Archive: News

	Click Here for the full text of the committee's report.

Last January The Town of Lansing Planning Board presented more than 100 proposed changes to the existing zoning ordinances.  Many of the changes met opposition by the Planning Board and others who felt a loosening of the zoning ordinance would take away rights from current property owners who have an expectation that the zoning that applied when they bought their homes would still apply.  Consideration of the '100 Item List' was shifted to a Zoning Ordinance Review Committee made up of citizens representative of the Town.

A joint meeting of the Lansing Town Board, Planning Board, and Zoning Board of Appeals met Monday to consider that committee's report.  "I'm very happy with the report that they provided all of us," said Town Supervisor Scott Pinney.  "The Town board has already set up a Town Center committee, one of the recommendations from this committee.  We had our first meeting this past Saturday, so that's one worthy thing that's already come about from that."

While some board members hoped the meeting would kick start action on the '100 Item List' it actually provided a blueprint for work that has yet to be done to shape Lansing's future.  The committee endorsed the existing comprehensive plan, zoning lines and zoning classifications, and recommended some adjustments to specific parts of the zoning ordinance.  They also recommended stricter enforcement of the current ordinance.

The committee took a wider view in recommending the exploration of creating a Town Center, a slow evolution of the comprehensive plan, conservation of Lansing's farm land and encouraging nodal development to discourage strip development.

Pinney said the Town is also working on the recommendation to lift deed restrictions on Town land across the street from the Town Hall, which could be developed as a town center if successful.  He said he is working with Senator Nozzolio and Assemblywoman Lifton's offices to get the restrictions lifted by the State Legislature.  "That looks very positive at this point," he said.

About a half dozen new committees were suggested that would act as advisory committees to the Town and Planning boards.  These include a citizen Economic Development Committee, a Town Center Committee, an Agricultural and Farmland Preservation citizen Committee.  A citizen Utility and Infrastructure Committee would concentrate on trying to get rural high speed Internet into Lansing with a future mission of revisiting the sewer issue.  The list also included  a citizen Conservation Committee, and a comprehensive Planning Committee.

Deputy Supervisor Connie Wilcox reported that an agricultural committee has already been formed and has already had fruitful meetings. 

Hurf Sheldon reported that he has been attending meetings related to high speed Internet, including one that proposes using existing emergency response system towers to distribute wifi services.  "There is no technology coming up very soon," he said.  "I've been talking to people on the State committee that oversee the stimulus funds that will help do this.  The usual political stuff -- Verizon and Time Warner are trying to grab all the money to give us Internet which they won't give us now unless we pay through the nose for it."

Katherine Miller said that the committee had talked to Holt Architects about what it will take to plan a Town Center.  "They talked to us about getting grants and acquiring money to do things," she said.  "We realized that we need business in Lansing for the tax base.  There is no way in the world that we're going to fix this tax base without some business."

She also said that Lansing must facilitate affordable housing, and noted that planning for the impact on the schools, on roads and infrastructure would be important.

Pinney recommended that the Planning Department choose the ten most important items from the '100 item list' to be considered and acted upon, rather than trying to process the whole list at once.

Councilman Bud Shattuck was eager to move on at least one item, to change the zoning ordinance for an area near the RINK, where John Young has proposed building soccer fields.  "The Town Board is completely in favor of that.  At this point the only way to do that is to change the zoning there.  I didn't want to leave here tonight without discussing something from the list of 100, which was the precept of us getting together.  We spent a couple of hours without discussing any of the issues of the 100.  That makes it hard to swallow."

Work on the specific items was deferred until ten can be pulled out to work on.

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