Dover Knolls submits PDEIS on Christmas Eve
January 10, 2009
Dover Town Planner Graham Trelstad “cautioned residents not to assume that because the document was available for consumption that the Town Board had signed off on any part of the document at this point”. Reporter Jen Barry does a nice job in her article, posted below, summarizing Town Planner Trelstad’s presentation.
— Please see The Harlem Valley Times article.
A bit of history on Graham Trelsted’s firm, AKRF , and why we think intermunicipal input and collaboration on these larger development projects is so important:
AKRF is working on many noteworthy projects in our region; close to home is one in which they are “developing an intermunicipal overlay zoning district to preserve biodiversity for several Westchester municipalities.”
Many residents, municipal officials and environmentalists in the Harlem Valley towns along the Rt 22 Corridor would like to see an intermunicipal approach to water, waste water and biodiversity issues. This coordination is especially critical between Dover and Pawling because we share the aquifer and the Great Swamp, and the Pawling Sewage Treatment plant discharges into the north flow of the Great Swamp River which flows through Wingdale into the Ten Mile River and on into the Housatonic.
While the plant still has capacity, bringing Wind Rose and Dover Knolls on line will require a coordinated effort between the two towns toward water supply and sewage treatment and discharge. The Pawling and Dover Planning Boards should coordinate on any projects that propose to disharge treated waste into the Great Swamp River; as more towns in Pawling and south pipe waste to the Pawling plant, development projects in Dover may be curtailed. Working together on Wind Rose will provide a process template for the Planning Boards going forward.
Collaboration matters. The Coalition calls upon our elected officials, the Planning Boards, and the Pawling Conservation Advisory Board and the Dover Conservation Advisory Committee to work together to guard and preserve our natural resources while encouraging sensitive development and economic growth.
