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After nearly four years Lansing's Comprehensive Plan update is ready for the community to review.  Officials say the plan is not a major change to the vision of Lansing presenting in the last update, but breaks out statistics and recommendations for agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, land use, development, natural resources, sustainability, economic development, tourism, housing, neighborhoods, and parks and recreation.

"The draft plan has been put into binders," reported Comprehensive Plan Committee Chair Connie Wilcox at a Town Board meeting Wednesday.  "There's a copy in the Town Clerk's office.  There's a copy in the Planning Office and at the (Lansing Community) Library, and I dropped one off at the Village office.  It is also available online.  I think it's a good plan.  It's pretty broad and that's what we needed."

Lansing Planning Consultant Michael Long said the most significant change to the plan is a section on Form Based Code, a kind of spot zoning that is used to direct the look and feel of specific neighborhoods.  He drew the Board's attention to an overview that Cornell University students produced for the Town last December.

"I think we've got a great working document," he said.  "The committee spent a lot of time putting it together.  They had angst over every word, every comma, every sentence structure.  And sometimes when they changed it they said, no you've got to put this back again.  It's taken a lot of time on a lot of people's parts.  There are about 40 or 50 authors."

Long noted that four of the eight Planning Board members also served on the Comprehensive Plan Committee, and that further input from the whole Planning Board will be solicited.

"I've reviewed two of the sections so far," said Town Attorney Guy Krogh.  "They appear to be updates, not a complete revamping of the layout of the Town or the goals of the Town.  It's not a huge change, but it's going to be a lot more readable.  It's going to read much less like a statistical compilation and more like a guide to help put in place the future development, zoning, project approvals, and things that people want in the community."

The draft plan is posted on the Town web site (click here to download) for residents to download and review before an August 10th meeting (7pm in the Lansing Town Hall) held by the committee.  Once revisions based on public input are incorporated, the Town Board will hold a second public hearing before accepting the final draft.

"Four of the eight Planning Board members are on the Comprehensive Plan committee, and that was done by design.  They have tremendous experience of what has happened over the years, especially with the planning aspect of things.  With their input we hope to have final recommendations that will be drafted into this plan."

After the second public hearing the Town Board will have to fill out an state environmental review before officially accepting the final draft.

"Everybody on the committee has been great," Wilcox said.  "Everybody truly cares about Lansing and what happens here.  I think we've got a good plan.  There is probably still some tweaking to do, but by the time (the Town Board) gets it for approval it will be in good shape."

"From then we can work on zoning changes," said Lansing Supervisor Ed LaVigne.  "We can work on land use ordinance if we see fit.  And from there we will use it as a guide and a tool.  That's why it was so critical to have our planner be so intimately involved in this, because he will use it as a tool for grants.  He will use it as a tool as we try to finance concepts down the road down which our Town is headed."

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