Post-automobile planning required – Daily Freeman

The town of Woodstock, N.Y., town offices on Comeau Drive on May 24, 2023. (Tania Barricklo/Daily Freeman)

Woodstock citizens are now being pressured into accepting a car-centric zoning plan designed by a town-appointed committee. The group, called the Housing Task Force (HOTF), is missing an opportunity to create a post-automobile community.

It has been a fact that the main driver of global warming is greenhouse gases (GHG). It is imperative to act now to reduce the amount of GHG we are currently using. The easiest way of doing so is to reduce the reliance of the automobile (car). Under the transportation sector, cars and vans contribute 48% of all GHG or 3.53 billion metric tons.

Post-automobile planning includes creating hubs for mixed-use housing, businesses, and services. We are beginning to see this planning happening with our cities as Gov. Kathy Hochul distributes housing grants to Kingston. The next step is to create a grant program for TDR’s (transferable development rights) to preserve open space. We also need to create a community so everyone’s voice is included in the conversation.

Since the pandemic, we have been experiencing a form of climate migration from New York City to our region. We do not want to replicate the past by kowtowing to the automobile industry and the continuing reliance on fossil fuels. We need to put aside hometown rule. We need regional planning to formulate how to build transportation systems to connect smaller hubs that encircle the larger populated regions of our state. It will take work to make this happen, but I believe enough people care about our planet’s future to ensure its success.

— Laurie Felber

Woodstock