With New Report, Sleepy Hollow Inches Closer to Revitalizing Downtown

Working in partnership with Westchester County's Planning Department, the Village of Sleepy Hollow has produced a new study that will serve as the foundation of its downtown revitalization project.

According to County Executive Rob Astorino's office, the new study "contains detailed maps, census data, zoning code summaries and storefront inventories," among other information about the village.

The next step is for the village to hire a consultant who will use the report to determine the best strategy to attract developers for the project. Sleepy Hollow has issued a request for proposal for the consulting services.

"This partnership between Westchester County’s Planning Department and the Village of Sleepy Hollow is yet another shared service success story," said Astorino in a statement. "Government can do more with less when  it optimizes its resources. In this case, the beneficiary is one of Westchester’s treasured ‘Main Streets.’" 

The full Astorino press release is below:

County Executive Robert P. Astorino today announced that the Village of Sleepy Hollow is one step closer toward revitalizing its downtown as a result of a shared services program provided by the Westchester County Planning Department.

Westchester 2025: Plan Together is a county program that offers online planning tools, reports and other resources to local municipalities. By taking advantage of the program, Sleepy Hollow was provided a planning report and saved about $30,000 – the amount it would have cost the village to do the report on its own.

“This partnership between Westchester County’s Planning Department and the Village of Sleepy Hollow is yet another shared service success story,” said Astorino. “Government can do more with less when  it optimizes its resources. In this case, the beneficiary is one of Westchester’s treasured ‘Main Streets.’”

Sleepy Hollow will use the report produced by the county as the foundation for its efforts to revitalize its downtown. Called the “Downtown Study for the Village of Sleepy Hollow,” the report contains detailed maps, census data, zoning code summaries and storefront inventories. 

“We are thankful to County Executive Astorino and the county’s team of planners for providing us with these valuable tools,” said Village of Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray. “Acquiring this kind of data on our own would have been time-consuming and expensive. The county worked quickly, allowing us to move faster than anticipated and the data is of excellent quality.”

The village has issued a request for proposals for a consultant who will use the study to determine the best strategies to employ in order to attract potential developers, investors and entrepreneurs to the area.

Other municipalities have also reached out to the county to help with their planning needs and save money in the process.  In 2012, the county provided extensive research and data to the Village of Rye Brook for its comprehensive plan, saving the village $60,000. The Planning Department is nearing completion on a set of studies for the Town of New Castle, is currently beginning work on studies for the Town of North Castle and is scheduled to partner with the City of Peekskill on studies in 2015.

View the county’s “Downtown Study for the Village of Sleepy Hollow.”