GREENPLAN Inc.

GREENPLAN is skilled in the creation of planning opportunities. We develop innovative ways to plan for human needs while respecting the integrity of our cultural heritage and fostering the ecological balance of the natural world. The firm is directed by J. Theodore Fink, a Certified Planner who has been assisting public, private, and nonprofit agencies for the past 27 years. Mr. Fink has also been a Professor of Land Use Planning at Bard College's Graduate School of Environmental Studies. He previously worked at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's regional office in New Paltz on Wild and Scenic river projects and before was the Project Manager for Open Lands Project, an open space advocacy organization in Chicago.

Michele Robinson Greig, Ph.D. is a community planner and public participation specialist. George Tukel is a land use planner that specializes in sustainable development, neighborhood revitalization, and is skilled in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Other professional associates are available to meet project needs in the areas of cultural resources, wetlands and ecology, housing, socio-economics, hydrogeology, agricultural protection, water resource protection, and transportation planning. Mr. Fink and Ms. Greig have been trained under Pace University's Land Use Law Center and the Glynwood Center's Community Leadership Alliance (CLA) Program. The CLA program deals with land use law, conflict resolution and community decision-making to accomplish sustainable community development.

The firm's overall goal is to help communities prosper by integrating environmental assets, fiscal health, and livability into the planning process. GREENPLAN emphasizes consensus building, pays close attention to detail, and uses their knowledge to provide competent planning services in line with client needs. The firm is noted for its long-standing work in the Town of Warwick in Orange County, NY. Mr. Fink has been the Town Planner in Warwick for over 12 years. During this period, he helped the Town develop an award winning planning program designed to achieve "smart growth" and maintain Warwick's standing as a highly desirable community. Some of the planning strategies that Warwick has adopted with Mr. Fink's guidance include:

1. Design Guidelines were developed to illustrate the types of desirable development the Town is seeking. When developers adhere to the Guidelines, the review process is streamlined.
2. The Town's cluster development regulations were revised so that they are more effective at protecting open space. The Planning Board uses a conservation planning technique that first and foremost examines important natural, historic and scenic resources on a site, and also looks at a site's neighborhood context to ensure such resources are not eliminated, reduced, or degraded by subdivision development. Clustering in Warwick is encouraged by using a formula to make it easier to determine the development potential of property. Density incentives are also available for the use of clustering. The environmental review process for cluster subdivisions is streamlined if developers adhere to established thresholds in a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS). In addition to allowing the Planning Board to vary the dimensional standards otherwise applicable to subdivision development, the Planning Board also has the authority to vary the Town's Highway Specifications to provide for private and rural-scale roads in cluster developments as a further incentive.
3. New illustrated "state-of-the art" design standards were added for parking, lighting, landscaping, and signage in order to enhance the Town's rural character and visual environment. Parking standards are based upon recommendations of the National Parking Association, resulting in less asphalt in the Town (and more space for landscaping). Lighting standards are based upon Illumination Engineering Society and Dark Sky Association recommendations. Landscaping and signage rules and guidelines are consistent with recommendations of the Hudson River Valley Greenway. The Town of Warwick Design Guidelines illustrate the desired standards as well. Development proposals that comply with design thresholds have a streamlined SEQR environmental review process.
4. A new Zoning section on voluntary Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) was added. Density bonuses are available for farmers and other landowners, in an Agricultural Protection Overlay District, that sell their development rights. This can help farmers continue farming, protecting an essential industry in the Town. The TDR section would only allow the transfer of development rights to hamlet and village areas designated by a Traditional Neighborhood Overlay (TN-O) Zoning District.
5. Incentive Zoning for Open Space Preservation was added to allow the Town Board to make adjustments to permissible density and area requirements, under certain circumstances, for the specific purpose of preserving open space. The Incentive Zoning program became the basis for Warwick's innovative Intermunicipal Agreement with the Village of Warwick. The Intermunicipal Agreement was recently awarded the "NYS Governor's Quality Communities Award for Excellence". The Agreement paves the way for directing growth toward existing urbanized areas in the Town while protecting farms and other valuable open space from future development.
6. 6. A new section of the Zoning was added to permit the Town to acquire Conservation Easements over real property that meets specific criteria, from landowners who voluntarily wish to sell or donate the development value of their land while protecting it as open space.
7. A voluntary Agricultural Protection Overlay District (AP-O) was added to help reduce land use incompatibilities and increase financial opportunities for the agricultural industry. This district permits a voluntary transfer of development rights to allow farmers to realize the current development potential of their land while still allowing it to remain in agricultural use. It is used in conjunction with the TDR program, the Incentive Zoning program, and the TN-O Zoning District.
8. A new Zoning District was created to allow for traditional neighborhood development in the hamlets and near the villages to permit development of pedestrian oriented neighborhoods. The TN-O District contains extensive graphic illustrations of design principles embodied in the Code. If development rights are purchased from farmers in an Agricultural Protection -Overlay District, greater density can be achieved in the TN-O District than otherwise allowed in the underlying Zoning Districts. The environmental review process for development in the TN-O District is also streamlined by adhering to thresholds established in the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Town.
9. A Ridgeline Overlay District was added, with new design standards to protect important scenic and environmental resources in the Town's higher elevations.
10. An Aquifer Overlay District was added, with new rules to protect groundwater for present and future generations.
11. All zoning districts were renamed to more accurately reflect their purposes. Each district was described in terms of its purpose and intent.
12. The intent of the Zoning Law was revised to incorporate the major goals and objectives of the Town's Comprehensive Plan, including the Town's collective vision to protect Warwick's rural quality and natural beauty.
13. Minimum lot sizes were increased from one and one-half (1½) to three (3) acres in the Suburban Zoning District, from two (2) to four (4) acres in the Rural District, from three (3) to five (5) acres in the Mountain District, and from four (4) to six (6) acres in the Conservation District. If development rights are sold in the AP-O District under the Town's TDR program, the permissible density reverts back to the existing base density. A bonus for clustering allows a density of two (2) acres in the Suburban district, three (3) acres in the Rural District, four (4) acres in the Mountain District, and five (5) acres in the Conservation District.
14. The Home Occupations regulations were revised to encourage small, low-impact businesses. Home Occupations, that are conducted entirely within a residential dwelling and that meet other criteria, are only subject to a permit from the Building Department. Certain other Home Occupations, that are located in accessory structures or that meet specific thresholds (such as the number of employees, visitors, or having certain characteristics) are authorized by a Special Use Permit from the Planning Board.
15. A new Land Use Mediation section was added to provide an alternative method of conflict resolution than costly and time-consuming litigation.
16. The Site Plan and Special Permit Approval regulations were revised and expanded to permit a more thorough review of design parameters. The entire Law was made more user friendly through formatting and graphic illustrations. In addition, the Special Conditions section of the Code (that apply to Special Use Permits) and the Table of Use Requirements were revised to provide greater clarity and ease of use to those sections of the Zoning.
17. New regulations were added for "Special Uses in Historic Structures" and "Adaptive Reuse of Nonresidential Agricultural Structures" to encourage conservation and adaptive reuse of these structures and to preserve the Town's cultural heritage by providing more flexibility to owners to expand their allowable uses.

All of Warwick's planning and zoning documents are available for viewing at www.greenplan.org/id6.htm.