Eighty seven percent of the more than 600 respondents to a Town of Olive survey said that “maintaining the town of Olive’s rural character” was extremely important with only 2% saying it was not important at all, and 79% said it was extremely important or somewhat important to reduce the number of short-term rentals in the Town.
These results along with 18 other questions rating the importance of local issues are combined with 640 general comments by respondents, and will all be discussed at a public meeting focused on the town’s development of a Comprehensive Plan to guide future municipal decisions on land use planning, housing, conservation and other priorities. The meeting will take place 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, November 17 at the Town Meeting Hall at 50 Bostock Road in Shokan. Representatives from the town’s planning consultants, LaBella Associates, and the town’s appointed Comprehensive Plan Committee will give the presentation and be available to provide more details.
To inform the planning process, the Town recently completed the public survey. Along with its overview of the planning process, officials and the public will discuss the survey findings and give people an opportunity to ask questions and share their views.
In the survey, 87% of respondents answering the question said that maintaining the town of Olive’s rural character was “extremely important” with only 2% saying it was “not important at all.”
Other hypotheticals included: Make roads and highways in the town safer and more appealing for bicyclists — 37% — extremely important, 34% — somewhat important, — 29% not important at all.
Make it easier for residents to operate businesses out of their homes: 32% — extremely important, 50% — somewhat important, 18% — not important at all.
Maintain the character of existing hamlets while allowing appropriate residential, business, civic and recreational uses: 66% — extremely important, 9% — somewhat important, 5% — not important at all.
And Encourage private conservation organizations to buy and preserve land for open space and environmental protection: 59% — extremely important, 27% — somewhat important, 14% — not important at all.
And on through 20 general questions…
The survey also included open-ended responses to the question: What do you like most about the Town of Olive?
A small sample of the 640 answers included:
“That it is not as popular as Woodstock. Please keep the corporations out of Boiceville and Olive. Mom & Pop shops in Boiceville would be great. The Olive Free Library. The pool. The access to nature trails. The West Shokan PO and store. That it hasn’t changed too much in the last 20 years.”
“The people, the library, the pool, the reservoir and all the amenities (trails, tennis courts). Bread Alone. Olive Rec…”
“The residents and the sense of community…”
“An amazing mix of NYC sophistication and old timey rural…”
“Low taxes. Sense of community (rec, library, parks)…”
“Lower taxes than surrounding towns. Not much else…”
“The mountains, the reservoir independent stores, (not a franchise) houses are spaced part not congested housing….”
“I like the small town rural feel. I like knowing my neighbors and people who I’ve know for years, and how they are a big (sometimes dysfunctional, but still has your back) family…”
“I’m slowly coming to the realization that there is a cohesive lovely community of Olive with no “town” center, it not always easy to see community, but it there. I love the differences between the hamlets some more rural others more “town” like. The town officials from the staff and others, like the building inspector are all helpful and dedicated. Finally the rural beauty is ultimately what makes Olive Olive…”
“The reservoir and its walkways…”
“Peace and quiet…”
The survey results are posted on the Olive Comprehensive Plan website at:
https://townofolivecomprehensiveplan.com/
For more information, please contact Supervisor Jim Sofranko at 845-657-8118 ext. 4
or by email at olivesupervisor@gmail.com.
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