Healthy Community

Goal 32. Increase availability of recreational programming and facilities

Feed­back from res­i­dents and the Recre­ation and Parks Com­mis­sion dur­ing the Com­pre­hen­sive Plan out­reach process sug­gest that there is a need to increase the avail­abil­i­ty of recre­ation­al pro­gram­ming and facil­i­ties in the Town. A for­mal park­land and facil­i­ties demand analy­sis and a com­mu­ni­ty sur­vey should be con­duct­ed to gauge the recre­ation­al needs of res­i­dents of all ages, socioe­co­nom­ic sta­tus­es and abil­i­ties. The 2007 Recre­ation and Parks Mas­ter Plan should then be updat­ed to include the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of large recre­ation­al projects and new recre­ation­al programming.

Action 32.1. Parkland and facilities demand analysis

Con­duct a park­land and facil­i­ties demand analy­sis. Suvery the com­mu­ni­ty to assess the recre­ation­al needs and inter­ests of res­i­dents of all ages, socioe­co­nom­ic sta­tus, abil­i­ty, etc. Sur­vey and analy­sis should address year-round pro­gram­ming and facil­i­ty needs/​interests.

Action 32.2. Update the 2007 Recreation and Parks Master Plan

Update the 2007 Recre­ation and Parks Mas­ter Plan. Include the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion and pri­or­i­ti­za­tion of large recre­ation­al projects and incor­po­rate into the Cap­i­tal Improve­ment Plan, as well as the cre­ation of new recre­ation­al pro­gram­ming that address­es the needs of residents.

Action 32.3. Athletic bubble

Explore oppor­tu­ni­ties to share recre­ation­al ser­vices and facil­i­ties with neigh­bor­ing Towns and the region (e.g. ath­let­ic bubble).

Goal 33. Expand, enhance and maintain parkland and recreational space

In coor­di­na­tion with a Town-wide Bio­di­ver­si­ty Plan and the update of the 2007 Recre­ation and Parks Mas­ter Plan, the Town’s Open Space Man­age­ment Plan (OSMP) should be revised with the inten­tion to expand, enhance and main­tain the Town’s park­land and recre­ation­al space. The Town should explore the devel­op­ment of pock­et parks in res­i­den­tial and com­mer­cial devel­op­ments to make open space even more read­i­ly avail­able to residents. 

Action 33.1. Open Space Management Plan

Review and revise the Town’s Open Space Man­age­ment Plan to expand, enhance and main­tain park and recre­ation­al space. Coor­di­nate with the cre­ation of the Bio­di­ver­si­ty Man­age­ment Plan and the update of the 2007 Parks and Rec Mas­ter Plan. Include iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of parcels that would func­tion well as park­land for both pas­sive and active recre­ation­al use.

Action 33.2. Maintain existing parks and nature preserves

Main­tain exist­ing parks and nature preserves.

Action 33.3. Pocket Parks

Explore the devel­op­ment of pock­et parks in res­i­den­tial neigh­bor­hoods and where nec­es­sary in the hamlets.

Goal 34. Plan for equitable access to recreational services, schools and arts and cultural facilities

The Town should exam­ine enroll­ment demo­graph­ics of recre­ation­al pro­gram­ming par­tic­i­pants and iden­ti­fy areas of improve­ment to ensure access to pro­gram­ming is attain­able by all res­i­dents, no mat­ter age, phys­i­cal abil­i­ty, or income lev­el. All Town-owned recre­ation­al facil­i­ties should be eval­u­at­ed to ensure they are hand­i­cap acces­si­ble and ADA com­pli­ant. Final­ly, the Town should con­tin­ue its open dia­logue with the Chap­paqua Cen­tral School Dis­trict regard­ing ameni­ty usage and scheduling.

Action 34.1. Examine enrollment demographics

Col­lab­o­rate with Recre­ation and Parks Depart­ment to exam­ine enroll­ment demo­graph­ics and iden­ti­fy areas of improve­ments to ensure equi­table access and pro­gram­ming for all res­i­dents, includ­ing those with spe­cial needs.

