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The plan is to build five rental 'micro-houses' on a small triangle of land at the top of Hillcrest Road.  They would provide income for the owners, who live across the street, as well as serving a desire expressed in Lansing's comprehensive plan to focus denser development south of Peruville Road in order to preserve farm land in the north of the town.  But Lansing's land use ordinance has tied the town Planning board's hands unless the owners can get a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).  And even then there may not be a way to get the project approved, even though planning board members appeared to favor the idea at a Monday meeting.

"The issue is they arbitrarily drew lines for the IR zone," said Planning Board Chairman Tom Ellis. "This little corner at the top of the hill was included in that.  IR does not have any designation for housing -- it's not permitted.  Ergo it doesn't have any density requirement, because it's not permitted.  So there are a couple of issues at play here.  Number one, it's not allowed, so you need a ZBA use variance.  We have to come up with a density if they grant the variance.  We do not have any zoning designations that allow for that density, even with water and sewer."

Project engineer Gary Bush presented the project Monday, to get some clarity on a way forward to get the project approved.  The property is 2.44 acres on the corner of Warren and Hillcrest Roads, divided into two lots by Hillcrest Road.  The owners live on one side, leaving a 1.26 acre triangle of land that happens to fall just below a large R1 (Residential) area on the town zoning map, but clearly within the largest of three Lansing IR (Industrial/Research) zones.

"The thing to think abut is we're trying to prevent urban sprawl," he said. "These tiny houses are aimed for people who just want the bare minimum.  It fits the bill perfectly with the comprehensive plan of Lansing.  The issue we're up against is just that there's no zoning for housing."

Ideally the project would be defined in a Planned Development Area (PDA), which is a way of creating special zoning parameters for a specific project.  But the property is smaller than the minimum size that can be applied to a PDA.  Additionally, planning board members noted that even if the property fell in an R1 zone, two houses, at the most, would be allowed by zoning law provided the Village of Lansing approved the sewer capacity needed to build that densely, without a septic system.  Sewer is a question mark, though, because town sewage has to be routed through the Village of Lansing system to reach the treatment plant in Cayuga Heights.  The plant has diminishing capacity, on top of which the Village would have to determine its own sewer could handle the extra load.

"In the comprehensive plan we talk about the need for defining tiny homes or tiny house lots," Lansing Planning Consultant Michael Long said. "There is not a definition that has been defined yet within the Town.  Lansing as a whole is pretty much set up on large scale single-family homes.  This particular site is in a unique location.  There are some commercial business parks and some residential things there as well.  And it has access to water and sewer if you can get the sewer units approved by the Village of Lansing."

A zoning change requires changing town law, something that the Planning Board is only now beginning to work on, now that the latest comprehensive plan revision was finally adopted last May.  Planning Board members seemed open to the idea of including the property in a revised zoning map, but that would require the developers to wait for the board to send its recommendations to the Town Board, which would then vote on whether or not to pass the recommendations into law.  That is a lengthy process, but it could simplify the hurdles for the project.


''The process we have used in the past is the Planning Board will decide they will be the lead agency for the different approvals that are needed," said Long. "The Zoning Board of Appeals has to grant the area use variances.  The Planning Board will look at a site plan review.  Tompkins County would look at health department issues.  And the sewer connection is another issue."

Long pointed out that the town has no provision for small or tiny houses.  'Tiny houses' are defined as structures of less than 400 square feet.  The homes proposed for this project would be 421 square feet, including a Living-room/Kitchen, one bedroom, and one bathroom.  The developer refers to the project as 'mini-housing', which would not make a real difference in solving the zoning challenges.

Planning board member Larry Sharpsteen noted that the board's 'hands are tied' unless the ZBA agrees to grant a use variance.  Board members wanted to recommend that the ZBA consider approving the variance on the grounds that the Planning Board is thinking along those lines for a future zoning change.  But Town attorney Guy Krogh advised that the ZBA is only required to seek the recommendation of the Planning Board when a subdivision application is being considered.

"It's not within your purview to provide the recommendation in site planning or special use permit, but the ZBA can, within their authority, ask any agency for recommendations.  I'm not going to stop you from making a recommendation if you want to, but the more proper protocol would be for the ZBA to request it."

Planning board members voted to make the Planning Board the lead agency for the project, the only thing they are permitted to do until the ZBA rules on a variance.

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