Poughkeepsie…Dutchess County Executive William R. Steinhaus was honored this morning at Hudson River Valley Greenway Joint Board Meeting for his extraordinary leadership in advancing the regional vision of the Greenway Compact.     County Executive Steinhaus was presented a Hudson River Valley Greenway Joint Board Proclamation by Barnabas McHenry, Chair of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council and Sara Griffen, Acting Chair of the Greenway Conservancy for the Hudson River Valley, Inc., commending him for his distinguished service to the communities and citizens of the Hudson River Valley Greenway.

In 1999, County Executive Steinhaus stated, “My goal is to provide such an attractive program of economic development initiatives, open space connections, trail networks, protection measures for important farm lands, scenic road recommendations and design guidelines for future development that every community in Dutchess County will choose to endorse the Hudson River Valley Greenway Compact.”      Today, many of those goals have been achieved.  

Dutchess County became the model Greenway county for the entire 13 county Hudson Valley region with the Greenway Connections Plan introduced in 2000.   The Greenway Connections program was prepared in cooperation with local municipalities as well as with the Greenway Council.

Just some of Dutchess County’s Greenway successes have included:

• Nearly 3,000 acres of land has been preserved through Dutchess County’s Partnership for Manageable Growth/Open Space and Farmland Protection Matching Grant Program (including pending projects.)    



• 29 out of 30 communities in Dutchess County have adopted changes to their zoning codes and joined the Greenway Comapct.



• More than $1.7 million has been awarded to Dutchess County communities in Greenway-related state grants.



• Dutchess County Department of Planning & Development has worked with a variety of municipalities from northern Dutchess to the City of Beacon to adopt Centers and Greenspaces plans and zoning laws that encourage both development and conservation in the right places.  Just this week, the Town of Red Hook was awarded a statewide Planning Federation award for its Centers and Greenspaces Plan.



• Quiet Cove Riverfront Park, on the banks of the Hudson River in the Town of Poughkeepsie, was created in a cooperative partnership agreement with New York State.



• Two major rail trails, the Harlem Valley Rail Trail and the Dutchess Rail Trail, have been created.

“We are proud of Greenway efforts and the positive impact those efforts have had on the quality of life here in Dutchess County.   It is an honor to be recognized for all of our work, but it  has truly been a collaborative effort that has produced tremendous results for our community,” concluded County Executive Steinhaus.