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.

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Stanford home market sees nine sales in July and August

Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.

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STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.

At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.

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Out on the trail
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Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.

Millbrook Library dedicates pollinator pathway garden

Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.

Leila Hawken

MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.

“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.

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Amenia Town Board continues discussing board alternates

Amenia Town Hall on Route 22.

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AMENIA — After gathering comments from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals, as it considers adding alternate members to those boards, the Town Board discussed possible changes to local laws governing those boards at its meeting on Friday, Oct. 3. The meeting date, usually on a Thursday, had been changed to accommodate a holiday.

In recent weeks Town Board attorney Ian Lindars has been compiling comments from the affected boards along with comments from the Town Board. The new laws may bring the appointment of two alternate members to each board. Alternate members are likely to be required to attend all meetings and be prepared to be seated if needed and be familiar with the applications being discussed. They would also need to take training required of all board members.

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