RIVER STREET PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
Lead Planner. Margaret Irwin, Principal
River Street Planning and Development is a professional planning firm that focuses on consensus and capacity building, comprehensive planning, community and economic development and resilience. River Street will conduct comprehensive public outreach to ensure extensive community feedback is gathered and heard.
RIVER STREET PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
Lead Planner. Margaret Irwin, Principal
River Street Planning and Development is a professional planning firm that focuses on consensus and capacity building, comprehensive planning, community and economic development and resilience. River Street will conduct comprehensive public outreach to ensure extensive community feedback is gathered and heard.
From 2019 to early 2021, the Copake Waterfront & Hamlet Revitalization Project used funds from the New York State Department of State (DOS) to enable the Town of Copake and its residents to develop a waterfront, revitalization, recreation and tourism plan for the Bash Bish Brook, Roeliff Jansen Kill and Taghkanic Creek. Development of the 2021 Copake Waterfront and Community Revitalization Plan was guided by Copake's Project Advisory Committee (PAC) and our team of project consultants led by River Street Planning and Development. A thorough community engagement process was conducted to inform the plan.
Planning for the Waterfront and Hamlet Revitalization Project was funded by the New York State Department of State under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund.
project advisory committee.
The Project Advisory Committee (PAC) helped oversee the Waterfront & Community Revitalization Plan project as the sounding board for the Town of Copake. The PAC provided input on local issues; helped focus the project; reviewed draft and final documents; assisted in the public outreach process; and assisted in the review and selection of key projects and project priorities that were addressed in the Copake Waterfront and Community Revitalization Plan.​ ​ Review PAC meeting notes here.
PAC Members.
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Roberta Roll (Chair)
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Lenny Barham
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Andy Fisher
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Alan Friedman
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Peter Kelly
Town Board Liaison.
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Jeffrey Judd
Image by G Johansen from Pixabay
community engagement.
A robust community engagement approach was followed to gather input for the waterfront and community revitalization plan. Townwide outreach including mailers, website development, newsletters and multiple surveys on vision, goals, catalyst projects, Copake trails network and local flooding challenges. Field work and the Project Advisory Committee Walk and Talk took place in November 2019, followed by the first community workshop in February 2020. Two small focus group meetings were held online in August 2020. The second community engagement event was held as an online zoom workshop in February 2021. Multiple online surveys were launched over the course of plan development, including a flood survey to help understand flooding of private property in Copake; a vision and goals survey; trails survey asking how people use trails, desired amenities and ideas for new trails; and a follow up survey to projects discussed at community meetings.
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Catalysts and Priority Projects Workshop, Feb. 3, 2021
On Saturday, February 13, 2021, nearly 80 participants joined the online community workshop to discuss progress on the Copake Waterfront & Community Revitalization Plan. Participants learned about and provided valuable feedback on the proposed vision, goals and priority and catalyst projects. Read meeting notes or review the presentation here.
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Recreation Working Group, Aug. 20, 2020
This working group on recreation and revitalization met online to discuss recreation resources including fishing, waterfront access, pocket parks, and hiking and bicycling trails, including a potential spur from the Harlem Valley Rail Trail into the hamlet of Copake. Read meeting notes here.
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Flood Mitigation & Wildlife Working Group, Aug. 10, 2020
This volunteer working group met online to provide additional input to supplement the PAC and community ideas on flood mitigation, wildlife habitat, and land and agriculture preservation in Copake. Read meeting notes here.
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Dialogue and Design Workshop, Feb. 22, 2020
The first community workshop was held in person at Town Hall prior to a pause in large group gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 65 community members attended to learn about and provide input on the waterfront and community revitalization plan. The community discussed the potential projects at key sites, strengths and weaknesses that could influence the strategy, the impact of localized flooding, need for improved fishing access, and significance of the Copake Spur, among other topics. Review the workshop presentation, meeting notes, SWOT, and interactive project and waterway maps. ​
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