The possibility of Millwood getting its own hamlet plan got more likely Wednesday, with the New Castle Town Board approving an agreement with Project for Public Spaces to study the hamlet's situation.

Under the proposal, PPS would study exisiting data for the hamlet, the current Town Development Plan, and zoning and planning for Millwood. There will also be meetings with Millwood Task Force members, some of whom would serve on a steering committe that is proposed to include local stakeholders, town officials, civic leaders and businesses owners.

The actions that PPS outlined in its proposal (attached here as a PDF file) are collectively known as Phase I. According to Supervisor Barbara Gerrard, a Phase II would be implementation.

A site tour and demographics study are also planned as part of the agreement, which costs $6,000. The whole set of actions is expected to take about 2-3 months, according to Deputy Supervisor Elise Kessler Mottel.

The study is the second of its kind that PPS will do for New Castle. The group is also responsible for having done a study for downtown Chappaqua, which helped the town have ideas for what eventually became the hamlet plan for it. That plan has included recent construction, such as a new gazebo and the South Greeley Avenue parking lot renovation. Upcoming construction work in Chappaqua that is related to the plan includes sidewalk work and North and South Greeley avenues, as well as parking improvements for North Geeley Avenue. The renovations in the hamlet plan are expected to be finished by 2014.