HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-02-28 TOWN OF LANSING
Planning Board
Monday, February 28, 1994; 7:30 p.m.
BOARD MEMBERS
* Denotes Present
* Jackie Baker * Cheryl Nickel
* Lin Davidson, Treasurer * Larry Sharpsteen, Chairperson
* Brad Griffin Robert Todd, Vice Chairperson
* Viola Miller * Al White
* George Totman, Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer
Larry Tvaroha, Town Councilman
PUBLIC PRESENT
Corey Buckwalter
Cindy Lyon
Tom Neiderkorn
GENERAL BUSINESS
Cheryl Nickel explained that Corey has a degree in landscape architecture and has
done a lot of research into design of community participatory planning projects. She
is interested in working with the Lansing 2010 project.
Agenda for Preliminary Report to the Town Board - Cheryl stated that she had
spoken with Larry Tvaroha and asked that he try to confirm a date with the Town
Board. Larry Tvaroha offered a meeting date of March 16 around 8 or 8:30 p.m.
(Cheryl will confirm with Larry) .
Committee Reports - Cheryl stated that almost all of the committee reports have been
turned in. Cheryl suggested that tonight's meeting be usedto pull together a
summary of what all the committees are saying without getting into too many
specifics. For the March 16 meeting, Cheryl and Tom feel that they can display a
map that will show some of the concepts that people have and in some cases dearly
delineate the recommendations. For example, the Economic Development
Committee has a specific area recommended for development which could be
identified on a map. - She has gotten quite far in mapping all the ideas, and doesn't
feel that there are too many conflicts with the reports. There were a lot of things that
were repeated by some of the committees and reinforced by the other committees.
The committees that have reported are as follows: Agriculture Resources, Economic
Development, Environmental Resources, Historical Resources, Housing, Parks and
Recreation, Public Services, Street Trees, Town Center, and Transportation. The
original Master Plan Committee divided itself into transportation, public services,
housing, and environmental resources.
Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 2
Monday, February 28, 1994
Basically all the committees spoke of the need for Lansing to do some planning for
the future. It would also ensure that Lansing would even be more of a valuable
place to live. Some of the specific recommendations , are:
(1) Start planning for infrastructure (roads, public utilities) prior to development.
(2) Promote public services especially to infrastructure and town center.
(3) Preserve public access tosome of the natural features of Lansing.
(4) Identify and protect the natural resources in Lansing. Not only for
environmental and aesthetic reasons, but also for future tourism and for
ultimately the value of the lands and properties.
(5) Seek long-term solutions to ensure the viability of agriculture enterprises.
(6) Promote stewardship and preservation of agriculture land.
(7) Expansion of utilities and roads should be targeted for areas that took into
consideration the density of housing and the density of commercial areas.
(8) Define primary commuter roads and secondary roads and examples of how
those work with the overall plan and what we can do with those roads. For
example, encourage traffic to slow down in areas designated as town center so
it functions as a town center. Improve transportation corridors to Cornell, etc.
The Economic Development Committee discussed the :decentralization of businesses and
businesses in homes. Cheryl pointed out the need to considerboth options in this
plan. The plan will require more flexible zoning that allows people to have their
business and residences together. M
The Town Center Committee 's recommendations are as follows:
(1 ) Preserve open space and agriculture land .
(2) Cut the cost to the town by concentrating infrastructure.
(3) Creating an attractive area that will attract businesses.
(4) Encourage a viable transportation mode.
The Housing Committee would like to encourage the development in existing hamlets
instead of spreading it out. They submitted specific recommendations for areas of
low, medium, and high density residential areas. The Environmental Resources
Committee very specifically recommended a low density residential area all along the
lake front so that there would erosion and soil protection. Once the residential
density areas are identified, then there can be discussion of where to locate public
sewage to those areas.
The Agricultural Resources Committeespoke to concentrating agriculture in the
northeast area of the town north of Route 34 and east of MB. They want to
discourage sewage and public utilities in those areas because that would only
encourage development. Al disagreed with this stating that agriculture is already in
that area and it can't be concentrated by moving it to another area. Robert stated that
an area can be identified, but how is the land going to be preserved. Cheryl
responded that by not bringing sewage or public utilities to those areas, development N
will essentially be discouraged. Robert disagreed stating that water is already being
planned to connect with the Kingdom Farm Development and to Milliken Station.
