HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-03-11 CPSC Final MinutesComprehensive Plan Steering Committee Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 5
March 11, 2026
Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee
Zoom Hybrid Meeting
Meeting Minutes
March 11, 2026
Approved: March 25, 2026
Committee Members Present: Acting Chair Elizabeth Weatherby, Roxanne Marino, Karl Klankowski, Tai
Basilius, Mo Klein, Kim Moore, Katelin Olson (arrived at 5:36pm), Alison Weaver (arrived at 6pm)
Committee Members Present on Zoom: Karen Meador
Committee Members Absent: Ann DiPetta
Quorum Present
Comp Plan Consultant Present: Jessica Geary
Town Staff Present: Lori Asperschlager, Niels Tygesen
Members of the Public Present: Rich Goldman, Shirley Brown, Linda Liddle, Helen McLallen, Sarah
Adams
Members of the Public Present on Zoom: Craig Williams, Cynthia Mannino
Proceedings
Acting Chair Elizabeth Weatherby called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm at the Town Hall.
Approval of Agenda
Marino would like to add a check-in with committee members during the Next Steps discussion.
Motion: Weatherby motioned to approve the amended agenda; Klankowski seconded. Passed
unanimously.
Approval of Past Minutes (February 25, 2026 and March 7, 2026)
Motion: Klankowski approved the February 25 and March 7 minutes; Klein seconded.
Weatherby, aye; Klankowski, aye; Basilius, aye; Klein, aye; Moore, aye; Marino nay, objecting to the
short timeline to review minutes; Meador, abstain.
PUBLIC HEARING (Continued Hearing of the Draft 2025-2045 Comp Plan
Before opening the public hearing Weatherby gave updates to the public of changes made on the FLUM
during the March 7 meeting.
Motion: Klein re-opened the public hearing; Klankowski seconded. Passed unanimously.
Linda Liddle had question after the committee had the March 11 work session. Why do some low
density housing character areas exist near Agricultural & Natural Resource Lands character areas.
Sarah Adams spoke of concerns of medium density residential. She would like to see the area outside of
the village (South Street Extension and Cold Springs Road) changed to low density residential. In
addition, she would also like to see medium density residential removed from the map entirely as so
many residents are not in favor of it, especially since most medium density residential character areas
are near agriculture areas.
Cynthia Mannino spoke about the 2009 comprehensive plan and the desire for more single family
housing and is glad that the committee is include that in the current plan.
Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 5
March 11, 2026
Shirley Brown spoke about her request for transparency at the February 25 meeting. She read through
the survey results and expressed concern about the interpretation of the survey results. She asked
someone she knows who reviews survey results and provided her with an analysis and has shared it with
the committee. She drew attention to the fact that for the 2009 plan there were 709 responses and 385
responses from the recent survey. She is concerned that it is not a large enough sample size. Written
comments attached.
Rich Goldman appreciates the work the committee did on Saturday and thinks the map looks more in
line with the character of the Town. He would like to have medium density residential removed from the
map.
Helen McLallen is concerned that her property was not changed to Agricultural & Natural Resource
Lands character area after committee discussion on March 11.
Sarah Adams spoke again to ask a question about the reason the P&S Excavating parcel is so much
bigger than it was on the previous map.
Motion: Klankowski tabled the public hearing until next meeting; Klein seconded. Passed unanimously.
LATEST COMP PLAN DRAFT: 02.02.26, Continued Discussion
The committee answered questions that came up during the public hearing
• On the prior map the P&S Excavating parcel was split between Legacy Business and Commercial
Mixed Use. Changed the map to combine the two parcels own by P&S Excavating as a Legacy
Business character area. Moore read the definition of the Legacy Business character area for
the committee and public.
• Medium Density Residential has a maximum of 50% lot coverage. In the town’s current
agriculture zone single family, duplex and ADU are allowed. Under the FLUM low density allows
for single family and ADUs; medium density allows for single family, duplexes, ADU, and
attached townhouses.
• Marino read from the email the County Department of Planning and Sustainability that reviewed
the February 2 map.
• Moore commented that walkability nodes are meant to be within each node, not to walk from a
medium density residential area to the village, for example.
Jessica Geary from MRB stated that the committee will receive a new draft on Wednesday, March 18.
Motion: Olson moved to change a section from Jacksonville Road south of Gorge Road, near Agard and
Kraft to go from medium density residential to low density residential; Klein seconded. Passed
unanimously.
Motion: Weatherby moved to change 8120 Route 227 back to Agriculture & Natural Resource Lands
character area; Olson seconded.
