GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

The Town of Hillsdale is located in the eastern portion of Columbia County bordering the western Massachusetts towns of Alford and Egremont. The City of Hudson is approximately fifteen miles to the west, and Albany, the New York State Capital, is about thirty miles to the northwest.

Hillsdale was formed from Claverack, becoming a town in March 1788. Its southern boundary is also the southern line of the Van Rensselaer Patent where it meets the northern line of Livingston Manor. The Town is sparsely populated except in five areas where settlement is more concentrated—the hamlet of Hillsdale, East Hillsdale, North Hillsdale, Harlemville, and Green River. The population of the Town today is about 1,800, a great deal less than the 2,552 as noted in 1860 in J. F. Collin’s A History of Hillsdale.

The hamlet of Hillsdale is located on the Town’s southern boundary with Copake. Many residents of the Town of Copake live at Hillsdale postal addresses, and are socially and physically a part of Hillsdale. Planning for the future of Hillsdale must take account of the fact that an arbitrary political boundary bisects Hillsdale’s most important settlement center.

The hills and dales prominent throughout the Town, from which the name Hillsdale is derived, range from just under 700 feet above sea level to 1,673 feet in elevatio’n on White’s Hill. Other mountainous areas include the Kaikoudt (1,450 feet), Lyon Mountain (1,404 feet), Pumpkin Hill (1,418 feet), Shepard Hill (1,633 feet), and Texas Hill (1,055 feet). Other physical features of the Town include large. areas with slopes greater than 15% and soil types which are severely limited in their ability to absorb sewage effluent. These soils are very rocky, with a thin soil mantle over bedrock and poor permeability.

In addition to the mountains, there are three main valleys in the Town. One, in Green River, extends eastward into Massachusetts; the main north-south valley forms one leg of the upper end of the Harlem Valley, extending south from North Hillsdale; a third valley extends east to west through the hamlet center. Each of these valley areas has been mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey showing the potential existence of underlying aquifers. Further analysis needs to be done to determine the aquifer boundaries, ground water levels, and the direction of flow. This information is vital in planning for future development and soil mining.

Hillsdale’s open space, rural character, and scenic views are important natural resources that attract people to the area. These natural resources, insofar as possible, should be preserved.

The largest natural resource other than forests (which cover 70 % of Hillsdale) is agricultural land. Of the Town’s 48.3 square miles (30,912 acres), approximately twenty percent of the land (6,200 acres) remains in agriculture. Twenty years ago, thirty percent of the land was considered to be in agricultural use. -

Soil and topographic maps show many water bodies in the Town. Streams include the Green River, Taghkanic Creek, Roeliff-Jansen Kill, and Philmont Reservoir. Other water bodies include the 50-acre Herrington’s Pond, one twenty-acre pond, one five-acre pond, eleven two-acre ponds, and 42 ponds ranging in size from one-half acre to one acre.

In addition to the water bodies listed above, there are 25 wetlands of 12.4 acres or more designated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in the Town, totaling 751 acres. The other major lowland areas are Knapp Hollow, Shepard Hollow, and the wetland area along Route 23.

The areas containing Blasdell and Hoosic soils, under which gravel is commonly found, are both environmentally sensitive and economically valuable. There are approximately 110 acres of BlasdeIl soil and 405 acres of Hoosic soils on slopes greater than eight percent (“C” and “D” slopes), where gravel extraction would be possible. Other gravel areas with slopes of less than eight percent would be impractical for soil mining because of water table and reclamation problems.

‘‘Beautiful Hillsdale’’

There’s a mountain just south of the village,
And a valley that leads to the West
Where the rays of the sun seem to linger
When it reaches the high rocky crest
Of the Catskills, away in the distance
Where the Hudson flows past on its way
It’s a picture of beautiful Hillsdale
At the close of a bright summer day

These lines written in 1900 by Thomas H. Evans may not exemplify the highest type of poetic art but surely describe the scene at the junction of Routes 22 and 23 in Hillsdale. I have seen it at the close of a winter’s day, too, when the setting sun tinged with pink that same mountain powdered with snow on its high peaks. Evans was called “The Poet of the Milky Way’’ because of his connection with a milk marketing plant here and his verses, published in New York City newspapers at the turn of the century, gained quite a degree of publicity for Hillsdale.

However, ‘twas not ever thus! During October, 1777 when the wife and children of the Hessian Major General Baron von Riedesel came here on their way to Boston, after the defeat of the British at Saratoga, they were forced to camp in Nobletown, as Hillsdale was then called. One of the officers accompanying them characterized it in his journal as ‘‘the wretched village of Nobletown,” but as it had snowed in the night, that may have partially accounted for his distaste for the village. Even so, it probably didn’t have very many conveniences for travelers at that time. Although no Revolutionary engagements took place in Columbia County, Hillsdale is distinguished as being one of the towns through which General Henry Knox passed on his way from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, taking cannons and ammunition to that beleaguered city.

