Rockland Prepares to Update Plans for Future Growth

As New York’s smallest county continues to grow, County Executive Ed Day has called for an update of its 2011 “Rockland Tomorrow” comprehensive plan. To accomplish that goal,  the firm of Buckhurst, Fish and Jacquemart (www.bfjplanning.com) has been retained to work  with  the County’s  Planning Department and its newly formed Citizens Advisory Committee to create an updated comprehensive plan dubbed “Envision Rockland County.” 

BFJ Planning, along with members of the County’s planning department and twenty volunteer stakeholders, held their first meeting at New City’s Public Library on Wednesday evening, March 19. BFJ’s lead planner, Susan Favate, took the opportunity to lay out a strategy for getting as much public input as possible as the County prepares to update its plans for future growth. 

John Lyons, representing County Executive Ed Day, thanked all the people who volunteered to serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), as well as the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). They spent more than an hour brainstorming ways to engage the public and poll as many residents as possible to get local input on how transportation, housing, employment and quality of life issues can be addressed. Among the volunteers are representatives from NYSERDA, Clarkstown Parks & Recreation, Leadership Rockland, United Way and the Rockland Business Association.  

338,000 people live in Rockland County, and no one disputes that number will continue to grow. Since it is considered the “Gateway to the Hudson,” county planners need to be certain Rockland  will have the tools necessary to make it as accessible and successful as possible, attracting new businesses, building new housing and preserving parkland while managing growth and transportation issues.

The project will be conducted over the next 18 months in conjunction with BFJ Planning, joined in the endeavor by Urbanomics of New York City, Arch Street Communications of Tarrytown and McLaren Engineering, formerly of West Nyack. The Citizens Advisory Board will play an instrumental role in collecting data from the public at the plethora of public and private events that are ongoing in Rockland, and plans for a website specifically to keep the public updated is in the works.  

The Citizens Advisory Committee plans to hold two more meetings (to be announced) before the final draft of the new Comprehensive Plan is available. Look for volunteers at your local craft fair, farmers market and other popular venues who will be collecting Rocklanders’ ideas and opinions on ways to make the county a greater place to live, work and play.