Action 34.2. ADA compliance and accessibility

Under­take a facil­i­ties eval­u­a­tion for all Town owned recre­ation­al facil­i­ties to ensure ADA com­pli­ance and acces­si­bil­i­ty for phys­i­cal­ly dis­abled participants.

Action 34.3. Amenity usage and scheduling

Con­tin­ue open dia­logue about ameni­ty usage and sched­ul­ing with the Chap­paqua Cen­tral School District.

Goal 35. Improve trail and unimproved linkages between open space parcels and prominent destinations in the Town of New Castle

The improve­ment of off road link­ages between open space and promi­nent des­ti­na­tions in the Town will encour­age alter­na­tive trans­porta­tion meth­ods, phys­i­cal activ­i­ty, and res­i­dent inter­ac­tion with nature. The Town’s Trail Devel­op­ment Mas­ter Plan should be updat­ed to iden­ti­fy loca­tions for poten­tial bike paths and walk­ways between nature areas and park­land and the Town’s schools and ham­lets. The Town should inves­ti­gate and imple­ment infra­struc­ture improve­ments and pub­lic out­reach efforts that will encour­age the use of the North Coun­ty Trail­way in the Mill­wood ham­let. Final­ly, sig­nage, guid­ance and main­te­nance of exist­ing hik­ing trails should be improved.

Action 35.1. Update the Town’s Trail Development Master Plan

Update the Town’s Trail Devel­op­ment Mas­ter Plan. The plan should iden­ti­fy loca­tions for new bike paths and walk­ways, as well as oppor­tu­ni­ties for bicy­cle park­ing, between nature areas and park­land and the Town’s schools and ham­lets. Con­tin­ue to con­sid­er the devel­op­ment of a trail from Chap­paqua Cross­ing and Gree­ley High School to the Chap­paqua hamlet.

Action 35.2. Improve signage, guidance and maintenance of hiking trails

Improve sig­nage, guid­ance and main­te­nance of hik­ing trails.

Goal 36. Promote sustainable food practice

The Town should con­tin­ue to sup­port year-round farmer’s mar­kets. This should include ensur­ing that a farmer’s mar­ket takes place in the Town every year dur­ing the cold weath­er sea­son. When nec­es­sary, the Town should sup­port the oper­a­tion of exist­ing and new com­mu­ni­ty gar­dens. The Town should con­sid­er part­ner­ing with busi­ness­es in the ham­lets to estab­lish green roof com­mu­ni­ty gardens.

Action 36.1. Continue to support year-round local farmer’s markets

Con­tin­ue to sup­port year-round local farmer’s markets.

Action 36.2. Support existing community gardens

Part­ner with res­i­dents, ERB, Parks, local nurs­eries, and Green Thumbs to sup­port exist­ing com­mu­ni­ty gar­dens in the Town when nec­es­sary (e.g. ded­i­ca­tion of pub­lic space, zon­ing to allow for CSAs, deter­mine enti­ties in charge of main­tain­ing, oper­at­ing, and pro­gram­ming these spaces).

Action 36.3. Green roof community garden

Con­sid­er the fea­si­bil­i­ty of cre­at­ing a green roof com­mu­ni­ty gar­den with­in a ham­let or on an insti­tu­tion­al property.

Goal 37. Provide clear information regarding social services through a variety of media, including both traditional and electronic media

The Town should keep an inven­to­ry of all social, cul­tur­al, and insti­tu­tion­al ser­vices in the Town, as well as near­by food pantries and local health­care providers. A social ser­vices bul­letin should be cre­at­ed on the Town’s web­site. The Town should gar­ner feed­back from res­i­dents regard­ing their access to social ser­vices and assess how access to and pro­vi­sion of these ser­vices could be improved.

Action 37.1. Inventory all social, cultural, institutional etc. services

Inven­to­ry all social, cul­tur­al, insti­tu­tion­al etc. ser­vices in Town.