Hillsdale was formed from Claverack as a district on March 26, 1782, recognized as a town in 1788 and in 1818 part of it became Austerlitz, leaving a tract of 26,699 acres. The history of Hillsdale, as such, began after the settlement of the border dispute when both Massachusetts and New York claimed the eastern part of what is now Hillsdale and Copake. It was Matthew Noble coming from Westfield, Massachusetts, who first put down roots here, and for him the town was named Nobletown. What is now North Hillsdale was designated Hillsdale. After Noble’s son Robert, an early rent agitator, was driven to Massachusetts by the 46th Royal Infantry, dispatched from Albany in 1766, and the border between New York and Massachusetts established, the town was re-named Hillsdale and the former Hillsdale became North Hillsdale. The name derives from the gently rolling hills surrounding the valley.

The western parts of Hillsdale and Copake were under the Van Rensselaer patent. The anti-rent war started here in the 1840’s and spread throughout Columbia County and other eastern counties when farmers wish­ed to discontinue being tenants of the large landholders and be permitted to buy the farms which they and their ancestors had been cultivating, often for more than 100 years.

At a meeting in Churchtown (Smoky Hollow) outside Barn’s Tavern where the leader of the A’ti-Renters, Smith Boughton, was to speak, a young boy was accidentally shot in the melee which took place, sobering the crowd and putting an end to the meeting. Boughton was jailed but never convicted because of the lack of witnesses to testify against him. On trumped-up charges he was sent, with others, to Clinton Prison but was pardoned in 1847. By 1852 the large landholders were forced to bow to public opinion and sell their properties to their tenants.

Very few descendants of the early settlers are still found in the area and because of the loss of early records it is impossible to tell where they lived, but the homestead of the Collin family still exists on the street named for it and is still in possession of a member of that family. David and John Collin II, of Huguenot descent, came here from Milford, Connecticut before the Revolution. John Collin II settled in the western part of the town on a farm later known as the Higgins place, but later moved to the eastern section. David lived on the farm later occupied by Leroy Hunt and was a lieutenant in the Colonial Army during the French and Indian War. He lived for a time in Dutchess County where his house was attacked and he was tortured almost to death, presumably by Tories. He died in Hillsdale in 1818. 

Another early settler was Quincy Johnson who came with his parents, William and Jane Johnson, from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1808. 

Peter Becker, a prominant settler who, it is thought, came here also before the Revolution, married Mary Southard in 1780, and from that marriage came a large family. One son, John P., married Margaret Clum, whose son Phillip was the owner of a saw and planing mill on the Roeliff Jansen Kill which was destroyed by the devastating flood in 1888. Phillip served two or more terms as Justice of the Peace.

An early settler who left his mark on the town was Parla Foster, whose family originated in Belgium. Parla came to Nobletown in time to fight in the Revolutionary Army. Afterward he married and had six daughters and six sons who worked the several hundred acre farm on a corner of which, at the crossing of New York State Routes 22 and 23, stands the present day Dutch Hearth Inn, known until a few years ago as the Elmwood Inn. This was erected in 1783 and as Foster was active in political life was the scene of many political meetings and dinners. Dances were often held in the third floor ball room and sometimes prisoners were lodged in the cellar, which had barred windows, until they could be taken to the county jail in Claverack. Although it has changed hands many times, the essential structure has not been altered much and it remains the most imposing building in the village.

There was a Toll Gate at the eastern end of the Columbia Turnpike, near the Massachusetts border, on a dirt road which is now New York State Route 23. No toll was charged churchgoers on Sunday. The toll house still stands. The “shunpike,” about half a mile north, running from Mitchell Street to Ox Bow road, was trodden out by persons who objected to paying the toll. At the Mitchell Street end of the ‘‘shunpike’’ stands the largest Norway Spruce in the State of New York.

There were many small manufacturing plants in the first half of the 19th century including 11 grist mills, 10 saw mills, four fulling mills and four cording machines. As timber was cleared from the land, fewer mills were needed, and as roads were improved grain could be more easily trans­ported to larger and more modern mills so that when the terrible flood of 1888, in which 12 inches of rain fell inside of an hour, washed away all the more or less primitive structures it wasn’t as much of a loss to the com­munity as might be supposed. It was the loss of crops in the fields that caused the greatest hardship and the loss of one life.

Refine Latting had a tannery one half mile west of the village and also kept a tavern and was the first postmaster.

Nathaniel Hose, Caleb Benton and Abraham Jordan were the first physicians in the town, the latter an Army surgeon in the War of 1812.

There were five post offices in the township: Hillsdale, North Hillsdale, Hillside, Harlemville, and Green River. Just a few names of early post­masters were D. Zeh, who succeeded R.L. Canaan, Freeland Pulver, Dr. Henry Cornell and J.H. Bently.

