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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1969-06-23 1 / Minutes LANSING PLANNING BOARD June 23 , 1969 : Town Hall Special Meeting PRESENT : Mr . James Showacre , Chairman ; Mrs . Viola Miller , Messrs . Paul Barron , Peter H . Craig , Frederick Edmondson , H . B . Ruzicka ABSENT : Mr . James Wood The Chairman called the meeting to order at 8 : 10 p . m . Showacre Announced that the meeting had been called to establish the CALL OF THE status of 701 Funds in the Town of Lansing . MEETING Harris Dates has signed the contract between the Town of Lans - 701 FUNDS ing , the State , and the Federal government , and returned it . One additional contract , the one ordinarily required between the Planning Consultant and the State , was returned to the State by Mr . Niederkorn as impossible to accept because of the lack of housing element in line with HUD requirements . He suggested modification of the requirements , as follows : 1 . Add to the Scope of Services a housing study . • 2 . Delete from the Scope the first sentence related to mapping and replace it with " existing base maps with a scale of one inch to 2 , 000 feet . " 3 . Delete from the Scope the study of refuse disposal on a county -wide level . 4 . Change the tabular summary of the work program so that the base map cost will be $ 720 instead of $ 1 , 420 . 5 . Replace refuse disposal with housing element , at a cost of $ 1 , 540 . If these changes are approved , the work can be started , but Mr . Niederkorn is not sure what the State will do concerning this matter . There is doubt that the State itself is certain what the requirements for a housing element actually are , and hence it is believed that this question cannot be resolved quickly . It was suggested that a personal visit to Albany by members of the Planning Board might be effective in solving the problem . Edmondson Suggested that it would be wiser to start in at the Syracuse office by seeing Mr . Breene , after making an appointment by telephone . He signified his willingness to go along on such a trip . • It was decided to have Mr . Showacre try to set up an appoint - ment for a visit by Messrs . Craig and Edmondson for Friday , June 27 . Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , June 23 , 1969 , Town Hall , Special Meeting , page 2 • Craig Reported that he had received from Drs . DeCamp and Wuori a VETERINARY set of informational material and a letter dated June 2 , 1969 , HOSPITALS relating to acceptance of veterinary hospitals in zoned res - idential areas , provided the buildings fulfill appropriate de - sign requirements . It was the sense of the Board that the letter should be acknowledged by a note to Dr . Wuori , with a copy to Dr . DeCamp . Craig Presented a nearly - completed Basic Studies Report , lacking only BASIC STUDIES the soils section of Natural Features . Maps covering drainage , residential and industrial areas were displayed . This was fol - lowed by a discussion of the possibility of publishing the Basic Studies . Before any publishing can be done , however , the material must be re - edited and the diagrams redrafted . Members of the Board will edit it , so that by the next meeting there can be a definite idea of how large the volume of material will be . MOTION by Mrs . Miller , seconded by Mr . Ruzicka , to proceed with the matter of publishing these data , and have available at the next meeting the necessary facts as to what is needed in order to proceed . The roll call vote was as follows : Barron Yes Miller Yes Craig Yes Ruzicka Yes • Edmondson Yes Showacre Yes Miller Attempted to ascertain definitions accepted by this Board for DEFINITIONS the terms subdivision , town planning , zoning , building codes . Edmondson Suggested that the definitions set by the State be used by this Board . Showacre Believes that all definitions should be supplied , in order to have people realize that zoning is a very narrow process . It was decided that Mrs . Miller and Mr . Edmondson will work on these definitions and present them at the next Board meeting . Craig Believes the recent election showed that people in the Town of Lansing do not like the idea of planning . Barron Feels that the people liked what the three opponents of zoning ZONING AND said . PLANNING Craig Asked whether some of the people would like to know more about the matter , and what this Board can do to help them gain in- formation , even though many are emotional about zoning and it is not wise to try to talk about it to them . • Edmondson The best procedure is to go through the planning procedure and establish the goals for the community . Zoning eventually evolves . This Board should forget zoning for the present , and continue with planning . Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , June 23 , 1969 , Town Hall , Special Meeting , page 3 Showacre Feels that the new Town Board will not do anything about the • Planning Board , as all the potential members have professed that they are in favor of planning . Edmondson Believes this Board is in good shape and can let the 701 plan develop . Barron Both stated they believe the Democrats will support the present Ruzicka Republican candidates . It was the sense of the Planning Board that there is no possibil - ity of a split in the Republican party , and that any such split seems unlikely unless people can be educated . Craig Any published material of studies made in 1965 - 66 will have only h istoric value by 1970 . Miller Stated that politically it could be presented that Lansing is not ready for zoning now , but the master plan could be used to im- prove the Town . It should be brought out that the candidates and the members who will remain on the Town Board cannot define zoning . Craig Believes that it would be inappropriate for the Planning Board to write a zoning ordinance . • MOTION by Mr . Craig , seconded by Mr . Ruzicka , to rescind the pre - 41111 re - vious motion to try to write a zoning ordinance for the Town