New York Preservation Plan

 

Number of Pages:  28
Approved:  May 31, 2002
Planning Cycle:  5 years

 
Contact Information:

Austin O'Brien
Historic Preservation Field Services Bureau
Peebles Island
P.O. Box 189
Waterford, New York 12188-0189
(518) 237-8643 ext. 279;
fax (518) 233-9049
E-mail: Austin.O'Brien@oprhp.state.ny.us
Website:nysparks.state.ny.us/field/stateplan/

Mission/Vision Statement:
"Sharing the Vision" Message from the Governor

Table of Contents:

Sharing the Vision: Message from the Governor
Looking Ahead: Message from the State Historic
Preservation Officer
Introduction
State Historic Preservation Office
Statewide Partnerships
New York State's Resources
Sharing Information
Challenges and Responses
Reaching Out
Partnership Opportunities
Goals, Objectives, Actions
Quality Communities [case studies]
Implementing the Plan
Preservation Directory
Glossary
Bibliography

PLAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Public Participation Strategies:

• Series of public opinion survey questionnaires and planning and issues articles were distributed through SHPO newsletter;
• Abbreviated questionnaire circulated to Preservation League of New York State's Colleagues Program and to Certified Local Governments;
• Simultaneously, SHPO staff met with all the colleagues to discuss statewide preservation planning and to collect information;
• First-of-its-kind statewide historic preservation summit;
• NY Quality Commission Task Force organized ten "round tables" across the state for public discussion;
• NY State Board for Historic Preservation participated in groups discussions and reviewed and commented on draft plan.

• Working in regional teams, SHPO staff gathered and evaluated information, identified opportunities, revised goals and objectives, and prepared draft plan

ISSUES, THREATS, & OPPORTUNITIES

• Alteration of rural landscape and historic farm buildings due to declining rural population, loss of agricultural income and obsolescence of traditional farming practices.
• NY State Farmer's Protection and Farm Preservation Act offers tax incentives.
• Barn Restoration and Preservation Program provides grant funds for repair of historic farm buildings.
• Loss of historic open space due to suburbanization and construction of new roads, residential and commercial development.
• Governor's Quality Communities Task Force offered recommendations for balanced growth and quality community development.
• Loss or alteration of historic transportation facilities and corridors due to increasing traffic, upgraded safety standards, and obsolescence of historic facilities.
• SHPO and NYDOT work together to address transportation issues.
• Failure to recognize and respond to inherent value of historic resources that lead to improper alterations and additions.
• Increasing community awareness of historic resource values.
• Loss of historic urban residential buildings due to disinvestment in declining city neighborhoods and urban cores, and loss of neighborhood-oriented commercial buildings and "Main Street" due to competition from large retail marketers.
• Potential for adopting building code sensitive to historic buildings.
• Abandonment of historic religious properties due to changing demographics and/or declining memberships.
• Grant programs provide funding for religious property restoration.
• Abandonment and loss of industrial properties due to shifting economies and technologies.
• Federal tax credit program offers advantages for industrial site re-use.
• Potential loss of civic buildings resulting from need to accommodate new facilities and technologies.
• Loss of historic neighborhood schools to school consolidation and new suburban and rural school construction.
• State grants and SHPO technical assistance provides resources for rehabilitation and continued use of public buildings.
• Loss of archeological resources during planning, development, and construction.
• Environmental review process provides opportunities to evaluate site preservation potential.
• Strengthening partnerships and seeking new audiences.
• Improving (electronic) access to preservation and properties information.
• Sharing preservation "success stories."
• Streamlining preservation environmental review process.
• Re-organizing the Certified Local Government program.
• Encouraging passage of state and federal preservation tax credit programs.

1. Encourage local, community-based historic preservation activities.
2. Improve communication and strengthen working relationships among public agencies in order to link preservation with local, regional and statewide planning and development initiatives.
3. Educate New Yorkers on the importance of preserving the state's rich heritage.
4. Develop strategies to advance preservation as a catalyst for community revitalization and tourism.
5. Promote recognition of New York's historic properties as a means of increasing awareness and appreciation of the state's heritage.
6. Improve the protection and treatment of historic and archeological resources during the public project planning process.
7. Promote awareness and appreciation of New York's archeological heritage.

1. Local preservation activities.
   • Incorporate preservation into planning and revitalization;
   • Strengthen public and private programs;
   • Expand resource identification activities in communities;
   • Improve local preservation awareness and education;
   • Improve access to preservation information;
   • Collaborate to promote heritage tourism.
2. Link preservation to planning and development.
   • Offer training and education;
   • Improve preservation projects, programs, initiatives;
   • Improve communication and working relationships.
3. Educate New Yorkers.
   • Improve access to and distribution of preservation information to local communities;
   • Strengthen local, regional, and statewide partnerships to increase awareness and encourage local revitalization activities;
   • Reach out to involved individuals and institutions to develop education programs and target younger audiences.
4. Preservation as catalyst for revitalization and tourism.
   • Highlight successful revitalization efforts;
   • Improve techniques, treatments, and tools available.
5. Recognize historic properties.
   • Improve access to identification and recognition programs;
   • Increase access to information on historic properties;
   • Highlight diversity of historic properties.
6. Improve protection and treatment during project planning.
   • Evaluate preservation environmental review processes;
   • Improve management of preservation environmental review information.
7. Promote awareness of archeological heritage.
   • Increase archeological identification, recognition, and preservation efforts;
   • Improve effectiveness of archeological environmental reviews;
   • Improve content and access to archeological information.