In 1833 Phillip Becker built a small furnace for making plough castings and like custom work. The flood of 1888 carried away most of this building, which was owned by Cornelius Vesburgh, including the machinery patterns. What was left was sold to William A. Mallery, Jr. who also installed a grist mill.

Some of the principal merchants and business men of the town in the later 19th century and the beginning of the 20th were: Freeland Pulver, general storekeeper whose business was established in 1869; Thomas Dimmick who founded a store in 1879 continued into the 1950’s by his son Raymond, and grandson Frederick; L.W. Conklin started in 1897 and H.W. Holmes had a hardware store approximately opposite the present-day library. Henry Cornell had a drug store and Bullock and Herrington dealt in coal and lumber. A marble yard was run by William Coons. At that time the Mount Washington House was run by George B. Sweet, and the Hillsdale House by Harvey Sweet, who was no kin to George!

Provisions were made to educate the children almost as soon as Hillsdale became a town. The original primitive structures were gradually replaced and the town divided into districts. The earliest records show that in 1860 there were 18 school districts and 979 children of school age. The districts were reduced to one in the 1930’s when Hillsdale joined with Copake, Ancram and part of Austerlitz to create a central school district and the present Roeliff Jansen Central School was built.

Until the formation of the central school district the only high school in the area was in Hillsdale. Mrs. Spencer Becker remembers that she and other young people from Copake commuted to school on the railroad. The new Central School, however, besides containing the high school accommodated all elementary grades as well, although schools in Ancram and Copake were retained for awhile to take care of some elementary grades.

Before any churches were erected in Hillsdale marriages and baptisms were taken care of by the Reverend Gideon Bostwick of Saint James Church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, from 1770 until 1793.

The first church built was the First Baptist Church of Hillsdale, organized in 1787 by James and Phebe Martin, Caleb Jr. and Anna Woodward, William .Jr. and Rosanna West, Ambrose and Joana Latting, Griffin and Anna Wilde, Ruth Jordan, Esther Terry, Lucy Loop and Sarah Martin. That first building was erected by Ambrose Latting who completed it in 1788. A split in the congregation occurred and some of the members united with the Methodists who built the first church of that denomination in the county in 1836 on land donated by Parla Foster, but there had been Methodist meetings in private homes previous to that date. The first such meeting was held in 1807 by the Reverend William Swayze in the house of Isaiah Esmond in the year 1807. Two other ministers, the Reverend D. Ostrander and Reverend W. Fradenburg, held services but few people at tended them. In fact in some cases there was even opposition; stones were thrown against the house where services were held.

But the Reverend Swayze continued his attempt to establish a church and finally, spurred on by Anna Pixley, the wife of Colonel John Pixley, the new denomination took hold and ‘‘class meetings,’’ as they were then called, were formed and met regularly — often at the home of Parla Foster who sometimes acted as minister — until the church was built. It was situated in back of the old school house site between J.D. Bell’s and G.M. Bullock’s.

In 1845 a new church was built on land given by Seymour Foster but in a short time this burned down destroying not only church records but town records as well. In 1847 the present edifice was raised and is one of three churches in the township, the others being the Methodist Church of North Hillsdale and the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Harlemville. This last is also over 100 years old and in spite of its being flooded three times in the past two years services are held there once a month.

There was once another Methodist church in Harlemville. The Hillsdale Presbyterian Church was organized in 1831 but burned down in 1927, again destroying town as well as church records.

Adjacent to the Methodist Church of North Hillsdale is the very well kept cemetery incorporated in 1856 which grew out of a small burying ground set apart by the Van Rensselaers. It has been added to and now contains over four acres.

                 North Hillsdale Methodist Church

Masonic Hall — burned in 1927

Aside from several small cemeteries is the Hillsdale Rural Cemetery which was established in 1865. It covers over five acres, is well-kept, neatly fenced and nearby property has been acquired for an extension of the original site.

The Grange which was founded in Hillsdale in 1902 now occupies the former Baptist Church. The church property which had been bought by Mrs. Florence K. Masters of Copake and New York was presented by her to the Grange in 1928. Introduced by the master, John J. Paulsen, Frederick J. Freestone, master of the New York State Grange, gave the address of dedication.

In 1918 the volunteer fire company, Hillsdale Fire Company No. 1, was organized and in 1965 it moved from its by then inadequate quarters on Route 23 to the newly built fire house on Route 22 just north of the traffic light. The old fire house then became the Town Hall. The fire company is a dedicated group of men and women who serve the community well.

Although the Masonic Lodge, F. and A.M. No. 612, was organized in its present form in 1866-67, a previous lodge had been in existence in 1812, but dissolved at the time of William Morgan’s anti-Masonic activities. The original temple was burned in 1927 along with the Presbyterian Church and the present brick building put up in 1929 on the site of the former Presbyterian Church.

