NEWS: Preservation League of NYS Makes Recommendations to Spitzer-Paterson Administration
Historic preservation has a key role to play in the Spitzer–Paterson Administration. The public policy benefits of historic preservation are clear and well documented at both the state and national levels. Preservation is a key catalyst for job creation in local and regional economies, stimulates tax-base growth, and protects municipal investments in existing infrastructure.
In addition to preservation’s central role in stimulating the economic regeneration of communities, it serves the additional benefit of protecting open space and working farmland by guiding appropriate development to historic urban cores and neighborhoods.
For these reasons, the Preservation League has worked for over thirty years to encourage and promote reinvestment in New York’s cities, towns, and villages. Our experience and research show us that reinvestment in and continued use of New York’s historic buildings and Main Streets is one of the best ways to promote economic and community development in the form of sustainable growth.
As such, historic preservation should be recognized as a central component of effective policies that will achieve the Administration’s stated goals of Economic Development, Environmental Conservation, Urban Regeneration, Green Building and Smart Growth for New York State.
In support of these goals, the League has offered the following initial recommendations to further advance historic preservation’s benefits for New York State:
Revise the New York State Rehabilitation Tax Incentive Programs to expand impacts;
Reform the RESTORE New York Program toencourage better development practices;
Support the administration and implementation of the NewYork State Building Code to encourage rehabilitation;
Promote legislative passage of the CommunityPreservation Act to provide new planning tools;
Support efforts to broaden “standing” qualifications ofthe State Environmental Quality Review Act to aidenvironmental enforcement;
Fund State Department of Transportation implementation of management plan commitments to historic bridges;
Develop and codify statewide siting guidelines for commercial scale wind energy facilities to assure protection of historic resources and landscapes;
Initiate a systematic statewide historic resource survey program to provide an enhanced inventory for environmental reviews; and
Increase staffing and budget resources for the State Historic Preservation Office to meet program needs.
Click here to download a PDF of the complete transition document.
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