» Events & Alerts
Sheldon To Speak, County to Meet On Giant Greenport Shopping Center
Financial consultant and columnist James Sheldon of LittleTownViews will be speaking on Saturday, December 16, at 10:00 am in Greenport about the likely impacts on our taxes and locally owned businesses of the proposed 560,000-square-foot Widewaters shopping center, which appears to be on a fast track for approval by the Greenport Town Planning Board. The talk will take place at the Hudson Movieplex at 350 Fairview Avenue in Greenport (the strip mall where Staples is located). Contact Nina Sklansky of Greenport Neighbors Association for further information at gptnbrs@mhcable.com.
There will also be a special meeting on the Widewaters project held by the Columbia County Planning Board on Wednesday, December 13 at 6:00 pm. Widewaters representatives will be present at this meeting, and the public is invited to express concerns and ask questions of the developer and the board. A strong showing of citizens would send a clear message to county and town officials that the public interest in this huge development merits a more thorough review than what we have seen so far. The board will meet at 401 State Street in Hudson on the 3rd Floor. Call the county planning office at 518-828-3375.
Sheldon To SpeakIn Millbrook and Copake
James Sheldon of LittleTownViews.com will be giving two presentations this month based on his research into land use policies, property taxes and afforadable housing issues .
He will discuss his recent study on the fiscal impact of a 100-unit subdivision proposed for the former Bennett College campus in Millbrook on Saturday, September 23, at 4:00 pm at the Millbrook firehouse. Sponsored by the Millbrook Matters citizens group, the talk will cover the likely effect on property taxes of the Bennett development and will also highlight Sheldon’s findings that identify Millbrook as the most expensive and tax-heavy rural village in the region.
On Saturday, September 30, at 10:00 am in the Copake Town Hall, Sheldon will give his presentation entitled “A Taxing Development: The Financial Costs of Unmanaged Growth.” The talk, which aims to demonstrate how property taxpayers end up subsidizing the profits of many large-scale developments, will also feature policies designed to promote affordable housing, preserve open space and minimize the financial burdens of growth. The talk is sponsored by Friends of Copake, an advocacy group concerned about the planned 125-unit workforce housing project proposed in the center of town.
James Sheldon to SpeakJuly 15 at Taconic Hills
James Sheldon of LittleTownViews.com will be speaking on how residential and commercial development affects property taxes in rural towns as well as on town budgets and property reassessments.
Sponsored by the Taghkanic Neighbors Association, the talk will take place on Saturday, July 15, at 11:00 a.m. at the Taconic Hills School cafeteria.
In his talk, entitled “A Taxing Development: The High Costs of Unmanaged Growth,” Mr. Sheldon will discuss his research into the impact on school taxes of rapid housing development, and he will outline some of the land use strategies devised to manage development pressures.
He will also touch on recent research into town and village budget spending and The Real Problem With Reassessments.
All are welcome. For more details, e-mail Scott Stackpole of Taghkanic Neighbors at scottstackpole@hotmail.com.
James Sheldon To SpeakMay 24th in Kinderhook
James Sheldon of Little Town Views will be speaking on how residential and commercial development affects property taxes in rural towns.
Sponsored by the Kinderhook Neighbors for Good Growth (www.KNGG.org), the talk will take place on Wednesday, May 24, at 7:00 pm at the McNary Center next to the Episcopal Church on Sylvester Street in Kinderhook Village.
In his talk, entitled “A Taxing Development: The High Costs of Unmanaged Growth,” Mr. Sheldon will discuss his research into the impact on school taxes of rapid housing development, and he will outline some of the land use strategies devised to manage development pressures.
Affordable Housing SeminarMonday, February 20, in Hillsdale
A panel discussion, “Affordable Housing: Possibilities for Meeting the Needs of Our Community,” will take place in Hillsdale on Monday evening, February 20, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, junction of Routes 22 and 23.
The panel will feature four speakers who will give an overview of affordable housing issues and discuss a spectrum of possible solutions. The audience will be invited to participate in a question, answer, and discussion session following the talks.
Read an earlier “Views From Gallatin” column, entitled Affording Affordable Housing for some background on the issue.
The panelists in Hillsdale will include:
Tim Geller is Executive Director of Tri-Corner Community Development Corporation, which creates affordable housing and economic development opportunities in eastern Columbia and Dutchess counties, NY, northwestern Litchfield County, CT, and southern Berkshire County, MA. He has been involved with housing development in southern Berkshire County since 1998, and will give specific examples of affordable housing activities around the region.
Deborah S. McMenamy, Chair, Board of Selectmen, Town of Stockbridge (MA) will represent an elected official’s perspective on the issue of affordable housing, and will describe how that town has responded to the need for creating and preserving affordable housing stock. Deborah is on the Stockbridge Affordable Housing Committee and is a past member of the town’s
Finance Committee.
Kevin O’Neill, Executive Director of Housing Resources of Columbia County, will give a summary of the broad range of programs and policies that a community might adopt to respond to the affordable housing need, including some small zoning changes, rehabilitation of existing housing, small scale development projects, education for prospective first time home buyers, acquisition of additional rental housing subsidies, and others.
Susan Witt is the founder and Administrator of the Community Land Trust in the southern Berkshires, and the Executive Director of the E. F. Schumacher Society. She has written and spoken widely on economics and community land trusts and has been involved with both organizations for twenty-five years. She will describe an alternative model for affordable housing.
The program will be moderated by Frank K. Upham, Wilf Family Professor of Property Law at New York University School of Law, where he teaches in the areas of property, law and development, and comparative law. Prior to joining New York University in 1994, he taught at the law schools of Ohio State University, Harvard University, and Boston College and at various institutions in East Asia. At New York University, he has served as Faculty Director of the Global Law School Program and he created the Global Public Service Law Project, which brings public interest lawyers from developing countries to NYU for a year of study and interaction. Professor Upham is a
resident of Hillsdale.
This is the fifth forum in “The Future of Hillsdale” series and is jointlysponsored by the Hillsdale Land Use Group and the Affordable Housing Subcommittee of the Hillsdale Comprehensive Plan Review Committee.
The evening is free to all. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, call Kathy Schmidt at 518-325-7265, or Ellen Levy at 914-552-5674.