Presbyterian Church — lost in the 1927 fire

There have been other fraternal organizations: the Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of America and Lions International which was founded in 1948 and supports many local and national projects.

The original Young People’s Improvement Association, in which Henry Dudley Harvey was a moving spirit, was formed to improve the looks of the town, pave sidewalks, etc. It died a natural death when these duties were taken over by the town board, (i.e. the taxpayers). When in 1946 a group of citizens wanted to do something in memory of the veterans of World War II, the name of the old society was revived and it maintains the field although the town and the Youth Commission finance the activities.

There have been a number of newspapers over the years but the most recent was the Hillsdale Harbinger, first published by Henry Dudley Harvey in 1887. Previous to that there existed the Hillsdale Herald.

Recreational activities probably didn’t change much for 100 years or even longer. Aside from visiting lecturers most of the entertainment in the country was home-made: plays, musical programs, minstrel shows such as by the Hillsdale Cornet Band, picnics, hayrides in the summer and sledding parties in the winter as well as sleigh rides which were often accompanied by upsets into deep drifts, square dancing, and an occasional more formal dance by invitation in the ball room on the third floor of the Elmwood Inn or perhaps in the ball room of the Bushnell home.

Hillsdale has been the home of a number of artists over the years. Cuyler Williams was a self-taught painter whose works hang in a number of Hillsdale homes and in our library. He lived on Collin’s Street in a house later restored and lived in by Miss Helen Denman.

In the field of literature, Wallace Bruce was widely known. He wrote several books of poetry and at least two books extolling the ‘‘Queen of Rivers’’ as he dubbed the Hudson (the Mississippi being the ‘‘King’’ of rivers). These volumes did much to persuade New Yorkers to appreciate their natural heritage. He also lectured all over the country on patriotic themes. In 10 years he gave more than 1,000 lectures in 30 states without ever missing an engagement.

On a boulder along Whippoorwill Road, on what was the farm on which he was born in 1844. he placed a marble plaque which is incised with a verse from a poem in memory of his mother:

I hear the notes of the whippoorwill
As of old in the gathering shade
I sit by the rock on the quiet hill
Where in girlhood my mother played.

For varying lengths of time a number of well-known writers have made Hillsdale their home: James Agee, Edgar Lee Masters, John Cowper Powys, Arthur Davison Ficke and Louise Bogan among them. For 15 years or so Alan Devoe and his wife lived in Harlemville and wrote for various periodicals. They collaborated on his last book. ‘Our Animal Neighbors.’’

I do not see how I can omit mention of the exploit of the Militia of West Hillsdale which made one of the longest marches in the War of 1812 under Captain Henry Mesick. They had been training for a year hoping for a chance to see some action when the time finally would come for them to be called upon. They marched from Columbia County to Plattsburg reaching there just in time to help defeat the British General Provost in a decisive battle after which the British marched back to Canada. Mesick and the Militia returned to Hillsdale covered with glory and in recognition of his valor, Mesick was made Overseer of the Poor.

After the Harlem Valley Railroad established a depot here, Hillsdale became a center of the area for the transportation of goods to New York and elsewhere. There were cattle pens for holding calves for shipment and a big barn for holding hay for the same purpose. Sheffield Farms-Slawson Decker had a milk plant here and numerous businesses thrived. lam told there was a general store and a shirt factory in the building which now houses Hillsdale Farm Supplies. The passenger line has been discontinued, but Hillsdale prospers and looks ahead to the future.       Margaret Hunt
Town Historian

Hillsdale has seen many changes since 1975, particularly as its week­end home population keeps increasing. There are still many hundreds of acres of open and wooded land in the northwestern area of town, but even there numerous driveways lead off the still graveled roads to secluded homes.

In recent years the town’s planning and zoning boards have been engaged in long studies of proposed housing developments in various parts of town. Property values continue to increase, topped by the Tory Hill development offering large homes in the million dollar range.

Meanwhile, a committee of citizens labored over a master plan for the town and an Albany firm was hired in 1990 to begin revaluation of all properties.

The number of working dairy farms dwindled, but some which remained in business followed the technology of the times by computeriz­ing feeding operations and record keeping. In 1982 the Little Rainbow Chevre goat dairy started.

In the meantime, Topp Hill, Odyssey, and Sir William Farms all dis­continued raising beef cattle. Sir William, well known for its Polish Arabian horses, became Bridlewood, an equine boarding and breeding farm which drew large crowds to its annual sales.

Catamount Ski Area, under new ownership, continued to expand the number of slopes and lifts, and early in 1990 was planning construction of a resort hotel at its base.

