The New Lebanon Comprehensive Plan Committee was organized during the Spring of 2002 by the Planning Board of New Lebanon to begin a process of community discussion over the future of New Lebanon. The outcome of this discussion is designed to be a new Comprehensive Plan for New Lebanon. This Comprehensive Plan will replace the current one, adopted in 1965. It will serve as a statement of the vision residents have for the future of the Town and will express that vision in a series of objectives.
The Committee is made up of five members from the New Lebanon Planning Board, Tom Benson, David Mieschonz, Linda Poulton, and Peter Rawson and Jack Yurish. Other members are volunteers from the community, including Michael Arthur, Douglas Clark, John Dax, Chris Dreyfus, Karen Ross, Sue Roth and Vivian Steinberg, . Mr. Yurish serves as Chair of the Committee.
The process of building a vision statement and defining objectives is viewed as a cooperative venture among all New Lebanon residents. The Plan Committee expects to gather data about the population, economy, infrastructure, and environment and to gather input from residents through a series of public workshops, meetings and interviews. In addition, a survey will be mailed to all registered voters and property owners, soliciting views and comments from all residents. The Committee wants to take into account current facts about the community’s educational system, tourism, culture and history, environment, agriculture, traffic and transportation, recreation and entertainment, commercial and industrial enterprises, public facilities and services, and land use and housing and wants to use residents’ opinions and ideas to create a model for future opportunities in each of these areas. The Committee views this process of gathering comments and opinions from as many people as possible as critical to the success of the effort.
A professional municipal planner, Nan Stolzenburg, AICP, from Community Planning & Environmental Associates of Berne, N.Y., has been hired to guide the process of gathering data, designing the survey, tabulating and publicizing results, organizing and running a series of workshops, and overseeing the compilation of opinions and data. The Committee is seeking grants from the Hudson River Greenway Communities Council and other sources to fund this effort.
The Committee hopes to proceed in a timely way with this endeavor, gathering data immediately, developing the survey in August, mailing and tabulating results in September, holding public workshops and information sessions in October and November, and compiling and writing a series of objectives from that information beginning in December. When the Plan is written, a Public Hearing will be held, and the Town Board will vote on whether or not to accept the new Plan. If successfully passed, the Comprehensive Plan will serve as a framework for future town planning and for the creation and enforcement of zoning laws. It will also function as a source for ideas about building on the strengths of the town, and as a guide for dealing with the challenges of future growth and development.