Archive: Around Town

The Village of Lansing Trustees are poised to adopt a revision of its Greenway Plan after a public hearing at the beginning of next month.  The 39 page document lays out a long range plan with recommendations for Village parks, walkways, gardens and flower boxes.

"That plan is now complete," said Mayor Donald Hartill. "We need to set a public hearing for that plan."

In 2015 the Board of trustees decided to re-form a Greenway Committee and charge it with updating the existing plan, which had been updated in 1994.  The plan lays out the benefits of green space, to the environment, physical and mental health, and aesthetic and economic benefits.  The plan argues that green space increases property values and attracts workers and retirees to live in the Village.  For a village that has no real village center as the Villages of Dryden, Cayuga Heights, Trumansburg, and Groton do, the plan says green space will "foster a sense of local identity through careful attention to the 'image' of the Village of Lansing."

The Village has six parks, three of which were named last month after the Board of Trustees solicited votes from Village residents.  Traditional parks with playgrounds include Marian Hartill Village Park on Northwoods Drive, and Philip R. Dankert Park and Global Village Park on Uptown Road. Shannon Park on Beckett Way and Ned Hickey Village Park on the corner of Craft Road and Lief's Way are small pocket parks, and Blackchin Overlook is a tiny park area with a lake view and parking.


A Village road switches back from Blackchin Overlook down to the lake.  It is a short walk from the bottom of that road to Poisin Ivy Point, which has also been identified as a potential park.  However, the only existing right of way for crossing the railroad tracks to reach the point only allows farmers to cross with their cows.  For years Hartill has contemplated negotiating a right of way for Village hikers who want to reach Poisin Ivy Point.  He said he is bout ready to take on the project.

"I'm starting to work on the right to walk across the railroad," he said. "The way I think we're going to end up getting that right is to pay the railroad company some amount of money."

Village officials are planning a dedication of the three newly named parks at a time, to be announced, later this summer.  The event will likely be held at Marian Hartill Village Park, the newest of the village parks.  Parts of the park, notably a large sports field, are still under construction, and Trustee and Greenway Committee Chair Ronny Hardaway said that a planned pavilion may or may not be completed before the dedication.

Former Trustee and Greenway Committee member Lynn Leopold's recommendation for the property is to leave it as-is, enlisting volunteers to pick up trash, but avoiding cutting trails into the dense flora.

"It is my firm belief that we should not develop this area, but leave it in its 'natural' state for its wildlife values. We already have adequate 'people' parks. Let's leave this one to the birds," she wrote.


The plan also recommends enlisting volunteer 'friends' of portions of the Greenway, who will help maintain it.  Those portions include pathways as well as the parks.  Village walkways are located at Savanna Park, Lansing Trails I, Janivar Dr. / St. Joseph Ln. / Triphammer Rd., Shannon Park / Beckett Way / Shops at Ithaca, Northwoods / Nor Way / Churchill / Graham, Arrowwood Drive to Sapsucker Woods Walkway , Cinema Drive / Uptown Road, Graham Road to Cayuga Mall, and a connected series of walkways in the Cornell Business & Technology Park.  There are six village gardens, and nine flower boxes are part of signs that mark entryways to the Village.

The Greenway Committee is made up of Hardaway; Community Representative Larry E. Bieri; Lansing Town Board Representative Katrina Binkewicz; Community Representative Phil Dankert; Former Planning Board Member (now Tompkins County Legislator) and Secretary Deborah Dawson; Community Representative John Dennis; Planning Board Member John Gillott; Board of Zoning Appeals Member Lynn Leopold; Community Representative Monica Moll; and Trustee Gerry Monaghan.

Hardaway said that if revisions are needed a public hearing could be delayed.  Hartill said it would be useful to review the plan one more time, so the public hearing was set for July 2 at 7:35pm.

v14i22