Greenway Approves Rockland's Compact Strategy

The Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council approved Rockland County’s Greenway Compact strategy at its board meeting in Hyde Park on Wednesday.

Rockland now joins Dutchess, Westchester and Putnam counties in the Greenway Compact. Ulster and Orange Counties are both developing Greenway compacts and should soon follow.

Greenway Compacts are often referred to as “grass roots regional planning.” They are locally directed voluntary regional planning documents that serve as guidance for municipalities to incorporate the balanced “Greenway Criteria.” They’re also a regional perspective in local planning and land use decisions.

"Rockland County has long-shared the Greenway's planning approach of thinking regionally as communities plan locally," said Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. "We are grateful to the Hudson River Valley Greenway Council for providing a grant to help create this Plan, and we look forward to working with our Greenway partners throughout the region and within Rockland to carry out the Plan's goals."

Rockland’s recently completed comprehensive plan, Rockland Tomorrow, will serve as the Greenway Compact Plan for the county. The plan represents Rockland's vision for the future by balancing growth with good planning principles and the protection of natural resources. The development process recognizes a variety of resources, plans and concepts that are already in place. Rockland County’s Compact will provide planning assistance and guidance to its municipalities, businesses and civic leaders in an effort to strengthen local and regional economies, protect the unique natural and cultural resources, and work to ensure sustainability.

"We are pleased to become a Compact Plan community, and we will be encouraging the County's towns and villages to adopt the Compact Plan to further these efforts and gain the financial and procedural benefits that come with adoption,” said Rockland County Legislative Chairwoman Harriet Cornell.

The Greenway’s Compact framework provides the communities in the Hudson River Valley the tools they need to protect what they value and grow in ways beneficial to both the individual community and the region as a whole. The five intersecting criteria that guide the Greenway’s effort are:

• regional planning
• economic development
• public access
• natural and cultural resource protection
• heritage and environmental education.

“I applaud Rockland County for taking this important step toward shaping the regional vision for its part of the Hudson River Valley. The Greenway Compact program is a true example of grassroots regional planning,” said Mark Castiglione, Acting Executive Director of the Hudson River Valley Greenway. “Providing the tools and options that are consistent with the balanced approach of the Greenway, Compacts provide municipalities with guidelines that enable them to not only tackle local planning issues, but also to more effectively address the many planning issues that transcend municipal boundaries.”

“The Rockland County Planning Department is pleased to now have the Greenway Compact Plan in place to use as a guide when we conduct our land use reviews," said Rockland County Planning Commissioner Thomas Vanderbeek. "The Compact Plan helps to provide a regional context for local planning efforts, and the voluntary participation of municipalities in county Compact programs preserves local decision-making authority while providing expanded opportunities for regional cooperation."

The Greenway Compact Program encourages the development of coordinated county by county land use planning. The goal of the Greenway is for all of the 14 counties and 316 communities within the legislatively defined Greenway area to develop regional Greenway Compacts. The Greenway Compact process strikes a balance between regional coordination and the traditional home rule powers that New York State communities enjoy. While participation in the Greenway Compact is voluntary, it provides the mechanism for communities to share common values and inter-municipal cooperation.

"Adoption of a Compact Greenway Plan for Rockland County has been a goal of the Rockland Riverfront Communities Council (RRCC) for several years,” said RRCC President Marie Lorenzini. “As the mission of the Riverfront Council mirrors many goals of the Hudson River Valley Greenway, adoption of Rockland Tomorrow as Rockland's Greenway Compact Plan will now provide the Council with a document that can guide us to better achieve these goals as an inter-municipal organization."

The Hudson River Valley Greenway is a unique state-sponsored program established by the Greenway Act of 1991. Presently, 259 out of the 316 eligible municipalities within the Greenway area have become Greenway Communities. It provides technical assistance and small grants for planning, capital projects, and water trail and land-based trails that reinforce the Greenway Criteria. In keeping with the New York tradition of home rule, the Greenway program has no regulatory authority. The participation of municipalities in Greenway programs and projects is entirely voluntary.

Visit http://hudsongreenway.ny.gov for more information on the Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities

Visit http://hudsongreenway.ny.gov/Planning/Compact.aspx for more information on the Greenway Compact Program