Ed Herrington, Inc. expanded greatly, moving to a large new com­plex near its original office, adding extensively to its inventory, and acquiring new warehouses on Route 23 East. The firm provides multiple services to customers in the three-state area. Herrington Fuels, Inc., a spin-off corporation, was established by Casey Kuhn in 1984.

The former railroad station, used for storage by Ed. Herrington, Inc., was a victim of arson in 1987. In 1982 the Hillsdale Super Market was destroyed by fire shortly after its sale by the Avenia family, longtime owners, but was rebuilt as a more modern store.

The sport shop continued in business under various owners, the Hillsdale House opened dining rooms, and the barber shop added a liquor store to its building. The Berkshire Flower Shoppe was a new and continuing business, sharing its building for a time with The Indenpendent, which later moved to a large new building on Route 23.

A tattoo parlor was in the village center, but the former Village Square restaurant closed after changing hands several times. Vincent’s Printing closed and was replaced by an antique and gift shop. The former Porteus’s store enjoyed a brief revival as a home decorating shop.

Around the junction of Routes 22 and 23 several businesses came and went, including a pharmacy and the diner. The historic inn previously called Dutch Hearth became the French restaurant, L’Hostellerie Bressane, facing a convenience store which replaced the Gulf station.

To the east on Route 23 a new Agway store opened, replacing its predecessor, Hillsdale Farm Supply. The initially controversial 0TB (Off Track Betting) continued at the Four Brothers restaurant complex, where former President Richard Nixon stopped for lunch one day in 1982. A video rental store there was the newest type of retail business in this rural area, which was soon to have cable television.

One landmark business to disappear was the Hillsdale Farmers’ Auction, its demise followed by that of the adjoining Hillsdale Packing Company.

Pediatrician Dr. Irma Waldo, who had cared for the area’s children for many years, discontinued her practice in 1985, while ophthalmologist Dr. Joel Weinberg opened an office that year.

Area children were offered an alternative to public school when Hawthorne Valley, a Rudolf Steiner school, opened in Harlemville, gradually becoming a complete elementary and high school.

The Hillsdale United Methodist Church celebrated its 175th anni­versary in 1983 and in 1984 acquired Rev. Judith Mills as pastor of both Hillsdale and North Hillsdale churches. She and her husband Rev. Richard Mills, who served Copake and Craryville churches, lived in the parsonage adjacent to the Hillsdale church.

In 1986 the Hillsdale Fire Company burned the mortgage on its Herrington Hall, the site of many local social events. During the week-long power outage caused by a snowstorm on October 4, 1987 the com­pany provided shelter and dry ice to townspeople.

In 1981 offices were created upstairs in the Town Hall, but the sewer system for the village, under discussion since the 1970’s was still not approved in early 1990.

As taken from A History of the Roeliff Jansen Area

INFRASTRUCTURE

As a rural community, Hillsdale has historically had relatively little development infrastructure. Although the railroad formerly linked the Town with the outside world, Hillsdale’s strategic location in the state highway network is now the most important determinant of its growth.

The location of the Town within the regional transportation network can be viewed as an economic resource which has important environmental consequences. The intersection of New York State Highway Route 23 (east-west) with Route 22 (north-south) in the hamlet has resulted in problems of both increased commercial through-traffic and heavy tourist traffic. This intersection is a crossroads for tourism in the Town and the areas beyond. The attraction of Catamount Ski Area, restaurants, rural scenery, and the entrance to the Berkshires through Hillsdale have all been advertised in the New York Times by the Columbia County Planning and Economic Development Department as part of their on-going promotional efforts.

The most important infrastructure challenge the Town faces is sewage disposal in the hamlet. While this Comprehensive Plan Update calls for clustering new residential and commercial development in and around the hamlet of Hillsdale, such growth cannot occur without water and sewer infrastructure. The Town is currently having a serious problem with sewage leaking into streams and rising out of the ground in certain low spots. This is due to an impermeable layer of clay which prevents septic system leaching fields from draining properly into the ground. This clay layer has, so far, also protected the drinking water supplies that lie beneath it.

The Town is under a consent order from the State to remedy this sewage problem, but it has not found a feasible solution. Until a solution is found, there can be little or no growth within the central hamlet area. The Town has commissioned studies to assess the cost and feasibility of a sewer system, but sewer district proposals have been defeated by the voters. Alternative technologies, such as collection and treatment of septic tank effluent using constructed wetlands, have been proposed and may offer a solution to this serious problem.

This infrastructure problem poses a serious dilemma in the implementation of the comprehensive    plan goal of concentrating development in the hamlet area. For this reason, the proposed zoning
offers two alternatives for hamlet development: a limited development scenario without public
 water and sewer, and a more intensive development possibility if proper infrastructure is installed.  

DEMOGRAPHICS

The population of Hillsdale has increased by about 25% since the 1972 Master Plan was prepared. The following table shows the predicted growth of Hillsdale and Columbia Counties at that time compared with the actual growth that occurred, based upon census data.