Lin stated that wherever there is public water, there is most likely to be an increase
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Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 3
Monday, February 28, 1994
in development. Cheryl stated that stricter regulations could then come into place
such as requiring larger lot sizes especially in environmentally sensitive areas. Larry
Sharpsteen stated that six years ago the Planning Board saw this problem arising, and
created "conservation districts" for geologically sensitive areas. The areas identified
as conservation districts are the Salmon Creek valley and the lake frontage.
Larry stated that a written and oral synopsis of the committee reports should be
prepared for submission to the Town Board at the March 16 meeting. Cheryl
indicated that she will be distributing copies of all the committee reports as well.
Robert also asked for copies of all the committee reports prior to the joint meeting.
In order to maximize the time with the Town Board, George Tolman suggested that
the written report be distributed to the Town Board members prior to the meeting for
their review. Lin stated that some of these issues discussed in the reports may not
seem important today, but they may be very important 20 years in the future. Tom
Neiderkorn stated that the Economic Development Committee and the Public
Services Committee addressed the need for municipal sewage disposal. The Public
Services Committee has identified where this plant should be located and have
identified sewage lines going to Milliken Station. He felt that these may not be
addressed today, but agreed that they will be very important in the future. Viola
also agreed that it is not unreasonable to talk today about what will happen 20 years
in the future.
Cheryl stated that she has spoken with Carl Hecht about a HUD grant for a sewage
treatment plant. There is also a comprehensive grant for public utilities which would
be much more available to the town than a specific grant. The comprehensive grant
would include an economic development component, micro business element, and
housing rehabilitation. A package plant reaches out to a certain area that is
designated for concentrated development. Cheryl felt that a package plant would
attract businesses and residences to the town center. Larry stated that these package " P
plants can be located in a certain place and have the lines out from it. George stated
that it would be beneficial to make the lines accessible to connect with the main
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sewer if and when it comes by. Larry also stated that it would then make sense to
have some standardization of the plants as well. George pointed out that any
package plant will need to be approved by the County Health Department. Robert
had a concern about maintenance of the package plant and ultimately who would be
responsible. Larry felt that they would probably be taken over by the town just like
dedicated roads. Robert questioned the likelihood of Lansing ever connecting with
the sewage treatment plants in Ithaca or Cayuga Heights. Larry indicated that the
new package plant that the state recently put in at the Boys School does have excess `.
capacity that could ultimately be utilized by the central part of the town. Cheryl
stated that the grant application would be due sometime in June.
Robert suggested that someone specifically talk to the town board about sewage.
Larry indicated that Jeff Clark and Kevin ??? have agreed to work closely with the
town on this issue. Kevin works at Bolton Point and Jeff has been working closely
with the Lansing 2010 project. Robert suggested having them make a report to the
planning board on their progress. . :
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Town of Lansing Planning Board • Page 4
Monday, February 28, 1994
Tom Neiderkorn indicated that some of the recommendations from the committees
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are for policy changes. He felt that once all the recommendations have been put on
the maps, there will end up being some holes that still need to be filled. The
planning board will then need to look at those holes and see where they can fill them
in.
Lin stated that the Town Center Committee looked. into the means of governance of
the town center and how a flexible system would work. They looked to other towns
that have successfully implemented this same type of concept and how it is working.
They looked at whether there is anything in their regulations that helped or whether
it just grew that way. Larry suggested calling it something other than flexible
zoning. He stated that developers and real estate agents want to know what type of
development will be allowed in those areas, and the term flexible zoning doesn't give
that information. Cheryl indicated that she will be presenting a model of flexible
zoning for review.
Cheryl and Tom showed three large proposals of the setting around the town hall
and new roads. The consensus of the board is that they preferred the map #1 as a
first priority, which places the new town hall in proximity to the existing town hall.
This meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Submitted by Michelle Eastman
The next meeting is scheduled for March 14, 1994.
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