Archive: News

The idea of a Lansing Town Center has captured the imagination of many in the town.  For some it is the framework with which to guide the future development of the township, encouraging housing and business density some place where residents want it and discouraging the haphazard growth that seems to upset other residents.  For others it's just the idea of having a little market nearby, or perhaps a doctor or dentist.  And for still others it is a way to cement a strong community with a physical focal point.

While aspects of town planning have popped up individually, no specific overall plan has been offered.  The most obvious manifestation was the sewer project that suffered a long and painful death.  Occasional blips have included an ongoing attempt by town officials to get deed restrictions removed from the 150 acres across Route 34 from the Town ballfields to allow development there, and even an idea to swap the ballfields there to allow development where they currently are.

After the Town Board proposed a long list of zoning changes that would weaken zoning regulations in key areas, ostensibly to encourage business development, Town Supervisor Scott Pinney appointed an independent zoning committee to study the proposal.  In the course of their deliberations the idea of a town center has arisen.  As a result committee member Andy Sciarabba asked David Taube of Holt Architects in Ithaca to attend last week's Town Board Meeting to talk about the process of planning a town center so the town will be 'shovel ready' as state or federal monies become available.

"To begin studying a town center now does seem to make a lot of sense," Taube said.  "But certainly to be 'shovel ready' will take more than just an initial study."

Meanwhile town and county officials have been quick to jump at the prospect of new federal monies aimed at infrastructure as a result of the $800-plus billion economic stimulus package the the U.S. House of Representatives voted on this week.  If it passes the Senate local officials want some of the money for local infrastructure projects in Tompkins County.  To get the ball rolling a group of Tompkins County representatives met with Congressman Michael Arcuri to tell him what projects are ready to go and get a sense of what might be possible. 


Former Lansing Supervisor Steve Farkas filled in for Lansing's County Legislator Mike Sigler, who had a previous engagement that day.  Farkas says Arcuri was as encouraging as he could be under the circumstances.  But he said there isn't yet much to go on.

"There's still a big cloud out there as far as what resources there will be," Farkas says.  "Until that is all sorted out we as a county and we as the Town of Lansing just wanted to make sure that we're on the books early as we have done in the past."

Upon voting for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this week, Arcuri said, “Unemployment is at all time highs across Upstate New York, our water infrastructure is outdated and in need of repair, and people aren't spending money.  We need to get the economy moving again, and this approach, although not perfect, is a giant step in the right direction.”

The package specifically included $6,020,000 to increase education funding in Tompkins County and another $2,600,000 for Medicare savings in the county, as well as tax cuts for about 6.7 million New York families.  It also includes over $20 billion to encourage large and small businesses to create new jobs.

But what about the Roosevelt-like Obama plan to create jobs by investing in infrastructure projects?  According to Trowbridge & Wolf Landscape Architects' Peter Trowbridge the key is being ready when the money becomes available.  "We get a request for proposals from the State and sometimes you have 30 or 45 days to respond," he told town officials.   "Unless there is a plan in place it really isn't possible to take advantage of state funding."

That is exactly what county officials had in mind when they met with Arcuri.  "If the federal government is going to start this program like they used to have for building water systems, then I would like Lansing to be a part of that, or at least have a shot at that," Sigler says.  "I'm not for the stimulus package because I don't think it will stimulate the economy.  I think it's a spending package.  But I don't have the power to stop that -- I'm a County Legislator.  So if it's going to go through, at the very least let's make Lansing a part of it."


Farkas says that was the agenda.  "The gist of the meeting was about infrastructure monies and what may be available," he says.  "It was basically around these sewer projects that are still someplace out there in limbo-land.  There seems to be money for infrastructure from the Feds down, we need to have our two cents in the pie."

Will sewer, water, Internet access, and a town center arise from the ashes of the economic meltdown?  Officials are cautiously optimistic that it could happen.  Pinney has put out a call for volunteers to join a new committee to work specifically on the idea of a town center.

Town officials are considering hiring Holt Architects to put together an initial document that studies what a Town Center could be in Lansing based on community consensus, the town's long range plan and other existing documents, zoning, natural resources, development, traffic, pedestrian and  public transportation networks, nature trails, historic buildings, and the big bugaboo: infrastructure including sewer and water.

“One thing is clear - our economy is in rough shape and we need to do something about it,” Arcuri said this week.  If putting the pieces together that will make way for a Lansing town center can become part of doing something about it, local officials want in.

(In Part Two we'll take a look at the idea of a town center, where it might be located, and what it would take to create it.)

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