HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970-11-09 1
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Minutes
LANSING PLANNING BOARD
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November 9 , 1970 : Town Hall
Regular Meeting
PRESENT : Mr . Peter H . Craig , Chairman ; Miss Louise Barr , Mrs . Viola Miller ,
Messrs . Samuel Baughman , Frederick Edmondson , and Stephen Farkas
ABSENT : Mr . Paul Barron
The meeting was called to order by the chairman at 8 : 10 p . m .
Minutes of the regular meetings of September 14 and October 12 , MINUTES
and the special meetings of September 28 and October 26 were ap -
proved as distributed . It was noted that the minutes shown as
October 9 should have shown October 12 .
There were no regular committee reports . The following com- PUBLIC
ments were made regarding the recent public meeting , and pro - MEETINGS
posed presentations of the same material :
Farkas Had talked with several persons who had felt they would like to
have a planning presentation for their own organizations .
Baughman Felt that the pictures had been enjoyed by those attending the
• public meeting on October 26 , but that the audience had failed
to get the message which the meeting was intended to convey .
Craig Remarked that the point which the presentation tried to make
clear is that there is a great deal in Lansing which is worth
saving . Also that in order to save it , something must be done .
Baughman Stated that the most important step would be to try to find out
if the Town Board is going to make any use of material presented
by the Planning Board .
Craig Inquired whether there should be a presentation at the Lions Club .
Baughman Feels that this would be a good idea .
Craig Will make arrangements for this , and confirm the proposed date
of December 7 with Bob Baker .
Baughman Emphasized that it should be stressed that this material is also
being presented to the Town Board . The presentations to the pub -
lic could build up publid interest which might put pressure on the
Town Board to make use of the 701 suggestions .
Miller Agreed with this point of view .
• Baughman The residents must be made to feel that they must talk to their
Town Board members about the matter .
Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , November 9 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 2
• Edmondson Stressed the point that any antagonism toward the Town Board must
be kept invisible . If the presentation could be made to various
groups , residents would be drawn into the cause as groups .
Craig A presentation would give the Lions Club members an understanding
of what has been done , and show them how the people involved in
planning look at the Town . Few people back off and take a good
look at a town from a distance . It must be made plain that we
are not trying to get a grip on the Town so that people cannot
build as they wish .
Miller If you can get those points across and let the people know you are
letting them in on it , and that it is up to them to let their Town
Board members know about it , we may get some favorable action .
Craig Had talked to Mr . Niederkorn November 9 and told him that the
Planning Board is considering giving a presentation at the Lions
Club on December 7 . Mr . Niederkorn felt it would be effective if
he himself ani the others who had participated in it previously
would make the presentation on December 7 . This would involve
Messrs . Baughman , Craig , Farkas , and Niederkorn . It was the sense
of the Board that this would be a very influential move .
Baughman The point should be stressed to the public that the Master Plan
request was enacted by the Town Board ; that the money for the 701
• program was budgeted ; and that they will get their money ' s worth
only if they take something out of the 701 plan for the Town .
Miller Everyone feels that we had a good turnout , but that we did not
reach all of the people who should have been reached . In telephon-
ing residents it is vitally important to get their promise to at -
tend . Most of the people who had worked on the Basic Studies and
had a real interest were present at the October 26 meeting .
Baughman Inquired whether the Planning Board felt it was really a good
suggestion that the Town buy up the land along the lake shore now
owned by the railroad .
Edmondson What Mr . Niederkorn was trying to point out , but did not have
enough time in which to do so , was that the Town could prevent what
happened at the north end of the lake shore from happening to the
south end . When the railroad pulled out , the north end of the lake
shore became lined with shacks and other undesirable buildings . If
the land along the south shore of the lake can be retained as a
public right of way it can be used as public open space . This would
give access along the lake all the way up . There could be bicycle
paths , horseback riding trails , or other areas of this sort . This
would then tie in with the original concept of a whole park system
which would protect the lake as much as possible . An authorized pre -
serve area might be activated at some cliffside point . It was not
1111the thought that the Town should buy this lakeside land , but that
the County or State would purchase it for public use .
Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , November 9 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 3
• Craig Inquired nether the approach being taken toward the north end of
the Town , in designating it as an unrestricted area , is the proper
one .
Miller One Council member thought that it was a clever approach and that
the word was getting around that this was the thought of the Plan -
n ing Board . Some were in favor , but others were not . The wisdom
o f the designation is being questioned .
Edmondson As time goes on , various projections of schools , roads , etc . , must
be placed on the map , so the designation will not have the sig -
n ificance it has at this time .
Miller The comment was also made that when the Planning Board suggested
commercial and industrial locations they were all in the southern
end of the Town , and none in the Lansing School District , where
such locations are needed for extra evaluation .
Miller Had noticed froth .a newspaper article that Ithaca is going to de - WATER
velop its own water district . Where does this leave Lansing ? SYSTEM
Craig It seems impossible to keep up with what the Town Board is doing
in this matter . No notices of Town Board meetings are published ,
and most of the meetings are in executive session .
• Miller It should be brought out in the newspaper that Lansing residents
do not know what is going on .
Baughman No information is forthcoming from the County Sewer Agency either .
They are both holding off to see what will happen .
Miller Feels that the Planning Board should point out to the Town Board REVIEW OF
its legal right to review subdivisions . Feels that it is illegal SUBDIVI -
for the Town Board to be doing this , as is now the case . SIONS
This was followed by a discussion as to the accuracy of Mrs .
Miller ' s claim that only the Planning Board , and not the Town
Board , has the legal right to review . Mrs . Miller will make a
thorough investigation of this question .
Craig Announced that the Subdivision Regulations are still hanging SUBDIVISION
fire , and that the Town Board shows no inclination to do any - REGULATIONS
thing about them .
Baughman Is in favor of having the Town Board have full responsibility
for review of subdivisions , and sees no difference between their
doing this work or the Planning Board ' s doing it , provided the
Subdivision Regulations are observed .
Barr If subdivision control is dropped , we can ' t go ahead with the 701
• plan .
Edmondson Agreed that it is necessary to have Subdivision Regulations .
Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , November 9 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 4
Miller The matter must be brought to the attention of the public by some
method .
Edmondson Not too important now , as construction in Lansing was light last
year , and will be so this year .
Farkas From his talks with the Town Board before and after becoming a mem-
ber of the Planning Board , he believes that if at this point Sub -
division Regulations are pushed , the Planning Board will sacrifice
any progress that it has been able to make so far . After the re -
cent public presentation people had asked whythe subject of zoning
had been avoided . He had explained to them that there had been no
intention to discuss it that evening .
The meeting was adjourned at 9 : 10 p . m .
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