Discussion: Moore raised concern about large areas of character areas versus parcel-based character
areas. Basillius shared concerns as well. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Marino moved to change the area south of Searsburg Road and west of Route 227 to
Agriculture & Natural Resource Lands, eliminating Rural Residential and Low Density Residential;
Klankowski seconded.
Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 5
March 11, 2026
Discussion: Olson is concerned about changing those parcels that are so close to the village of
Trumansburg, especially since the committee already agreed that there is a difference between Rural
Residential and Agricultural & Natural Resource Lands. Marino would like to see cohesive character
areas.
Vote: Klein, aye; Klanowski, aye; Marino, aye; Meador aye. Olson, nay; Weatherby, nay; Moore, nay;
Basillius, nay; Weaver, nay. Motion does not carry.
Geary led a discussion about place making, which is geared toward public spaces and planning for
neighborhoods being more specific and making it compatible with people’s needs.
Discussion ensued around concerns about place making in the plan:
• The feasibility of it
• Enough interest in creating a group (ex. Waterburg and Lakefront)
• What kind of authority would a group have
The Jacksonville Community Association would like assistance to develop the land in the hamlet and
place making could focus on Jacksonville.
Motion: Olson moved to remove any reference to place making and revise the Hamlet development
plan for Jacksonville to include an objective; Weaver seconded. Passed unanimously.
Geary discussed what the committee wanted to include in the Introduction (page 7 of the 2/2/26 draft)
about how often to update the comprehensive plan. “Comprehensive plans are usually developed for a
15- to 20-year horizon with anticipated updates made every 10 years and smaller revisions added
annually.”
Motion: Klankowski moved to change the wording from annually to as needed; Olson seconded.
Discussion: Can re-adopt the comprehensive plan without a full update. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Klankowski moved to require Highland Planning to change the photos on page 38 next to Low
Density Residential and page 39 next to Medium Density Residential to reflect what is in the town.
Weatherby seconded. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Marino moved that a map of the 4 water districts and permissive service areas mentioned in
the plan is added, including the number of households served by each is added, and explanation on how
they differ; Olson seconded.
Discussion: Klankowski asked if the total number of eligible households in Water District 3 and number
of households that are hooked up to the water district should both be reflected. Yes, both should be
included. Passed unanimously.
Discussion about septic and on-site waste management and adding a paragraph about that related to
higher density development.
Motion: Marino moved to add a short narrative in the Challenges section of the Capital Facilities and
Services chapter that mentions the potential areas for sewer and that there are significant challenges for
shared septic and on-site waste management that need to be addressed in relation to higher density
development; Weatherby seconded. Passed unanimously.
Discussion about housing objectives and focus on what the town can do.
Motion: Weatherby moved to remove objective H-P-1.3.5; Marino seconded.
Discussion: Moore stated there are so many objectives and would support removing any that are not
Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 5
March 11, 2026
attainable and reasonable. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Weatherby moved that a global change be made throughout the document to indicate that
Smith Woods is now owned by the Town and Camp Barton new name of Three Falls State Park; Moore
seconded. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Olson moved to include the 15-acre park on Cold Springs Road identified as a resource where
appropriate (ex. Page 165); Weatherby seconded. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Olson moved to remove objective T-P-1.1.15; Klein seconded. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Klankowski moved to remove objective T-P-1.1.13; Olson seconded. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Olson moved that the Town identifies, in the plan where appropriate, enhancements to multi-
modal transportation in the medium density residential areas (ex. make roads wider for shoulders,
sidewalks); Klein seconded. Passed unanimously.
Motion: Weatherby moved to include Tompkins County Wetlands map and the FEMA 2025 floodplain
map in the Appendix C and referenced in the text where appropriate. Marino made a friendly
amendment to add the Tompkins County Ag District 2 map as well. Weatherby agreed to that
amendment. Moore seconded. Passed unanimously.
Marino would like to reduce policy and objective redundancy in the plan to increase focus and
readability. Discussion ensued and there was agreement that there are a lot of policies and objectives.
The committee can look through Appendix A, which has goals, objectives, and policies cross-referenced
in the plan and provide suggestions on ones to remove or modify. Geary will create a document for the
committee to use to review.
MRB needs to have comments to Highland Planning tomorrow (March 12). Any changes the committee
gives to MRB after the next draft, provided on March 18, will be included in a future draft reviewed by
the Town Board.
NEXT STEP March 25th – Recommendation Resolution to Town Board
Marino would like to check-in with each person with how they are feeling about passing the document
along to the town board.
