Hyde Park's plan needs help

Editorial Poughkeepsie Journal March 11, 2005

Hyde Park runs the risk of encouraging sprawl in some unwelcome places under proposed zoning changes.
It should go back to a vision offered in an earlier comprehensive plan, one that encouraged commercial growth in existing centers, rather than on the outskirts of town.
The town has been trying to update its zoning laws for years, but there have always been impediments. One proposal failed 2-2 after last-minute political shenanigans involved keeping a board member from voting over a conflict of interest.
Now, a new zoning plan is in place and it could be adopted by the end of this month. But it's drastically different than the comprehensive plan the town agreed upon in 1997.
Supervisor Yancey McArthur says it's 2005, not 1997, and it's time to evolve. The town may create five ''neighborhood'' commercial districts -- one on Route 9, two on 9G, one on Salt Point Turnpike and one on Dorsey Lane -- that most likely will turn into strip malls.
The proposed zoning changes, only finalized by the zoning review committee on March 1, are so severe that the town will have to revise the comprehensive plan to make them compatible. That's the wrong way to go about planning. The visions should dictate the zoning, not the other way around.
Officials in Hyde Park have been inundated lately with development proposals. Among them are the 317-unit Crofton Mews and 84-unit Stoneledge apartment complexes for seniors, and the 162-unit Maple Ridge Townhouses. Other proposals are moving forward in the approval process, such as a gigantic apartment complex on Route 9, featuring 61 buildings and 732 units. As currently envisioned, the zoning laws would allow too much strip development along routes 9 and 9G. Businesses should be grouped in the existing commercial areas. This would strengthen these business areas and enable people to walk from store to store, making shopping easier in those places.
Growth should, and will, occur in the town. The question is what kind and where. The answer will definitely shape the future.
MEETING MONDAY The Hyde Park town board will hold a workshop on the zoning changes on Monday, at 7 p.m. at town hall, 4383 Albany Post Road,

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