The Town of Rhinebeck Comprehensive Plan
Town Hall
80 East Market Street - Rhinebeck, New York 12572
therhinebeckplan.org
copyright 2004
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary@TheRhinebeckPlan.org
<- back to List of CoverageThis is the fifth in a series of columns about the results of the recent, town-wide survey distributed by the Comprehensive Plan Committee. Previous columns discussed community character, residential development, business development and transportation. For a complete presentation of survey results, log onto The Rhinebeck Plan Web site - www.TheRhinbeckPlan.org
Rhinecliff, unlike any other neighborhood in the Town of Rhinebeck, is on a cusp of change. But, like the other neighborhoods in Rhinebeck, as reflected in the survey taken by the Comprehensive Plan Committee, residents want to retain Rhinecliff's individual character.
Settled in the late 17th century by Dutchmen from Kingston as a river-oriented freehold, it owners could sell, bequeath and trade their land as they wished. Over time, it evolved as a self-contained, densely populated hamlet dependent on river and railroad transportation rather than on agriculture. With an invigorating sense of community, it has always thought of itself as separate from Post Road Rhinebeck, whose first settlers were Palatine Germans farming under leases that kept them tenants of the Beekman and Livingston families. However, the population of inland Rhinebeck has always been more numerous than Rhinecliff. By the middle of the 19th century it was also more prosperous.
Until recently, the hamlet was the section of Rhinebeck where living space, both to rent and to buy, was available and affordable. Then suddenly, it became fashionable, and prices soared. Fortunately, those who live in the hamlet are aware that utmost care must be taken to shepherd it into a future that will preserve its integrity as a vibrant, diverse and defined community.
At the visioning session held by the Comprehensive Plan Committee in July 2003 the over sixty hamlet residents assembled voiced their concern that development of the large properties surrounding it - Creed Ankony, a cow breeding farm; Holy Cross, an abandoned school for delinquent youths; and Ellerslie now happily being cleared for a horse farm, but who knows its long term future -- will radically alter the hamlet's cohesiveness. Top on their list of hopes for the town's revised comprehensive plan is that it will provide a greenbelt that would surround the existing hamlet to keep it from bleeding into an amorphous swash of housing. The advantages to the entire Rhinebeck community of such a greenbelt would be that it could be used for biking, walking, and even horseback riding. It would become a part of entire town's vision of linking the Hudson River at Wilderstein to the Village by recreational trails. It need not be wide its whole length. Following a natural route, it could be just wide enough to preserve the distinctive outlines of the hamlet.
This is not to deny the commercial development of Rhinecliff. After all, it once was a thriving self-sustained community with groceries, soda fountains, shoemakers, variety stores and, yes, taverns. It still has the town's only railroad station, and also its own post office, fire house and community center. But, because of its up and down and rock-laden topography, Rhinecliff has little available parking space. Commuters' automobiles are already lining the streets. Should the Dock ever be developed to its full potential - a likely recommendation of the Comprehensive Plan Committee - parking for boat trailers and the trucks that pull them will have to be found. So, too, will parking spaces for tourists, train commuters and new businesses. To turn any of Rhinecliff's narrow roads into a busy thoroughfare would destroy the very qualities that make the hamlet so attractive.
The thing to keep in mind when pondering the future of Rhinecliff is that one of its most remarkable features is how well the built environment and the natural environment harmonize. It is the product of a long history and of slow caring growth and should not be destroyed. None of the problems it confronts today - physical integrity, parking and roads -- will be easy to solve. But by pooling resources, the Comprehensive Plan Committee and Rhinecliff residents can arrive at a plan that will answer the hopes of both town and hamlet. In essense, they are the same.
Who we are and how to reach us
The Comprehensive Plan Committee is a 22-member panel of Rhinebeck residents representing diverse backgrounds and interests, working to develop an updated, creative Comprehensive Plan for the future. Please give the Committee the benefit of your point of view by writing info@TheRhinebeckPlan.org or joining a discussion board at www.TheRhinebeckPlan.org
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The Town of Rhinebeck Comprehensive Plan |