462 people weigh in on their vision for Greenville

GREENVILLE―Increased business development, more opportunities for young people, and better connectivity for phones and internet are among the top future priorities for members of the Greenville community.

That feedback comes from a workshop series, as well as a survey taken last year by some 462 residents, neighbors and visitors as part of the first phase of updating Greenville’s comprehensive plan.

Commonly known as a master plan, it will outline the vision, goals, and policies that guide future town growth and development over an approximately 10-year timeframe.

New York State Town Law regulates the framework for comprehensive plans and dictates that once adopted, “all town land use regulations must be in accordance with a comprehensive plan,” with the document essentially serving as a backbone to guide zoning and land use controls.

An estimated 70 percent of towns, villages and cities across the state have comprehensive plans and experts recommend that they get a fresh look every five years.

“The Town of Greenville’s Comprehensive Plan Committee is grateful to those who engaged with last year’s public outreach effort as we work towards preparing a new planning document for our town,” said Don Teator, Comprehensive Plan Committee co-chairman.

The committee was assisted in its public outreach efforts by the environmental planning firm Nelson Pope Voorhis and with grant support by Mary Carney of Sustainable Growth.

It’s been 18 years since Greenville undertook what Teator called “the last extensive analysis of our community by our community,” referring to the first comprehensive plan that was adopted in 2008 and reaffirmed by the town board in 2021.

“The results from the public survey and workshop give vital insight into town conditions, shared priorities, and future growth ideas,” said Teator, who also serves as town historian and chair of the planning board.

Of those who took the survey, 73.2% identified themselves as full-time residents. Others self-classified as part-time residents, neighbors from area communities, students, or those working within the town.

Participants were asked to consider how Greenville currently performs in 17 different topic areas and assign them priority levels for the next five to seven years.

Public safety, education access and quality, emergency services, and open space/rural preservation came in with the most positive performance results, while retail/business services, employment opportunities, rental housing availability and opportunities for youth ranked as needing the most improvement.

Rising property and school taxes were also noted as a top “big picture” issue facing Greenville.

Strong sense of community, rural character and green spaces were ranked among the top three things participants loved about Greenville.

Notably, another question asked whether Greenville should allow additional commercial solar field sites. Of the 400 people who answered, 72.75% stated no.

“The committee looks forward to taking public feedback and building new strategies that benefit our local community. This next stage, with public collaboration, will provide a framework that recognizes what has worked well and then encourages actions to address new challenges,” said Teator.

Once it is developed, the new comprehensive plan must be adopted by the town, but not before a public hearing and State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process.

A full copy of a report with a summary of the comprehensive plan public outreach survey and workshop results can be found at https://towngreenvillegreenecony.gov/news-events.

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Note: This article is the first of four about the Town of Greenville Comprehensive Plan survey results. Subsequent articles will focus on specific topics and how they impact both the town and greater region.

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