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GOVERNOR SPITZER MARKS FIRST DAY OF PORT AUTHORITY CONTROL OF STEWART INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Announces $500,000 in State Smart Growth Funds to Help Localities Plan for Anticipated Growth

Governor Eliot Spitzer today led officials from the Port Authority and Hudson Valley communities in commemorating the first day of Port Authority control of Stewart International Airport in Newburgh. The Governor also announced a Regional Smart Growth Initiative to include a state planning council and a state commitment of $500,000 in grants to local communities to plan for increased growth and development in the region.

The Lower Hudson Valley is among the fastest growing areas of the state. The Port Authority takeover of Stewart International Airport is expected to continue to support growth in Orange, Rockland and Sullivan counties. Additional regional support for economic growth is expected from the conversion of Route 17 to I-86 and the investments recommended by the I-287/Tappan Zee Corridor Environmental Impact Statement.

Stewart International Airport covers 2,400 acres and features two parallel runways that can handle major jet service outside of the crowded airspace over Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia and Teterboro airports. In 2006, Stewart International Airport handled 300,000 passengers. By comparison, LaGuardia handled about 26 million passengers last year and sits on only 680 acres on land. The Port Authority Board of Commissioners in January authorized the purchase of the operating lease at Stewart for $78.5 million, and in September approved more than $17 million for parking and roadway improvements. The lease runs through 2099.

“The Port Authority has the resources and expertise to help Stewart International Airport realize its potential as a major transportation hub for this vastly expanding region,” said Governor Spitzer. “As I stated in my inaugural address, the expansion of Stewart International Airport will help to stimulate economic development in the Hudson Valley and beyond, and with our Smart Growth Initiative we will ensure responsible planning and environmentally sound growth. Additional air capacity at Stewart will also help ease congestion currently afflicting our increasingly stressed metropolitan airports as we near their capacity and plan for future population and passenger growth.”

The Lower Hudson Valley Regional Smart Growth Initiative will ensure responsible, environmentally sound growth and that the actions of the state agencies are coordinated with local planning. It will have two components. First, the Smart Growth funds will be used for regional and municipal planning to address the rapid growth in the region. Second, to ensure the key state agencies and authorities offer coordinated planning and technical assistance resources to local communities, the Governor has directed the involved agencies to form a state planning council that focuses joint efforts on the region.

Smart Growth funds will be allocated to the Lower Hudson Valley Regional Smart Growth Initiative to help localities in the area maximize economic development, while enhancing community quality-of-life, preserving the natural environment, and promoting transportation alternatives. The planning assistance will complement and coordinate with local planning initiatives already underway, such as Newburgh’s Urbanized Area Land Use Study, to provide a regional perspective for growth management.

The following agencies and authorities will drive the Smart Growth project: New York State Department of Transportation, Empire State Development Corporation, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of State, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority, Housing Finance Agency, Division of Housing and Community Renewal and Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation. The Council will actively engage outside representatives, with a focus on local government and community representation, the environmental community, and the business sector, among others. The Governor will form a local Advisory Council composed of business, environmental, local government and civic leaders to inform the process.

The Governor launched a Smart Growth initiative as part of the Environmental Protection Fund in this year’s budget to promote livable communities by integrating economic development and community quality-of-life in the regional and municipal planning process. Some Smart Growth goals will include: targeted growth in town and city centers, infrastructure-based planning, mixed-use design, walkable communities, transportation alternatives, parks and greenway corridors, affordable workforce housing, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and well-planned public spaces.

The Governor launched similar Smart Growth initiatives this year in the Central Catskills and the Adirondack Park. The Central Catskills Smart Growth program will help revitalize town and hamlet centers that may be impacted by future development in the Catskills. The Adirondack program will help attract economic growth by enhancing quality-of-life and environmental stewardship in the Park.