Essex Waterfront Revitalization

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Dateline: March 11, 2024 - LCLGRPB has delivered to the Town their final report from the work that was performed in 2024 as it relates to the Essex County Main Street Revitalization Program.

Dateline: October 2, 2023 - LCLGRPB has provided more information about the Essex County Main Street Revitalization Program that is funding this project at this webpage.

Dateline: August 14, 2023 - We invite you to join us and participate in the next phases of this important survey.

Dateline: June 29, 2023 - The ad-hoc committee, in consultation with planners from the Lake Champlain Lake George Regional Planning Board have finalized this survey which we encourage you to participate in.

 

Dateline: February 15, 2023 - The ad-hoc committee met today to begin the process of fulfilling the responsibilities of the grant.

Dateline: January 13, 2023 - The Town Council supports the following committee members to work with the Lake Champlain Lake George Regional Planning Board on the Town of Essex Main Street Reinvestment Plan

  • Ken Hughes - Town Official, hamlet resident and neighbor to waterfront

  • Erin Hall - Town Official, hamlet resident and neighbor to waterfront

  • Jessica DesLauriers - County Official (Community Planning)

  • Carol Calabrese - County Official (Essex County IDA)

  • Richard Teitelbaum - Town resident, ZBA member

  • Beth Powell - Town resident, landscape architect

  • Teddi Rogers - Whallonsburg small business owner

  • Gladys Person – Town Planning Board member, town resident

Dateline: November 18, 2022 - The Town was notified today by the Lake Champlain Lake George Regional Planning Board that their application on behalf of Essex (and Crown Point and Westport) for the USDA Rural Business Development Grant Program for the purpose of developing Main Street Reinvestment Plans was successful! We are thrilled with the result and look forward to beginning work with them in 2023 to identify how we can make the best use of the waterfront in Essex.

Dateline: February 16, 2022 - This is an excellent article that explains what the USDA is trying to do in rural areas: develop circular economies, not extraction economies. Waterfront redevelopment in Essex would be an example of a circular economy.

  • Circular Economy - wealth and new opportunities and jobs are created in rural communities and stay in those rural communities

  • Extraction Economy - essentially takes things from the land and off the land, but rather than converting them into valuable and rural communities, that value is transported elsewhere and so too are the opportunities and jobs.

Dateline: February 11, 2022
At their February 10, 2022 Regular Meeting, The Town of Essex approved by resolution our participation in a USDA Rural Business Development Grant Program to complete a Local Main Street Reinvestment Plan for Essex, led by the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board. The funding opportunity is completely through the USDA requiring NO local match from the Town. The scope of the plan will be to

  • Develop comprehensive assessment of local socio-economic conditions

  • Organize community stakeholders to identify challenges and opportunities for improving economic growth

  • Identify a clear roadmap for guiding the implementation of sustainable economic development goals in community centers

This opportunity will be specific to how Main Street (a moniker for the larger Town) can benefit from a public/private partnership opportunity at the waterfront properties located at the Essex Marina, Chez Lin and Rays and the Essex Shipyard.

Dateline: February 2, 2022

The Town of Essex has been contacted by the Lake Champlain Lake George Regional Planning Board about supporting the next steps of determining how best to effectuate a public/private partnership for the Essex waterfront. We are working with this organization to explore a USDA Rural Business Development Grant. More details coming as we learn more.

Dateline: January 12, 2022 @ 3:35pm

At their December regular meeting, the Town Council received results from the community survey sent out in October via water/sewer bills and the community newsletter. The results from those who responded indicated a majority of individuals who were interested in knowing more about the Public/Private partnership option (full private option or a full public option were the other two choices). The Town Council gave permission to the Supervisor to begin further exploration regarding the Public/Private option and engage interested community members to assist in that research for a future presentation to the Town Council.

Dateline: April 16, 2021 @ 7:22pm
The Town of Essex is working with Rep. Elise Stefanik’s office to determine whether funding can be made available through this Federal program to support the advancement of this project.

Dateline: March 16, 2021 @ 8:46am
At their regular monthly meeting last week, the Essex Town Council unanimously approved the continuance of this discussion, or a “Phase II”. The goal of this next phase will be to work directly with the citizens of Essex to provide forums which will allow for direct communication and feedback from any and all Essex residents interested in weighing in on this topic. We anticipate this conversation will take place in April/May when public health is hopefully improved and the opportunity to gather is improved. More details will be published here and on Facebook as Phase II develops.

Dateline: February 14, 2021 @ 6:45pm
The Essex Town Council receive the final draft of the Phase I Feasibility Study Report on February 11, 2021.

An electronic PDF version of that document and the PowerPoint presentation made by the Planning Consultant are now available for public review. The video to the right is a recording of the presentation made to the Town Council that evening.

The Essex Town Council and the community-at-large will have time to digest the report in February/March. The Town Council will take up the topic again in March and/or April to determine how best to proceed. Assuming the Town Council wishes to proceed in this endeavor, the next steps will involve mass Essex community input. How that looks and by what mechanism that information is collected remains to be seen. Thank you!

Resources

Archival Documents

  • Supervisor Hughes’ visioning document for this project (10/2020) (PDF)

  • Essex Hamlet - Future Plan 1989 (PDF)

  • Local Waterfront Redevelopment Plan (LWRP) 2002 - Section 3 Marinas (PDF)

Steering Committee Members for Feasibility Study

* indicates resident of Essex

General Record of Activities

  • ZOOM meetings with Steering Committee (agendas)

  • ZOOM meetings with representatives of APA (Adirondack Park Agency), DEC (Department of Environmental Convesation), OSC (Office of the State Comptroller), SHPO (State History Preservation Office), ECHO (Essex Community Heritage Organization) to learn what the possibilities are from their organization’s perspective.

  • In-person meeting with Essex Marina landowner to learn about Marina history, present and opportunities for the future.