Preserve and protect the rural character and environmental quality of the town.
Peace and quiet, environmental quality, rural/small town character, open space, seeing stars at night are all seen as very important or somewhat important by at least 86% and as very important by more than half of respondents. The highest rating for town role went to working to preserve the rural and historic character of the town. Over 90% say this is an important role for the town and 60% say it is a very important role for the town. Respondents from the route 9W corridor felt less strongly about this, still about 80% said it was important or very important.
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Develop clear but flexible tools to regulate major subdivisions in keeping with the rural and historic character of town. 77% of survey respondents support this role for the town. Only 9% do not.
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Encourage housing developments that preserve open space over those that do not by adopting concepts of smart growth and conservation design. 60% say that housing developments that preserve open space should be encouraged. 21% say no and 19% are unsure or have no opinion.
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Limit multi-unit developments (condominiums, apartments and mobile home parks) to certain parts of town. 74% say yes for apartments and condos and 81% say yes to mobile home parks.
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Give special attention to appropriately regulating development on lots where environmental limitations exist. 72% say yes, 7% say no. This is pretty strong agreement, (especially since 93% said environmental quality was important or very important in question 1). Nearly ¾ of those who express an opinion say that zoning should be changed to preserve the rural character of the town (53% say yes, 19% say no and 28% are unsure or have no opinion), about ¾ of those who express an opinion also say that minimum lot size should be adjusted based on ability of land to support septic and water needs (61% say yes, 17% say no and 22% are unsure or have no opinion).
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Seek opportunities to preserve and protect historic buildings and sites, scenic landscapes, sensitive environmental sites and public access to the Hudson River. More than 80% of survey respondents favored pursuing each of these using funds from one or more of the sources mentioned in the survey. Fewer than 10% said no regardless of fund source to any of them. However, less than 15% of respondents favored using additional town taxes to support these efforts.
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Seek ways to protect rural character and environmental quality other than simply increasing the minimum lot size. Less than half of respondents say that minimum lot size should be increased (42% minimum lot size should not be changed, 38% say it should be, and 20% are unsure or have no opinion). There were no statistically significant differences based on where people live in town or how long they have been here.
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Conduct an inventory of the places and things that make New Baltimore special. This should include historic buildings and sites, scenic vistas, active farms, open spaces that are already protected, natural areas that deserve special attention. This inventory should begin with special places identified in the 2004 citizen survey and biodiversity inventory already begun by New Baltimore residents.