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Home My WebLink About2006-07-25 - CPC Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Plan Committee July 25, 2006 Approved with corrections 08/22/06 Present : Dick Coogan, David Kerness, Sue Poelvoorde, Sue Ritter, Darien Simon, Elizabeth Thomas , David Tyler Absent : Robert Brown, Heather Filiberto, Jennifer Wapinski-Moordian, Debbie Watkins, Robert Weatherby, John Wertis Ms . Poelvoorde called the meeting to order at 7 : 10 pm . She stated one of the tasks from the last meeting was to prepare questions for the survey; she asked if the members would present any questions, ideas they had prepared. Mr. Tyler stated he had thought of a question, what is most important for the town to plan and pay for of the following items for the next 20 years . a. Financial incentives for agriculture, b . A community less dependent on an automobile, c . Affordable housing for seniors and young people He had thought they could rate these items numerically with 1 being most important. He was hoping people would start to look ahead. He has been here 20 years and has witnessed significant changes . Ms . Poelvoorde stated a question she had is what type of housing are the people in now, and what would their future housing needs be; i . e . young couple in a house vs . an older person who may want a mobile home (to have access to gardening, mowing, etc . ) then ultimately a housing unit like Juniper Manor. Ms Simon stated she thought it could be broken down more and survey what they would like to see more of in the town, i . e . more planned green space, apartment dwellings, or multiple residential areas . Ms . Simon stated these are important but more importantly an item that needs to be considered, are the categories of questions they will have in the survey. She took a look at the surveys and grouped them together to develop a survey that will give them the impressions of the town, how it is working and what they like about it, what they want to see regarding development and how they use the town . These items were not addressed in the previous survey. Mr. Kerness asked for history clarification regarding the Trumansburg Survey and what the survey we are doing is for. He asked if the results from the survey were in yet. Ms . Poelvoorde stated she was not sure if those results had been compiled yet. Ms . Carlisle Peck stated she would call the village hall and request if the results were compiled and request a copy if available . Ms Ritter stated she had done a similar comparison of the surveys, she pulled out the relevant ideas and the areas she felt they should cover. She considered the length of some of the surveys very long and cumbersome . Mr. Tyler asked how they persuade busy people to take a %2 hour of their time to complete a survey. Ms . Simon stated putting a time of 10 minutes to complete is misleading. If the survey is formatted correctly it can take very little time . i . e . circle this, check that, and yet leave areas for their comments if they felt there was an area not covered by the survey. These are the type of questions that can be skipped if the people are too busy to complete. Comprehensive Plan 2 07/25/2006 Mr. Tyler stated the article Ms . Poelvoorde circulated at the last meeting got him thinking-it is important and suggested the community needs to be proactive vs . reactive. The community needs to go out and encourage what it wants . It almost needs a business plan and incentives to attract the items it decides it wants to come to the town. Ms . Poelvoorde and several others agreed with Mr. Tyler and indicated that being reactive is not planning per se . Mr. Tyler stated a case in point was the last plan wanted to push tourism, having public transportation to and from the park-but who would pay for the bus service . Mr. Kerness stated an item that could be considered is zone the yacht club point for condos . He felt it would be an inexpensive way to encourage growth. Mr. Tyler stated unfortunately the need to spend money is necessary, NYS is serious about promoting agriculture they have put a lot on money into this venue . He is working on an Ag easement on a particular farm. He is guessing the yacht club people would not be real happy. Doing this at the yacht club would encourage an existing well established facility to turn over to something else which might limit access . Ms Poelvoorde stated that this area is not in the school tax base for Ulysses . The school tax issue was addressed extensively during the last survey. The lines were drawn up in the 1960 ' s . She asked if they are talking about an area they would like to see a mixture of stores, and housing for the comprehensive plan and then zoning. Then they would have a marketable area to present to developers-they can present this area and provide services stating this is an area we would like to see; what could you provide within the guidelines . Ms . Thomas stated she looked at the surveys and felt Trumansburg ' s was far superior, the wording was good and someone really put a lot of work into this . She found quite a few questions she would like to see used for this survey. Ms . Poelvoorde reiterated the need to develop question, i . e. some demographics might be necessary. Mr. Kerness stated in the resolution there are focus groups, are they going to tackle all the items listed from the Town Board resolution. He felt if they use this as guidance and then add to it; it would give them an area to work from. Mr. Tyler noted this is a pretty broad charge, he reads this as giving the committee pretty much an open hand, he felt they needed to touch on the areas in the resolution. A lengthy discussion led to the following drafted as categories/questions to be considered for the survey. THE FOLLOWING WAS A DRAFT OF CATEGORIES/QUESTIONS TO BE COMPILED FOR THE SURVEY Purpose? Find out what's important to residents and how can we meet their needs over time . General questions : • Why do you live here? O "please rank each of the following reasons why you live in the Town of Ulysses" (question 9 in Village of T-burg survey) o include : • because I work here • town has a rural setting (include aesthetics , view sheds , sparse population) • historic character • recreational areas (walking and biking) • I can walk to the services I need • Access to public transportation • Extended family lives here • Quality schools • Quiet, peaceful character Comprehensive Plan 3 07/25/2006 • Affordable housing • Proximity to public lands (parks , national forests , etc) • Proximity to Ithaca • Proximity to the Village of Trumansburg • Sense of community • Zoning and planning ? put this somewhere else. • Other 0 What is the biggest threat to the town ? (provide a partial list) Housing • Affordable Housing • Retirement Housing • Rentals • Nodes are important (higher density living) (zoning is not encouraging cluster housing as it stands now) Commercial Development • Development Incentives • What type of development should be encouraged . • Areas for commercial development o (see Town of Ulysses survey question 3 and 4) . "Please ID areas that you feel are appropriate for "residential" development" (use a table check off response to this question) Infrastructure • If not municipal water, what treatment are you using Transportation • Where does the resident work • What form of transportation do you use to get to work • Would you use public transportation if it was more convenient? Employment Opportunities • Educational Aspects • Agricultural Aspects • if you live on a farm, is it o run part-time , o run full time, o no longer in operation, o is it leased out or owner operated o none of the above. • Keep in mind — does the town want to provide incentives to keep land in agriculture (generally funded by state and federal funding) Natural areas and recreational aspects • Demographics • Age brackets • Number of people in household • Level of education • Income * • How long have you lived in town • What part of the town does the person live — Jacksonville , Village of Trumansburg, • Own or rent housing • What kind of house is the resident living in (possibly add to a different question on housing) *Items in italics are being considered optional make sure there is language saying answers are optional • Comprehensive Plan 4 07/25/2006 notes : take info from the TCAT surveys to determine some transportation answers (Robin will find the TCAT survey) can limit some of the housing by treating housing sizes differently Mr. Kerness suggested a smaller group compile a survey to be reviewed at the next meeting. Ms . Simon stated she would be willing to use the categories and compile a survey for the next meeting. The other members agreed this would help the survey process move forward . If other members have specific information they would like to get have on the survey it was they should get this information to Ms . Simons as soon as possible. The meeting was adjourned at 9 : 20 pm. Respectfully submitted, Robin Carlisle Peck Administrative Assistant I •