law. The draft generic environmental review pro-cess is governed under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR). The SEQR handbook states: “SEQR establishes a process to systematically consider environmental factors early in the planning stages of actions that are directly undertaken, funded or approved by local, regional and state agencies. By incorporating environmental review early in the planning stages, projects can be modified as needed to avoid adverse impacts on the environment.”
To this end, the planning firms hired by the Village of Cold Spring and Town of Philipstown — which are listed as involved agencies in the DGEIS and, for better or worse, would be directly impacted by construction of the Fjord Trail — have a directive to provide objective feedback about the prospective ways that building the Fjord Trail could impact local communities and the environment.
The DGEIS is neither a public referendum nor a popularity contest. Rather, it is a codified public comment period under state law. I am grateful for the expertise that the village and town boards have invested in this process. We elected them to represent us and our collective interests.
Do you know what would be expensive for taxpayers? Being financially responsible for a deteriorating boardwalk that begins falling into the river after repeated storms and flooding due to climate change.
Planning Board applications require the applicant to pay for the municipality’s consultants. The developer, Scenic Hudson/HHFT, is a private nonprofit. It is only because state parks asserts an occasional shared ownership of the project that the developer is able to claim exemption from village and town laws requiring Planning Board application and review.
That application process would have required Scenic Hudson/HHFT to pay for the cost of planning consultants to the village and town. Shame on Scenic Hudson/HHFT for shirking this responsibility simply because they are not “required” to.
The village and town boards are acting responsibly, engaging professionals and subject matter experts to inform and guide their decision-making. They have my thanks. They show us good government at work.