The Ulster County Community Design Manual was developed as a complementary manual in conjunction with the Ulster County Planning Board's Land Use Referral Guide whereby the latter document guides local officials, applicants, and members of the public through the County's review process, while the Community Design Manual focuses on policies of the Ulster County Planning Board with respect to both the built and natural environments from the macro scale down to specific site details. The document is filled with examples that can be applicable to community comprehensive plans updates, zoning statute updates, and can be applied to site-specific reviews.

The document can be viewed in two forms, PDF available for download and on the web at the "Better Town Toolkit". The PDF version contains more locally-focused examples and imagery while the web version is an ongoing and evolving project that continues to add more materials on a regular basis and the many details, tools & actions can be access more directly.