There are several reasons why the 1990 population is less than predicted. Projections are based
upon extrapolating past trends, which are of diminishing value the further one projects into the
future. The regional economy has been in a state of gradual decline, as industry has closed or moved elsewhere. Agriculture has also been in decline, and as productivity has increased, jobs have decreased. Many young people cannot find employment locally and leave the area for better opportunities.

There is an untold story, however. It is well-known that there has been an influx of second-homeowners into Hillsdale. Much of the development activity in the past 20 years has been for that market. Many existing houses have also sold to weekenders. However, unless these homeowners make Hillsdale their primary place of residence, they are not counted by the census. It is therefore difficult to determine the actual “weekend” population of Hillsdale. A recent trend has been for these part-time residents either to retire in Hillsdale or to relocate their principal residences here. As this occurs, the population statistics may show an increase that is more dramatic than the reality, since many of these homeowners were in Hillsdale all along. Nonetheless, a more rapid increase in Hillsdale’s population in the coming years is a distinct possibility, as the Town becomes more attractive to commuters, retirees, weekenders, and telecommuters.

ECONOMY

EMPLOYMENT

The largest concentration of employment opportunities is centered in the hamlet of Hillsdale. Other employers are dairy farms and home construction contractors. Most of the employees of the lumberyard in the hamlet of Hillsdale reside in Copake and Claverack, not in Hillsdale.

Of the 511 respondents to the 1988 survey questionnaire, 45 percent are full-time residents of the Town. Thirty percent work either at home or within the Town, while 70 percent commute outside the Town. Many of these are employed by the school district just over the Town line in Copake. Another important employer is the Hawthorne Valley School and Farm in Harlemville.

Twenty-six percent of the respondents are retired. The data does not indicate how many part-time residents vs. full-time residents are retired or employed outside the Town.

TYPES OF BUSINESS

The hamlet of Hillsdale contains retail businesses, including restaurants, antique shops, and typical village establishments. A lumberyard and a wholesale food outlet serve the region, as well.

AGRICULTURE

As stated above, of the 30,912 acres in the Town of Hillsdale, approximately twenty percent (6,200 acres) is devoted to agricultural uses. This does not include forestland on farms. Although the figure is down about 3,300 acres (ten percent) from twenty years ago, agriculture is still very much alive in Hillsdale. There are about 24 agricultural operations scattered throughout the Town, including dairy, livestock, field crop, fruit, vegetable, and horse farms. Overlay maps showing agricultural lands and existing farms, as well as the best agricultural soils and land parcels located in the Columbia County Agricultural District, were prepared for the Town by the County Soil and Water Conservation District. A map of agricultural districts is included as part of the zoning for the agricultural preservation overlay district.  

The Columbia County Cooperative Extension Service reports that in 1987 the per-farm value of land and buildings which would apply to the Hillsdale dairy farms was $595,000. The average annual per-farm gross income for Columbia and Dutchess County farms was reported to be $241,000. The economic benefit to the community from farm income is calculated using a multiplier of three times the gross per-farm income, which would be $723,000 based on the figure above.  

A study done in Dutchess County shows that for every tax dollar a farm family pays, it requires only twenty-one cents worth of goods and services. On the other hand, residential non-farm homeowners require $1.36 of goods and services for every dollar they pay in taxes. New York State farmers also pay more taxes than farmers in neighboring states. The cost pressure of property taxes is placing a severe strain on Hillsdale’s remaining farms.

RECREATION

Hillsdale currently has one recreational area of about four acres. This valuable asset is centrally located and is well-maintained.

According to the 1988 survey, residents desire better parks and recreational facilities, including a swimming pool. Hillsdale is interested in setting aside a parcel that would have flat areas appropriate for playing fields and a pool or pond, and be close enough to the hamlet of Hillsdale to be easily accessed by all age groups.

CURRENT ISSUES AFFECTING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

ECONOMY

The key economic problem in Hillsdale is the loss of jobs due to a decline in farming and industry. These jobs have only partially been replaced by service jobs.

More people are resorting to long-distance commuting out of the county. In addition, commuters from these more distant locations have moved to Hillsdale for the rural lifestyle. A slowly increasing trend is telecommuting, or the “electronic cottage.” Professionals whose client base is elsewhere are now able to conduct most of their business from Hillsdale by telephone, computer network, and facsimile machine.

In addition to the electronic cottage, traditional cottage industries still are common in Hillsdale. It is difficult to measure this part of the economy because much of it occurs in violation of the zoning ordinance, and proprietors are understandably reluctant to report their business activities.  The Comprehensive Plan Update strongly endorses small-scale business and industry as a continuation of the traditional Hillsdale economy and recommends legalizing small-scale economic activity throughout the Town. The proposed zoning law will allow most forms of small-scale business by special permit anywhere in the Town, provided that they satisfy compatibility criteria.

