This Plan identifies many resources that are important to the Town - resources ranging from groundwater, on which the Town's residents wholly rely for drinking water, to its wealth of historical resources, to agricultural lands, cherished aesthetic resources and community character. The Town's intent is to protect its existing environmental and community resources while addressing the needs of future growth, to ensure that future growth should make a positive contribution to all elements of the Town. Innovative planning and development tools should be used, where appropriate, to protect the environment while achieving the community's land use goals. For example, clustering land uses might be used as a tool to preserve open space or to protect specific aesthetic, historic, and environmental features.

Many factors affect land use in the Town of Crawford, not all of which are under the control of the Town. Crawford and its land uses exist within a larger regional economic context that should be clear from considering the town's history. Nevertheless, it is important for the Town to take whatever actions it can to support the goals and implement the policies of this Plan.

List of Priority Goals

(1) DEFINE AND IMPLEMENT A WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION STRATEGY

The Town currently has high quality resources and is totally reliant on groundwater for supplies. The Town has successfully worked to increase the awareness of this resource, and is currently a Groundwater Guardian Community. The Town should make use of the excellent resources that are available to it through the Orange County Water Authority (OCWA) to develop an approach to protect the quality and quantity of its existing groundwater supplies.

(2) INITIATE A REGIONAL COOPERATIVE EFFORT WITH NEIGHBORING TOWNS

As a crossroads, border town that joins three counties, Crawford is influenced by many policies and factors outside of its control. The Pine Bush School District, which plays such an important role in Crawford, crosses county and municipal boundaries. Because school taxes make up the bulk of real property taxes, land use policies in each municipality within the District affect the School District. It is in the public interest to ensure that the effects of municipal land use policies on the entire District are considered.

In addition to the Pine Bush School District, there are other resources that are important to the Town of Crawford that are shared, controlled, or affected by other municipalities or agencies. By cooperative efforts, Crawford can enhance its ability to achieve important goals that transcend local interest. Economies of scale may enhance the likelihood of project implementation for matters of inter-municipal importance, for example, agricultural protection or enhancement programs, or a Regional Shawangunk Mountains Scenic Byway initiative as an opportunity to promote tourism.

(3) PROTECT THE CRITICAL ROLE THAT UNIFIED PINE BUSH SCHOOLS PLAY IN THE TOWN OF CRAWFORD

The Town of Crawford is closely linked with the Pine Bush School District. Because four of the District's six schools are located within the hamlet of Pine Bush, which is the principal Town center, the Town's sense of community and the economic vitality of the Town's primary business area is dependent on the schools. In turn, the Town's residents support the schools with infrastructure services and over $100,000 in police services funded through town-wide property taxes. The Town of Crawford has also been the collaborator and primary sponsor of a number of grants to and with the District. The Town of Crawford's policy is to oppose any re-districting plan which does not keep the entire Town of Crawford within one district, because such action would harm the Town's residents and the community's sense of identity as well as its economy by shifting the same toward the Town of Wallkill.

(4) DEFINE AND IMPLEMENT AN AGRICULTURAL ENHANCEMENT STRATEGY

Since the Town's earliest settlement, the economic role of agriculture has been important to the Town, and the Town's agricultural lands remain a treasured part of its beauty and character. The need to preserve the Town's agricultural lands and character was identified as a priority issue from opinion surveys and by the Town's leaders. This Plan acknowledges that agricultural activity provides multiple values, not only the direct economic benefits of jobs, retail purchases and tax benefits, but also the aesthetic and open space benefits to the community at large. Agricultural land use is affected by many factors and has changed over the centuries: the Town understands that not all factors affecting agriculture can be influenced at the town level, yet understands that it is important to do whatever is possible to preserve and re-vitalize agricultural activities in the town for the 21st Century. The Town's proximity to the New York Metropolitan area provides opportunities for specialty crops and livestock as well as tourism; these should be promoted.

Other elements of an agricultural enhancement strategy are set forth below:

• The Town should endorse and cooperate with County Agricultural Protection Plan
• The Town should consider making municipal property available for farmers markets and should update its practices and policies to be "farm friendly"
• A Town designee should research funding and partnership opportunities with the USDA, the regional Resource Conservation and Development Council, Orange County, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations.

(5) COMPLETE AN AUDIT AND UPDATING OF THE TOWN'S LAND USE REGULATIONS FOR CONSISTENCY WITH THIS PLAN