City of Kingston, NY Waterfront Implementation Plan and Brown field Opportunity Area Nominations
The City of Kingston Local Waterfront Plan Implementation Strategy evaluated market opportunities and design issues related to redevelopment of sixty acres of land along the historic Rondout Creek. The Plan was designed to accelerate plan implementation, facilitate remediation of environmentally contaminated properties, resolve local land use conflicts, provide improved access to the waterfront and stimulate significant new investment in the area to create new jobs and a stronger tax base for the City.
The preferred land use and design strategy will guide commercial growth and relocation of existing industrial users. The plan focuses on the implementation of carefully crafted design and development standards to extend the Rondout historic district, create a cluster of small museums and facilitate the relocation of industrial users including a major scrap metal dealer. The plan demonstrates that it does not take an enormous amount of land to generate a significant economic enhancement. Through direct outreach to current industrial property owners the process diffused tension and demonstrated to the community how targeted development incentives can encourage long term land-intensive users to relocate from irreplaceable waterfront property on the Hudson River and the Rondout Creek.
The project was guided by a significant public involvement process that included close coordination with a project Steering Committee, a series of community meetings, individual meetings with waterfront business and property owners and a series of focus groups with key project stakeholders. Planning decisions were supported by extensive technical documentation including a detailed inventory and analysis of current conditions and an economic and market assessment, including a target industry analysis. The final product identifies appropriate land uses and a preferred redevelopment alternative; recommended zoning changes and design guidelines to implement the selected redevelopment strategy; a detailed action plan to implement identified changes and improvements; and a marketing strategy to redevelop vacant or abandoned sites along the waterfront. The Plan was recognized by the Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association for Outstanding Comprehensive Plan. Our partners included Swiger Consulting, Synthesis Architects and Chazen Engineering and Land Surveying.
River Street also prepared a nomination for the Brownfield Opportunity Area for the City. The Nomination provides an in-depth and thorough description and analysis, including an economic and market trends analysis, of existing conditions, opportunities, and reuse potential for properties located in the proposed BOA with an emphasis on the identification and reuse potential of strategic sites that are catalysts for revitalization.
