Pine Plains and Stanford in 2023

Pine Plains bicentennial

Pine Plains celebrated its bicentennial in 2023, beginning with a Community Day on Saturday, Sept. 9. Other celebrations included several presentations from the Little Nine Partners Historical Society, including the story of Morris Graham and slave Andrew Frazier, who came to Pine Plains around the time of the Revolutionary War.

In June there was a presentation on Seymour Smith, who left his entire estate to the town of Pine Plains for the purpose of education; the elementary school in Pine Plains is named after him.

Carson Solar

After over a year of hearings and meetings, the Carson Solar power plant at Pulvers Corners has been approved following a state finding that the array would cause no negative impact on the local environment (no emissions, light, noise, etc.).

The plant was approved to start moving forward at the Nov. 28 Planning Board meeting.

At the end of December, a group of neighbors and landowners near the proposed project filed a legal action in New York Supreme Court in Dutchess County seeking an injunction on the project.

Updating Stanford’s Comprehensive Plan

Town Supervisor Wendy Burton expressed great pleasure that the Town of Stanford’s 40-year-old Comprehensive Plan has finally been updated. The process started in 2010. The 2023 Comprehensive Plan was passed unanimously by the Town Board Thursday, Dec. 14.

“I once again would like to thank the multitude of volunteers who participated in the process since 2010. This was a true, bipartisan effort and I am grateful to everyone who made the commitment to be involved in this important process,” said Burton. “In January we will interview volunteers for the Zoning Commission, send out Requests for Proposals to Zoning Consultants, and begin the long-term and critical process of reviewing our Zoning Code, which dates back to 1982.”

Stanford Parks & Rec

The Stanfordville Recreation Campaign received a grant for $247,420 from the New York State Regional Development Council. It is the largest grant the town has ever received. The funding will be used to renovate the Stanford Playground and Recreation Campaign, or SPARC, to update accessibility and safety standards for parkgoers of all ages, regardless of mental or physical abilities. In early January, organizing will begin for volunteers for the actual building of the park.