Last week the Lloyd Town Board unveiled the town’s new 2024 Comprehensive Plan. Supervisor Dave Plavchak said crafting a new plan, “is a long process [and] it’s an arduous piece of work. We’ve been in it now since the tail end of 2022 and we’d like to complete it this year so we can move forward and start measuring to it, start managing to it and apply for grants where we need to apply for grants.”

 

Plavchak gave a brief overview of the plan and began by thanking all of the volunteers who served on the Comprehensive Plan Committee. He said the process started in 2023 with a visioning report that included a survey of residents and numerous scheduled meetings with stakeholders and focus groups.

 

Plavchak said the visioning report was used to create a plan of action. Additional workshops provided some guiding principles, all of which led to a final plan that was drafted in June 2024. He said they have to review the comments from the Ulster County Planning Board, which the town recently received, and will, “make adjustments [to the plan] where we have to make them [and] answer the comments where we don’t make them, so that’s kind of our plan going forward...There may be things we do that everybody doesn’t agree with and there may be things we do that that same group agrees with, so it’s not a plan that’s always going to please 100% of the population all the time, but we’re trying to do, from the input we get and from some of the trends we see, what we think is the best for the majority of both the residents and visitors to the town.”

 

Plavchak said, “We see the town as a gateway and we do want to preserve its character and open spaces. We know we have to focus on getting our infrastructure to be more efficient because it is not efficient today.” He added, “We’re trying to get a mix between improving it, doing some mitigation actions so we don’t hit problems in the future.”

 

Plavchak said the town is seeking a balance of recreational and outdoor activities and where the town needs to grow, “because we have to pay for all the services we put out, so we just can’t just stop the growth altogether either. So the plan has a good mix of it and kind of where we went forward.”

 

Plavchak said the Comprehensive Plan is designed to follow New York State’s Smart Growth principles, on housing, where to locate density, clean energy, climate change and ensuring resiliency in the water and sewer plants.

 

“We want to make it a town where people want to stay and we also want to make it a town where people want to visit and make sure that we take people’s input and collaborate,” he said.

 

Plavchak said data shows that people want to see not only a variety of housing choices, but also want the town to support the existing housing stock, “and make sure we’re doing the right things within where we have existing housing so that we’re enhancing it.”

 

Plavchak said transportation and community connections are going to be important factors in the future, especially in developing complete streets in town. This is defined as, “streets designed and operated to enable safe use and support mobility for all users. Those include people of all ages and abilities, regardless of whether they are traveling as drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, or public transportation riders.” The town did not receive a grant for making Haviland Road a complete street but will apply again in late 2025.

 

Plavchak said the plan calls for expanding and improving the parks in town, working on ways to preserve the town’s history and historic structures, reviewing zoning codes, “to fit our strategy moving forward,” and supporting the agriculture community in Lloyd. He said the plan also has provisions to protect the town’s streams, ponds and lakes.

 

Plavchak said the town needs to rebuild their 1984 water plant and has submitted grants for up to $6 million and has yet to receive one, but will continue to submit the needed paperwork.

 

“We have the engineering done, we understand what we have to do but it’s all about getting the money to start fixing it. Once we do get it, it’s probably a three to five year overhaul to get it done,” he said.

 

The Ulster County Planning Board [UCPB]reviewed the proposed Comprehensive Plan and made a number of required modifications that need to be incorporated into the plan: adopt a form-based code that will, “include uses, types of building, site layout, density, building materials, and landscaping.” By definition Form-Based Codes, “improve the predictability of the town’s long-term growth and avoids the potential for guidelines to be rendered optional or buried in an appendix. If the town has a design goal in mind for a specific part of town, it should be required to see that it occurs.”

 

The UCPB also is requiring Lloyd to join the Ulster County Housing Smart Growth Initiative as part of its goals. The plan should include, “multi-family and mixed -use housing below allowed on Rte. 9W and should require structures in this area be designed to incorporate at least a second story with an opportunity to add additional stories and units through density bonuses.” The county is also requiring the town to, “create ADA-compliant linkages to make all walking areas accessible for all users.” The UCPB is requiring the town to support viable, multi-modal transportation systems consistent with the Ulster County Transportation Council policies.

 

The UCPB states that the new plan, “should better articulate the benefits of a farm located in a certified Ulster County Agricultural District, which is primarily land-use based rather than monetary.”

 

The UCPB says the new plan must identify critical environmental areas in the town and clarify the location of its coastal zone and Statewide Areas of Scenic Significance.

 

The county wants the plan to, “consider the impacts that the new wetlands regulations [2025] will have on the town, what they mean for development centers, and what additional lands will be included as lands to be conserved and protected that are not currently under such regulations.”

 

The UCPB acknowledges the town’s efforts to put its past planning efforts into practice.

 

“The Plan appears to be data driven, with the ability to confront the challenges the community faces in a manner that embraces change and provides for the ability to keep the unique character in its sights.”