An additional part of the economic base of the Town is retired people, who bring money into the community from outside, provide valuable volunteer services, and make relatively little demand for municipal services. Tourism remains a small but significant part of the local economy. Unlike the southern Berkshires in Massachusetts, Hillsdale is not a major tourist destination, though it is on an important tourist route from the New York City area to the Berkshires. Agriculture and related businesses are still economically important, both for the employment and crop production they provide and for maintaining the land in its scenic condition which attracts commuters, telecommuters, tourists, and retirees.

The key to a successful economic future for Hillsdale is to build a more diversified economy based upon small-scale business activities. The proposed zoning will facilitate this by allowing a far wider  range of economic activities throughout the Town. This strategy will only work if the Town a protects the resource that attracts people to it: its rural character and scenic beauty. Therefcr the zoning also contains a series of protective provisions to assure that economic growth occurs a manner that does not compromise the essential character of the community.

The proposed zoning also contains an option for larger-scale business to come into the Town:   mixed-use village floating zone. This recognizes that large-scale business could provide important economic boost for the Town, but only if it is properly located and developed in a way that is consistent with the Town’s scenic and historic character. By encouraging mixed-use, floating zone also reduces two potentially harmful impacts of new industry: traffic congestion a housing costs. Mixed-use development allows the construction of housing within walking distance of jobs. Such housing can help meet the housing demand that new jobs will create (which other places has caused a demand-driven affordable housing crisis), while reducing the amount off-site automobile traffic generated by new employers.

Property tax is another major economic concern in Hillsdale. The Comprehensive Plan Update  proposes to help alleviate the property tax burden by encouraging more business carefully sit throughout the Town (which adds tax ratables) and keeping development in compact, cluster configurations, minimizing the need for new road construction and improvement of existing roads. This reduces the cost of municipal services that often results from growth in a suburban sprawl pattern. Keeping agriculture viable by allowing farmers to run small-scale businesses not only adds to the tax base, it also keeps the land open and undeveloped, which is good for the fiscal health of the community.

HOUSING  

Hillsdale contains a mix of housing types, primarily single-family homes on large and small lol The hamlet of Hillsdale contains multi-family housing, which is also available on a scattered bas elsewhere in the Town. The influx of weekenders and commuters has pushed the price of housing higher than would otherwise be the case, making it difficult for some long-time residents to fir affordable housing.

The proposed zoning addresses this problem by encouraging multi-family housing that satisfi exacting design standards, especially in the hamlets. However, without municipal water and sewer facilities, such housing will be difficult to construct in the hamlet of Hillsdale. In addition, tli zoning encourages the creation of accessory apartments, two-family housing, and multi-family conversion of existing large buildings. These are the best ways to increase the available supply low-cost housing, because they integrate such housing into the Town rather than concentrating in pockets.

In the proposed zoning mobile homes are allowed by special permit, but mobile home parks are prohibited. Mobile homes are an affordable form of housing, but mobile home parks are opposed by a substantial portion of the population. In addition, unlike modular or site-built housing which tends to appreciate over time, mobile homes depreciate quickly and are therefore not as good an investment from the owner’s viewpoint. Nonetheless they are often a viable option, especially for young people starting out or Older people who are retired. Mobile homes are allowed on a preferential basis in connection with agriculture, where they are often essential to housing farm family members and employees.

Much of the newer housing being built in Hillsdale is expensive, primarily for part-time residents. Such housing is good for the economy and tax base, since it attracts people who spend money locally and generally pay more in taxes than they demand in services. However, a disproportionate amount of such housing and the population that it serves can change the socio-economic mix of the community and put upward pressure on housing prices.

ENVIRONMENT

Hillsdale’s environmental resources are also its most precious economic asset. Its water resources, natural habitats of forests, ponds, streams and wetlands, wildlife, hunting and fishing opportunities, and its rolling landscape of scenic hills and valleys are attributes most often mentioned as attractive qualities valued by local residents and visitors.

These resources can be threatened when development occurs. For this, reason, the comprehensive plan and proposed zoning contain several provisions for protecting these resources, consistent with reasonable economic growth and the protection of private property rights. Some of the protective measures in the proposed zoning include:

1.    Flexible development that encourages the preservation of large tracts of contiguous open space.

2.    Preservation overlay zones to protect stream corridors, floodplains, farmland, and aquifer, scenic, ridgeline, and historic areas (these last four require further mapping by the Town Board before they can go into effect).

3.    Special protections for steep slopes, wetlands, and watercourses.

4.    Performance standards to assure that commercial and multi-family uses do not degrade environmental resources.

5.  Illustrated rural siting guidelines to show how development should be planned to protect important environmental resources.

