The Greenway Compact Program is a voluntary community planning approach supported by the state for the 13 counties in the Hudson Valley region. Greenway Compact members are eligible for state grants, planning assistance, certain state liability protections, and other benefits. Dutchess County communities have already received more than $1.8 million in Greenway-related grants. The Greenway program is entirely voluntary, respects local home rule, and relies on incentives and guidelines rather than any new regulations or requirements.
To implement the program, Dutchess County created Greenway Connections, a highly-illustrated, easy-to-use sourcebook of inspiring ideas, how-to guidelines, and case study examples that are designed to help local officials and citizen groups make better decisions on improving our surroundings. It also describes the types of projects that are eligible for Greenway funding. The Guides offer detailed recommendations on a variety of current planning topics, from retrofitting commercial strips, saving farmland, designing conservation subdivisions, and creating walkable centers, to site specifics on signs, parking, lighting, and landscaping.
Greenway Connections sourcebook
Greenway Guides
The Centers and Greenspaces approach integrates regional land use, transportation, and ecological planning to help implement Greenway principles and prevent an expansion of current commercial strip and residential sprawl patterns. Recognizing that close-knit centers save surrounding greenspace, the overall goal is to encourage municipalities to identify both priority growth centers with positive development potential as well as natural and agricultural greenspaces for possible protection measures.
Centers and Greenspaces Guide (.pdf)
The Centers and Greenspaces map is designed as a vision map for future local and intermunicipal planning initiatives, and highlights four indispensable patterns:
Hudson River Valley Greenway
Visit New York State's Greenway website.
