Poughkeepsie Approves Plan to Update 20 Year Old Code; What Does It Mean?

'A vision for future growth and development' is how the City of Poughkeepsie has described their new comprehensive plan, as was approved by the Common Council in the city just this week.

What does the plan include? And what else is on the table for the future of Poughkeepsie? Here's what we know at this point.

Common Council Approves Poughkeepsie Comprehensive Plan

A meeting on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, yielded approval from the Common Council that will help 'guide priorities, strategies, and policies in the years ahead,' and cited growth and development for the City of Poughkeepsie as they move forward with 'PK4Keeps.'

A plan that has not been updated in more than 20 years, the Comprehensive Plan was addressed and crafted by a steering committee that included residents, business owners, and civic leaders; this committee was put together by city officials.

In addition to a public hearing held back in June to solicit public comment on the plans, and open houses, the committee also held what was referred to as 'kitchen table conversations' in order to ensure that a wide sampling of voices from the community were able to contribute to the plans.

Mayor Rob Rolison shared the following comment:

Updating the Comprehensive Plan was long overdue and will provide the city with clear guidance as we move forward. I am grateful the Common Council has approved this essential document, and I greatly appreciate the work of the city’s Development Department and others to bring this to fruition.

What is PK4Keeps?

In a news release from the City of Poughkeepsie, it was shared that 'PK4Keeps' has been partially funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Climate Smart Communities grant program.  Because of this funding source, the integration of sustainability elements, as well as the tracking and analysis of the success of its integration have been a focus of the plan.

This was reinforced by Natalie Quinn, City Development Director and Project Manager:

PK4Keeps is a plan to focus Poughkeepsie on a vision for a more sustainable, equitable, and dynamic future. The plan encourages farsighted and bold decisions, with a priority placed on quality of life, access to good and affordable housing, and commercial vitality. As a framework, PK4keeps doesn’t give us all the answers, but it provides a collective understanding that will help Poughkeepsie’s public officials, residents, business stakeholders, and institutional leaders make sound decisions for the next 20 years.

The full specs of the 'PK4Keeps' initiative and comprehensive plan, including public comments and feedback, can be found here, along with materials about the current work being done with Poughkeepsie zoning, a key priority of the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan.  

The press release indicated that Poughkeepsie plans to modernize and address development trends by reducing the number of zoning districts by working on amendments to the city's zoning codes.