Board and a master plan , as it is inappropriate for this Board t o write these . Miller Assumes that it is still the south end of the Town that wants and needs zoning . Would it be possible to write something , with the understanding that it is not to stand for public hearings or to be unnecessarily reviewed by the Town Board , but rather is something which the Planning Board could present as an example of what a zoning ordinance could be , with modifications , etc . , so that the people can have some idea of what zoning would be ? Unless you h ave some sort of ordinance , you cannot put across to people what you are talking about and what they can expect . Unless people can read such an ordinance and see that it does not include the things they object to , they cannot understand what zoning is . A simple ordinance that would provide something for the south end of the Town would begin to show people what it would mean . There is a way this could be underwritten so that the Town Board would not have to be approached . Craig Explained that his reason for making the motion is to explore what should be done , and what should not be done , in the near future , because if the Planning Board writes a zoning ordinance it would be without access to a master plan . Both master plan and the zon- ing ordinance would have to be done without access to professional • help or local help , and anything this Board could put out right now would only be half -baked ; this kind of production could do a great deal of harm . Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , June 23 , 1969 , Town Hall , Special Meeting , page 4 Miller While we can never hope that all the people in the Town will • agree to zoning , if the Town Board would approve it , people would like it later on . Edmondson It is vital for this Board not to air any of the zoning aspect of planning right now . It will be understood much more readily if they go through the process of a comprehensive plan . Even the simplest ordinance put in front of anyone without someone ' s going through every step of the ordinance with him will frighten him . It is therefore unwise to project this now . Miller Then the next step would have to be that the Zoning Commission would resign , and that this Board would work only on the planning as a Planning Board . Craig It would be appropriate to do this sometime in the future . If the candidates who were nominated are elected in November , then he would resign from the Zoning Commission , and if he could not ✓ esign that commission without resigning from the Planning Board he would resign from both . It was the sense of some members of the Board that resignation of the Zoning Commission is inappropriate at the present time . Miller The idea behind resigning is to show that the members are not working on zoning , but on planning . • Craig Would like to think that a majority of people in the Town would sit up and take notice . This would reach the thinking people . This does not mean /by resigning the members are giving up , but that they are trying a different approach . Showacre If the Planning Board remains quiet and does not contradict the false ideas put forth by the anti - zoning people , it will be more difficult to do so later on . Ruzicka Two of the candidates we were interested in really worked to get the election , but one did not . Craig If the Board wishes to have something concrete to show , it can take the Cato zoning ordinance as an example ; but people can ' t be e ducated by this unattractive method . Showacre If a preliminary zoning ordinance for the Town of Lansing could be presented to this group on July 14th , the Board could hold off on any resolution about the Zoning Commission . Edmondson Displayed a minimum ordinance for the Town of Unadilla , to prove that there is no such thing as a short , simple zoning ordinance . Craig Any so - called simple ordinance can be torn to pieces . The Board • needs a method by which it can get to the population . Barron Advised that if the Board does formulate a zoning ordinance , not t o call it that , as people will not look at it if it is so labeled . Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , June 23 , 1969 , Town Hall , Special Meeting , page 5 Craig Withdrew his MOTION . • Craig Inquired whether it is the primary purpose of the Planning Board to educate the prople , and whether this is even possible . Re - marked that the unfortunate fact is that people have to be hurt before they can see the wisdom of zoning . Showacre Any group opposing the present slate of Councilmen will have to talk about zoning ; but if we can show people an ordinance that closely resembles the survey made here , which defines what the areas are , etc . , then the people will pose questions which will lead to their being enlightened . The possibility of amending the ordinance means that it can be improved . Ruzicka Would there be any possibility of making the south end of the Town a special area for zoning ? Craig Pocket zoning is one thing which might solve the problem , but there is no such law in New York State . The Cato experience was that some professional people wrote the zoning ordinance but a lot of people in the Town were sympathetic toward it . People in Lansing don ' t like the idea of zoning , so will not accept the details . The Planning Board is not responsible for educating the people . Miller Stated that when she tried to get a Planning Board some years ago , • she promised that the Board would take the facts to the people , but has found that people are not interested in finding out the facts . The Board owes the people through some media the knowledge of what the real definitions are . Ruzicka After these things are enacted , the people accept them and ap - prove of them even though they have fought against them previously . But under the present circumstances it seems that zoning will have to go the usual route . Eventually it will be agreeable to both sides . The meeting was adjourned at 10 : 50 p . m . •