• Marino: Concerned about duplicate material, readability, not discussing certain issues that have
been brought up by the public and committee members. Not sure the document is ready to
send on to the town board as a near final document.
• Klankowski: Has read through the plan several times since the first 10/17 draft and making
significant changes at this point would not improve the document a lot. He is ready to send it to
the town board. He is ok with the data tables included and does not support making changes to
those when they came from ESRI.
• Klein: He is ready to send it to the town board, and if there are any changes that are needed
that can happen as needed. Supports cleaning up the objectives.
• Basillius: Would like to pass along something that provides opportunity and feels like this plan
does do that.
• Weaver: Supports cleaning up the objectives but does not support revising the entirety of the
document. Does understand that some things can be changed but is comfortable moving it
forward to the town board at this time rather than continuing to work on the document.
Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 5
March 11, 2026
• Moore agrees with what has been said. Mentioned that public input can tend to be negative
comments and there is greater number of people who have not been commenting, and she
trusts the process of checks and balances (a 239 review and town board review). She would like
to see the document to be shorter but is not supportive of making substantial revisions at this
point.
• Olson agrees with other comments.
• Weatherby noted that the committee has considered and adopted many of the public
comments. Likes the addition of the Executive Summary.
Marino is concerned about the quality of the document, contradictions within the document that will
cause issues with zoning later. In addition, key goals for sustainability are not included.
Weatherby will ask the attorney what the intention of the “final” draft from the CPSC to the Town Board
is.
Tygesen mentioned that Deputy Supervisor Naylor showed the February 2 draft to a DEC contact and
they thought it would prepare the town for future funding opportunities.
Motion: Klein motioned to adjourn; Olson seconded. Passed unanimously.
Meeting adjourned at 7:38 PM.
Respectfully submitted by Lori Asperschlager, Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Secretary
March 25, 2026
1
From:Regina Przygocki
Sent:Tuesday, March 10, 2026 8:40 PM
To:Comp Plan Steering Committee; Niels Tygesen; Elizabeth Weatherby; Michael Boggs;
Steven Manley; Katelin Olson
Subject:Ulysses United 2025-2045 Comp Plan
Dear Town Committee and Board,
Thank you for the opportunity to make comments on the above named draft concerning the future of our
town and community.
Have recent engineering and infrastructure studies been conducted? If so, may we see them?
What businesses or state/federal entities are you hoping to attract to increase employment numbers?
Cornell has a big economic impact of our community, how much control does Cornell have over these
decisions?
Has anyone studied conflict of interest? Who benefits from this radical reorganization of the community?
Who pays for all this?
Thank you for your attention,
Margaret (Regina) Przygocki
Resident of the Town of Ulysses
1
From:Shirley
Sent:Monday, March 9, 2026 2:22 PM
To:Comp Plan Steering Committee
Subject:Fwd: FLLT conservation projects within Town of Ulysses
Attachments:FLLT projects in Ulysses - Mar 2026.xls
Dear Committee,
My friend Andy Zepp sent along a list of parcels which are either under easement or in the process of
being completed (Sutcliff and Guys property). I will forward the maps he sends along as well.
Thanks for all you are doing!
Shirley
1
From:Shirley
Sent:Monday, March 9, 2026 2:23 PM
To:Comp Plan Steering Committee
Subject:Fwd: [EXTERNAL]Re: FLLT conservation projects within Town of Ulysses
Attachments:FLLT projects in Ulysses - Mar 2026.xls; Lauman Preserve2.pdf
As promised, here are the maps that Andy sent to me this morning.
Shirley
1
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Tompkins CountyTaughannock Blvd
Finger Lakes Land Trust FApril 2012 natural color aerial imagery
Lauma n Nature PreserveStream
Cayuga Lake
Lauman Nature PreserveTown of Ulysses, Tompkins County, NY6 acres
0 200100 Feet
1
From:Shirley
Sent:Sunday, March 8, 2026 8:21 PM
To:Comp Plan Steering Committee
Cc:Rich Goldman
Subject:Analysis of Comprehensive Plan
Dear committee,
Given the response Kaitlen gave to my question at the last public hearing concerning transparency and
why there was such a substantial change in direction from the 2009 comprehensive plan (that the
current work on the comprehensive plan is driven by the survey results) I have read through the survey
interpretation of the responses.
For this reason I asked for a analysis of the current plan by a qualified professional, Cameron Caputi
from Caputi Data Solutions. You can find his analysis
here: https://www.caputidatasolutions.com/town-of-ulysses-comprehensive-plan-analysis
I found this to be very informative in several ways and want to send it forward to you for your review and
consideration.
Shirley Brown