Action 37.2. Access to social services poll

Poll res­i­dents regard­ing their access to social ser­vices and the obsta­cles faced in access­ing social ser­vices. Assess how access to and the pro­vi­sion of social ser­vices could be improved.

Action 37.3. Create social services bulletin

Cre­ate social ser­vices bul­letin on website.

Goal 38. Improve Town communication channels and feedback mechanism

Through­out the Com­pre­hen­sive Plan out­reach process, res­i­dents expressed a gen­er­al dis­sat­is­fac­tion with the Town’s com­mu­ni­ca­tions and were espe­cial­ly crit­i­cal of the Town’s web­site. To improve the Town’s com­mu­ni­ca­tion with res­i­dents and to elim­i­nate bar­ri­ers to all social ser­vices, the Town should eval­u­ate the clar­i­ty and effec­tive­ness of the for­mat of its web­site, mail com­mu­ni­ca­tions and post­ings and make nec­es­sary improvements. 

Action 38.1. Evaluate the Town's website

Eval­u­ate the clar­i­ty and effec­tive­ness of the for­mat of the Town’s web­site. Make improve­ments where necessary.

Action 38.2. Website instruction guides

Cre­ate and dis­sem­i­nate instruc­tion guides on how to access infor­ma­tion on the Town’s web­site for all dif­fer­ent types of devices.

Action 38.3. Method to post material on website

Devel­op uni­form process­es and meth­ods to post mate­ri­als on the web­site for ease of res­i­dent access.

Goal 39. Improve road safety

Road improve­ments should be made at inter­sec­tions and cross­ings that have shown high fre­quen­cy of inci­dents. Improve­ments should con­sid­er not only vehic­u­lar safe­ty, but pedes­tri­an and cyclist safe­ty as well. Com­plete Street ele­ments should always be con­sid­ered when mak­ing road­way safe­ty improve­ments. To ensure the safe­ty of vehi­cles at the high­ly traf­ficked Saw Mill Riv­er Park­way entrance at Roar­ing Brook Road, the Town should pur­sue the devel­op­ment of a bridge over the MTA Rail­road Cross­ing and the Parkway.

Action 39.1. Road Safety Plan

Coor­di­nate with Com­mis­sion­er of Pub­lic Works on the cre­ation of a Road Safe­ty Plan and map. Inves­ti­gate and iden­ti­fy road safe­ty issues in Town. Con­sid­er uti­liz­ing Westch­ester Coun­ty Base Stud­ies traf­fic data and NYS­DOT and NYMTC resources.

Action 39.2. Intersections and Crossings

Iden­ti­fy inter­sec­tions and cross­ings that have shown high fre­quen­cy of inci­dents and address pedes­tri­an and cyclist safe­ty at these locations.

Action 39.3. Saw Mill River Parkway Bridge

Pur­sue devel­op­ment of Saw Mill Riv­er Park­way Bridge at Roar­ing Brook Road and MTA Rail­road crossing.

Goal 40. Promote general public safety

Design ele­ments that reduce injuries and improve pub­lic safe­ty should be includ­ed in street, build­ing, and land­scape cap­i­tal improve­ments. Pub­lic employ­ees and first respon­ders should be ade­quate­ly trained for han­dling and respond­ing to inci­dences of vio­lence such as bomb threats and shoot­ings. Edu­ca­tion mate­ri­als illus­trat­ing ​“best prac­tice” in pub­lic safe­ty behav­ior should be devel­oped and dis­sem­i­nat­ed via mul­ti­ple media out­lets. Final­ly, the Town web­site should be reviewed to ensure emer­gency infor­ma­tion is eas­i­ly and intu­itive­ly accessible.

Action 40.1. Capital improvements to improve public safety

Include ele­ments in street, build­ing and land­scape cap­i­tal improve­ments that reduce pub­lic injuries and improve pub­lic safety.

