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The Lansing Town Board approved the hiring of C.J. Randall as Director of Planning Wednesday.  Randall will be the Town's full time planner, and serve as the Town Planning Department head.  Randall will begin working part time on March 25th as she wraps up current jobs before she comes to Lansing full time May 25th as a planner and department head.  In addition Planning Consultant Michael Long, who has served as the Town's part-time planner for more than four years, will begin a new agreement with the Town to continue to assist with the Town's capital planning needs.

"This is something we've been looking at for a few years," says Lansing Supervisor Ed LaVigne. "It's been considered, and now is the time to do it.  The intent was for Michael to be here about two years.  He's been here for four and a quarter, and a lot of stuff got accomplished.  But now, because we have so much development going on and we're growing so fast, it's time.  The main reason for doing it now is we have a lot of work on the land use ordinance, which is a continuing thing now.  We hadn't touched the Comprehensive Plan since 2003, and now we're doing all this 'back homework'.  We also need a department head for the Codes Office, which we haven't had for a long time."

Randall is an urban and regional planner, and a principal partner in Randall + West, Inc., a local planning consulting firm.  She has provided services for the City of Ithaca Planning & Development Board, Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council, and Community and Regional Development Institute (CaRDI).  She has experience in municipal planning, environmental review, working with planning and zoning appeals boards, site plan review, revision of municipal ordinances, among other tasks.

"She comes highly recommended," LaVigne says. "She's worked with Guy Krogh in the past.  This will strengthen and give continuity to the department, and help the Code Enforcement Officer. It's a win-win for everybody.  Financially we can afford it.  At the end of the day we will be strengthening that position."

In 2013 the Lansing Town Board was debating the value of hiring a full time planner, as opposed to a part time planning consultant.  Then Supervisor Kathy Miller argued for a full time planner, but LaVigne, a councilman at that time, said it would be more fiscally prudent to try a consultant first, and hire a full time planner later when it was demonstrated that the part time position was not enough.  Although Miller argued that the Town already had tried part time consultant Jonathan Kanter, the board voted along party lines with the three Republicans out-voting two Democrats, quashing a May, 2014 resolution to hire a full time planner, even though a qualified candidate had been selected.  Long and his Auburn-based consulting firm, Finger Lakes Planning and Development, was hired in October of 2014.

LaVigne says that with the completion of the Comprehensive Plan revision, a new sewer district, and a lot of new development in the Town, the time for a full time planner is now.  LaVigne says Long was offered the job, but didn't want a full time job.  Long has been consulting since his retirement following a distinguished career, in municipal planning, notably assisting the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, and serving in positions as Auburn Interim City Manager, Poughkeepsie City Manager and Oneonta City Manager.  He is a past president of the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association.

LaVigne says he is happy to have an ongoing relationship between Long and the Town. He credits Long with a number of successes, including a major role in completing the Comprehensive Plan revision after seven years of consideration, helping to facilitate growth in the town to make up for huge tax revenue losses due to the devaluing of the Cayuga Power Plant, and to a lesser extent, the Ithaca Mall.  And Long has had a hand in finally bringing sewer to the central portion of the Town.

"He has a long list of successes," LaVigne says. "That's also due to (Engineer) Dave Herrick, and (Attorney) Guy Krogh and the whole group.  But through that group he has accomplished a lot.  The sewer district formation was huge.  That changes the whole discussion about water usage and metering, and will free up a lot more sewer capacity in my opinion.  It was a ground-breaker, a huge breakthrough."

Long will facilitate a smooth transition as Randall comes on board, and will begin work for the Town under a new agreement starting March 1.

"We will transition through the next few months," says LaVigne.

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