HAMLET OF HILLSDALE

The hamlet of Hillsdale deserves special attention because it is the focal point of community life.

As mentioned above, its major current problem is sewage disposal. If that problem were to be solved, the growth potential of the hamlet would raise additional issues.

The primary issue is the pattern and type of growth that is appropriate. Under the existing zoning, a suburban pattern which is not consistent with the hamlet’s historical development would be likely to result. The “hamlet siting” and “building form” guidelines which have been formulated as part of the proposed new zoning law show how growth can and should be structured in the hamlet so that its expansion makes it a more attractive place rather than engulfing it in suburban sprawl. Indeed, without such control over the pattern and type of growth in the hamlet, it is unlikely that hamlet residents would support expansion of the hamlet.

HILLSDALE COMMUNITY GOALS

The following goals were recommended by the Hillsdale Master Plan Committee to guide the future of the Town.  These goals are the heart of this Comprehensive Plan Update and provide the supporting rationale for the innovations in the proposed zoning law.

PRESERVATION OF COMMUNITY CHARACTER AND OPEN SPACE

1.   Maintain rural land in its current undeveloped state.

a.   Encourage all types of agriculture.

b.   Relieve the financial pressures on farmers resulting from increasing real estate taxes.

c.   Provide protection for farmers against interference with their operations by residential neighbors (right-to-farm law)

d.   Encourage other uses of rural land that require large amounts of contiguous acreage kept in a relatively natural state, including forestry, camps and recreation clubs, compatible resort and institutional uses, and parks.

e.   Encourage small business uses of rural land that enable rural landowners to make a living without disturbing their neighbors or harming the natural environment. (Such uses might include, among others, country inns, craft workshops, day care facilities, professional offices, repair shops, antique shops, and nurseries.)

f.   Allow construction of unpaved roads as an incentive for very low density development in rural areas.  

2.  Identify and preserve the most important environmental, visual, and historic resources in the Town, including high quality agricultural land, scenic roads, ridgelines, wetlands, stream corridors, aquifers, mature forests, important wildlife habitats, and historic structures and land areas. Encourage the use of conservation easements as a technique for permanent preservation of these resources.    

3.  Enhance recreational opportunities

a.  Acquire land for a town park in a location that is accessible to young people.

b.  If practical, provide a network of publicly accessible recreation areas, connected by a trail system.

4.  Maintain and enhance tree plantings along road corridors

DEVELOPMENT

a.  Provide adequate and affordable sewer facilities to protect public health and water resources and to channel development around the hamlet of Hillsdale.

b.  Create a road and sidewalk network that supports a dense pedestrian-oriented mixed-use village in the hamlet of Hillsdale.

c.  Work with Copake to achieve compatible zoning in the Copake portion of the hamlet area.

d.  Make parks, trails, landscaping, shade trees and recreational open space an integral part of the hamlet of Hillsdale.

e.  Provide cultural facilities to service a larger hamlet population and to keep the Hillsdale hamlet the center of Town activities.

f.  In all the hamlets, allow mixed uses and higher densities than permitted elsewhere in Town.

g.  Require that new hamlet development be compatible in design, layout, materials, and scale with the most attractive and historic development in the existing hamlets through the use of a design code.

h.  Provide adequate parking and off-street loading space in a manner that does not detract from the historic, pedestrian character of the hamlets.

i.  Prohibit large-scale commercial development along highways, except within non-residential portions of hamlet zones.

2.  Require that any large-scale, high density residential development be clustered in a manner that preserves open space and that fosters a sense of community, following traditional neighborhood development patterns similar to those found in residential areas of the central hamlet of Hillsdale.

3.  Encourage low density development and a variety of residential lot sizes and densities following traditional patterns of rural development. Discourage “sprawl” subdivisions containing lots that are uniform in size, shape, and building design.

4.  Encourage development which preserves agricultural fields, hedgerows, treelines, large tree and mature forests. Such development should blend into the rural landscape by virtue of design, small scale, and sensitive site planning.

5.  Provide a variety of housing opportunities, especially those affordable to current moderate income residents of the Town and the region, in a manner that is visually attractive and tha provides a meaningful range of housing choices.

6.  Regulate development according to its physical, visual, and social impact on the environmeni rather than simply according to use categories.

7.  Classify the Town’s road system by current and proposed intensity of use, encouraging development served by high-capacity roads and limiting development along narrow and unpaved country roads.

8.  Allow residents freedom and flexibility in the use of their land, consistent with maintaining pleasant neighborhoods, protecting the environment, and implementing the preservation goals of the Comprehensive Plan.

9.  Provide for a balance of uses to achieve social and fiscal stability for the Town.

10. Require existing development that violates the above goals to come into compliance gradually with those goals.

11. Coordinate land use decision making as much as possible with surrounding towns, Columbia County, and New York State.