Action 40.2. Disaster training

Pre­pare pub­lic employ­ees and first respon­ders for vio­lent inci­dences (e.g. shoot­ings, bomb threats).

Action 40.3. Improve clarity and access to information on Town’s website

Improve clar­i­ty and access to infor­ma­tion (includ­ing emer­gency infor­ma­tion) on Town’s website.

Action 40.4. Public safety best practice fact sheets

Estab­lish pub­lic safe­ty best prac­tice fact sheets to be dis­sem­i­nat­ed via vary­ing media outlets.

Goal 41. Promote public safety in natural disasters and emergency situations

The Town should plan for more fre­quent and intense weath­er events by imple­ment­ing appro­pri­ate dis­as­ter mit­i­ga­tion and adap­ta­tion mea­sures. The Town should devel­op a Post Dis­as­ter Recov­ery Plan, which should include eco­nom­ic recov­ery strate­gies. Mit­i­ga­tion, resilien­cy and pre­pared­ness mea­sures should be includ­ed in all local plans and design projects. The Town’s Haz­ard Mit­i­ga­tion Plan should con­tin­ue to be updat­ed as required and coor­di­nat­ed with ongo­ing cap­i­tal and infra­struc­ture improve­ments. The Town should invest in ener­gy reli­a­bil­i­ty and secu­ri­ty and explore the fea­si­bil­i­ty of com­mu­ni­ty and neigh­bor­hood micro­grids and com­bined heat and pow­er (CHP) sys­tems. Final­ly, the Town should con­tin­ue to pro­mote safe­ty aware­ness in all emer­gen­cies, includ­ing evac­u­a­tion infor­ma­tion in the event of an emer­gency at Indi­an Point. 

Action 41.1. Hazard Mitigation Plan

Con­tin­ue to update the Town’s Haz­ard Mit­i­ga­tion Plan as required and coor­di­nate with the Cap­i­tal Improve­ment Plan and oth­er ongo­ing infra­struc­ture planning.

Action 41.2. ​Map identified mitigation initiatives

Map iden­ti­fied mit­i­ga­tion ini­tia­tives from the Haz­ard Mit­i­ga­tion Plan and pro­vide map­ping to depart­ment staff review­ing cap­i­tal improve­ment and pri­vate devel­op­ment projects to stream­line imple­men­ta­tion of mit­i­ga­tion initiatives.

Action 41.3. Establish a policy to incorporate

Estab­lish a policy/​legislation that requires the incor­po­ra­tion of mit­i­ga­tion, resilien­cy and pre­pared­ness mea­sures into local plans, design of projects and cap­i­tal improve­ments (e.g. gen­er­a­tors, micro­grids, green infra­struc­ture, green roofs, posi­tion of buildings).

Action 41.4. Post Disaster Recovery Plan

Devel­op a Post Dis­as­ter Recov­ery Plan which includes strate­gies for eco­nom­ic recovery.

Action 41.5. Microgrids

To for­ti­fy the Town’s ener­gy secu­ri­ty, con­sid­er devel­op­ing com­mu­ni­ty and neigh­bor­hood micro­grids and com­bined heat and pow­er (CHP) systems

Action 41.6. Regularly test emergency communication systems

Reg­u­lar­ly test emer­gency com­mu­ni­ca­tion systems

Action 41.7. Notification of septic system maintenance

Con­tin­ue annu­al noti­fi­ca­tion of sep­tic sys­tem main­te­nance in annu­al Town newslet­ter. Expand edu­ca­tion­al infor­ma­tion to include emer­gency preparedness.

Action 41.8. Indian Point evacuation procedures

Pro­mote aware­ness of evac­u­a­tion and recov­ery pro­ce­dures in the event of an emer­gency at Indi­an Point through edu­ca­tion­al mail­ings and Town website.

