A Comprehensive Plan for Poughkeepsie

Final Draft Zoning Document and Map Introduced to Common Council

After extensive public engagement the updated zoning chapter and map will be introduced to the Common Council. Thank you to those that participated in the meetings below.


View the Final Draft Zoning Document and Map

You can find these and other documents in the Library section of this website.

You'll find it and other resources in the Library section of this website.

Welcome to PK4Keeps!

PK4Keeps is the community-based effort to develop a new comprehensive plan and updated zoning code for the City of Poughkeepsie. It will help define the community’s vision for its future and translate that vision into priorities, strategies, policies, and guidance for making decisions within City Hall and throughout the city.

More than anything, PK4Keeps is about helping people and organizations make informed choices that will bring about a strong, resilient, and sustainable community—a place that reflects what Poughkeepsians say “yes!” to.



PK4Keeps involves the creation of a 

citywide plan and updates to a tool that will help implement the plan  

Comprehensive Plan

Poughkeepsie’s new comprehensive plan will be a long-range planning document that provides the City of Poughkeepsie with the following tools:


The new plan will replace the previous comprehensive plan, which was adopted in 1998.






Zoning Code Update

Updating the City’s zoning code to reflect the comprehensive plan is one of the first—and most critical—steps toward plan implementation. It ensures that regulations governing land use, density, form, and other aspects of the built environment are all aligned with the plan’s vision.

Instead of waiting to analyze and update the zoning code, PK4Keeps integrates this work throughout the process. As the comprehensive plan develops, potential zoning changes will be identified and vetted. And as soon as the plan is adopted, work to finalize and codify those changes will begin. 


Who's behind PK4Keeps? What is the process?

Who's behind PK4Keeps?

PK4Keeps is coordinated by the City of Poughkeepsie’s Department of Planning & Zoning with support from its planning consultants—czbLLC and Ingalls Planning & Design.

At the center of PK4Keeps is a Steering Committee of Poughkeepsie residents who represent a wide range of backgrounds and community sectors. Together with feedback solicited from the broader public throughout the process, they will shape PK4Keeps to reflect the community’s vision and its willingness to make that vision a reality. 

Funding for PK4Keeps is provided by:

City of Poughkeepsie

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Climate Smart Communities Program

PK4Keeps' Four-Phase Process 

Four overlapping phases are being used to organize PK4Keeps, 

which will take place over the 15 months between June 2021 and August 2022

PHASE 1

DISCOVERY


Analysis and Key Issue Identification

___


What do we know about issues and trends that have been shaping  and will continue to shape Poughkeepsie?


What issues must this planning process get right?


PHASE 2

ENGAGEMENT


Vision, Values, Principles, and Priorities

___


What core values shape how decisions are made in Poughkeepsie, and what values should be at the heart of future decision-making?


How do Poughkeepsie’s values translate into planning principles that will guide our actions?


What vision for the future is expressed by what we value, the principles we apply to our choices, and what we prioritize?


PHASE 3

DEVELOPMENT


Refinement, Finalization, and Adoption

___


What strategies will we pursue to achieve well-defined outcomes?


How does our long-term vision translate into investments, policy changes, new or modified programs, and new or modified ways of getting things done?


Who does what, and with what resources?


Are we able and willing to implement this plan?


PHASE 4

ZONING


Code Amendments and Updates

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What small or significant changes are needed to bring our zoning code in line with what we want to achieve?


How will these changes be experienced by Poughkeepsians?


What types of urban form can we say ‘yes’ to?


Find information throughout this website that follows this Four-Phase process:

See PK Priorities to learn more about priority issues that are being identified and how they might impact the planning process and Poughkeepsie's future. 

See Your Voice to learn about opportunities to contribute your perspective and experience to PK4Keeps, and to see what the community is saying. 

See Library for project documents and presentations, as well as draft plans to review during the final project phase. 

Timeline of the Four-Phase process: