PattersonFIRST
Our Vision for Patterson
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Transparent and Honest Governance: We are committed to an open and honest government that serves the best interest of our residents.
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Restoring Putnam Lake: We have a comprehensive plan to restore the health and beauty of Putnam Lake. (Read more below.)
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Revitalizing Front Street - We have a plan!
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Smart Growth: We advocate for responsible development that benefits Patterson, creating sustainable growth opportunities.
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Preserving Our Community: We will safeguard the rural charm and beauty of our town, maintaining its unique character.
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Jobs and Tax Relief: We'll support responsible commercial growth that brings jobs and eases the tax burden on our residents.
What is the Problem?
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Nutrients, specifically phosphorus, in the Lake is causing excessive weed and algae growth. Sources of nutrients include stormwater run-off and legacy phosphorus (phosphorus sitting in the Lake bottom sediments).
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Over the years a significant amount of sediment has accumulated on the bottom of Putnam Lake. This has made the Lake shallower and more attractive for weed growth. This sediment also carries with it nutrients that promote weed and algae growth.
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NYSDEC HAB Plan (New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation Harmful Algal Bloom) https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/113733.html recognized that a significant portion of the sediment load affecting algae growth in the Lake comes from legacy phosphorus.
​The Solution​
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Protect the watershed. To date the Town, utilizing grants, has installed thousands of dollars of improvements to treat stormwater runoff before it enters the Lake. These include settling pond, plunge pools, hydrodynamic separators and stabilizing eroded channels. As land becomes available we will continue identifying and implementing drainage improvements that will protect the quality of the water entering Putnam Lake.
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Prepare a plan to dredge the Lake. Removing this sediment through dredging will eliminate these nutrients and create a healthier lake. To do this we must retain a qualified consultant to prepare a dredging plan for approval by the NYSDEC. The Town is applying for a $50,000 grant to cover the cost of further analysis of the Lake that will be required by the DEC.
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Pay for the cost of dredging. Once a permit has been obtained from the NYSDEC, the Town will begin planning for the dredging of Putnam Lake. To help cover the cost the Town plans on applying for a matching grant through the NYSDEC to help pay for the cost.
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Richard Williams and Shawn Rogan, along with the Town Board have approved GE Environmental to analyze the sediments in the bottom of the Lake and begin developing a plan to dredge the Lake.
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WE ARE MOVING FORWARD!
VISION 2030
The Candidates you have elected will be responsible for how Patterson grows - and your quality of life.
How new growth and development is planned and executed within our community is critical to
Patterson’s appearance and our quality of life. Newly constructed residential homes sprawling
across our landscape will diminish our rural character. Commercial development of the wrong
type, or in the wrong location - such as a self storage facility along Cornwall Hill Road - can irreversibly harm our residential neighborhoods and forever change the appearance of our community. One of the most scenic areas of our Town is the view along Route 22 to the west overlooking the farmland owned by Watchtower.
The growth of our community needs to be thoughtful and reflect your values and goals. It needs
to acknowledge and protect the historical and environmental aspects of our community. It needs
to promote the right appearance. What follows is our vision for Patterson. We recognize that not
all will agree with this vision, and invite you to write to us or to attend any Town Board meeting
to share your vision for Patterson.
Our promise to you is that our decisions will be based on these guiding principals:
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Promote the rich history of our community.
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Maintain the rural character of our community
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Protect the environmental integrity of our community
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Support commercial growth - but the right commercial growth that is compatible with the
goals of our community.
Commercial Development
We need to support commercial growth for tax relief. But it needs to be the right type of
commercial development in the right locations. It must be commercial growth that supports our
fundamental goals and enhances the appearance of our community. We support commercial
growth that:
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Creates quality jobs
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Creates recreational activities
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Creates retail and services for our community.
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Protects the appearance of our community.
We support the Patterson Hotel and the Patterson Crossing projects as these are located in the
right location - near the I-84 Highway. We support development of new commercial recreation
similar to Thunder Ridge or Liberty Paintball. Projects that bring recreational opportunities to
our community, while leveraging the continued preservation of our open-spaces as recreational assets.
Route 22 is one of the Town’s two commercial corridors. Along Route 22 we do not support race
tracks, contractor yards, auto junk yards and similar types of commercial businesses that would
be unattractive, but more importantly pose a risk to our environment.
Residential Development
Over the years Patterson’s hillsides, once covered in farmland have given way to the
construction of single family homes. The demands of the 1970's and 1980's for single family
homes transformed Patterson into a bedroom community. During this same time commercial
growth was discouraged. This has contributed, at least partially, to Patterson’s high taxes. The
conventional zoning requirements in place at the time created large lot, cookie cutter
subdivisions over much of what had been our farmlands. This type of residential development
diminishes our rural character and increases the Town’s cost of providing services to our
residents.
New residential homes within our community should be clustered together, and surrounded by
open space. This promotes the appearance of openness and protects our rural character. It
creates wildlife corridors, essential to a healthy environment. Cluster-designed subdivisions
protect our groundwater, our streams and our lakes. A perfect example of how this zoning works
is the Ice Pond subdivision. Twenty-four single family homes will be surrounded by 112.5 acres
of protected open space that will be owned by the Putnam Lake Trust. This subdivision has
enhanced the protection of a critical resource area- Ice Pond.
Crafted by Supervisor Williams, Patterson has the only zoning within the region which requires a
cluster-design for new subdivisions and is designed to eliminate residential sprawl in our
community.
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Front Street
Front Street is moving forward!
We believe that Front Street should be restored to a vibrant community center, with small shops
and cafes. The architecture of new buildings should reflect Patterson’s history.
And the Town has not been idle in reaching this goal. Over the years we have built anchors, the
new MetroNorth train station, Town Hall and Recreation Center to bring people to the area. We
have constructed sidewalks and installed a sewer system to meet Front Street’s wastewater
needs. We have created zoning to foster construction of buildings with appropriate designs. The
last key ingredient to jump starting a new Front Street is a public water supply. It has taken some
time but the Town has finally received outside funding to construct a public water supply for
Front Street. We are nearing completion of the design and expect to start construction soon.
The Castle in Putnam Lake
This is a perfect example of what happens when disastrous zoning decisions are made. In the
1980's the Town allowed the Castle and surrounding homes to be converted to “condominiums”.
Fast forward to 2020 and see that this decision has prevented developers and the Town from
taking any real action to correcting the rundown condition of the site. The Town has encouraged
the County to take ownership of the Castle for back taxes owed, and place the Castle up for
auction. That is now happening because of Councilman Rogan. We are committed to working
with any future owner to clean up this eyesore. But we did not support the vision of the Park
Advisory Board, chaired by Laura Russo, to spend millions of dollars to purchase the Castle to
be used as their clubhouse, while the Lake continues to suffer.
Putnam Lake
The key to solving the problems of Putnam Lake is a three pronged approach; treating
stormwater runoff before it enters the Lake, through dredging remove the legacy phosphorus
already in the Lake and improve wastewater before it is discharged to the ground.
We aslo believe the Town should explore redeveloping the area between Haviland Drive and
Danbury Road with a park, small shops and a Senior Center. This concept was proposed many
years ago by Mr. Williams as Town Planner, and rejected by the Town Board who then changed
the zoning to benefit a friend of one of the Councilmembers.
This is our vision for our community. We recognize that not all will agree with this vision, and
invite you to any Town Board meeting to share your vision for Patterson, or contact us at
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