Goal 42. Reduce flooding frequency and intensity in flood-prone areas

Much of New Cas­tle was built on swamp land before mod­ern day envi­ron­men­tal reg­u­la­tions and wet­land buffer require­ments were estab­lished. As a result, there are many areas in New Cas­tle that are prone to flood­ing despite best efforts in flood pre­ven­tion or mit­i­ga­tion. It is para­mount that the Town con­tin­ue to be vig­i­lant in imple­ment­ing flood pre­ven­tion mea­sures and inves­ti­gate inven­tive solu­tions to flood­ing. The Town’s Haz­ard Mit­i­ga­tion Plan should con­tin­ue to be used to iden­ti­fy drainage improve­ments and flood pre­ven­tion projects. The Town’s flood­plain man­age­ment ordi­nance should be strength­ened to reduce vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty to flood­ing and ero­sion. Final­ly, the Town’s flood pre­ven­tion strate­gies should be aligned with those found in the Nation­al Flood Insur­ance Pro­gram Com­mu­ni­ty Rat­ing sys­tem. For­mal par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Rat­ing Sys­tem should be con­sid­ered to ensure New Cas­tle is receiv­ing all appro­pri­ate assis­tance for flood event pre­ven­tion and recovery.

Action 42.1. Flooding prevention

Con­tin­ue to uti­lize the Town’s Haz­ard Mit­i­ga­tion Plan to iden­ti­fy drainage improve­ments and flood­ing pre­ven­tion projects.

Action 42.2. Floodplain management ordinance

Strength­en flood­plain man­age­ment ordi­nance to reduce vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty to flood­ing and erosion.

Action 42.3. Flood prevention strategies

Align flood pre­ven­tion strate­gies with those found in the Nation­al Flood Insur­ance Pro­gram Com­mu­ni­ty Rat­ing Sys­tem. Con­sid­er par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Rat­ing System.

Goal 43. Mitigate hazards posed by utility poles, wires and infrastructure

The Town should coor­di­nate with Con Edi­son and oth­er util­i­ty providers to under­take aes­thet­ic and safe­ty improve­ments of exist­ing above-ground ser­vices. Where appro­pri­ate, bur­ial of above-ground util­i­ty lines should be con­tin­ued and promoted.

Action 43.1. Burial of above-ground utility lines

Pro­mote the bur­ial of above-ground util­i­ty lines where appropriate.

Action 43.2. Aesthetic and safety improvements

Coor­di­nate with Con Edi­son to under­take aes­thet­ic and safe­ty improve­ments of exist­ing above-ground services.

Goal 44. Reduce adverse impacts of environmental hazards or disasters on vulnerable populations

As vari­ety in the Town’s hous­ing stock increas­es and the baby boomer pop­u­la­tion ages, the Town could see an increase in ​“vul­ner­a­ble” pop­u­la­tions, or pop­u­la­tions that do not have ade­quate phys­i­cal or mon­e­tary resources to pre­pare or adapt suf­fi­cient­ly to envi­ron­men­tal haz­ards or dis­as­ters. The Town should iden­ti­fy these vul­ner­a­ble pop­u­la­tions and their need for assis­tance dur­ing and after nat­ur­al dis­as­ters, or as the result of changes in the envi­ron­ment. The Town should devel­op an inven­to­ry of avail­able Fed­er­al, State, and local assis­tance pro­grams for dis­as­ter recov­ery for use by all residents.

Action 44.1. Vulnerable populations

Iden­ti­fy vul­ner­a­ble pop­u­la­tions and deter­mine poten­tial needs dur­ing and after nat­ur­al dis­as­ters or as the result of changes in the envi­ron­ment or adjoin­ing landscapes.

Action 44.2. Assistance for disaster recovery

Inven­to­ry avail­able Fed­er­al, State and local assis­tance for dis­as­ter recov­ery and make infor­ma­tion acces­si­ble to residents.

Action 44.3. Off site impacts of new projects

Inves­ti­gate oppor­tu­ni­ty to address off site impacts of new projects, specif­i­cal­ly to con­sid­er adjoin­ing prop­er­ties and the need to pro­tect vul­ner­a­ble pop­u­la­tions from unin­tend­ed con­se­quences of development.