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Village of Lansing Mayor Donald Hartill announced the formation of an advisory group to help plan the area on and north of Dart Drive.  The group will work with consultants from Barton and Loguidice, which has been hired to study the area and make recommendations that will impact the Lansing Reserve project and especially two other large parcels that may eventually be developed in the high density residential zone.

"One of the key challenges in this region of the Village is arriving at a sensible layout for possible new roadways and paths for pedestrians and bicycles," Hartill says.

Hartill is calling for a volunteer from Dart Drive, a volunteer from the Kensington/Coventry Walk area, a volunteer from Lansing Trails, two of the owners or their representatives of the three undeveloped parcels of the former Dart property, two Planning Board members and two members of the Board of Trustees.  He says he will not be a member of the advisory group.  He has asked the neighborhoods to get together to choose their representatives and submit their choices to the Village Clerk before March 1.

The committee will be chaired by a member of the Barton and Loguidice consultant group. 

"I imagine it will take three meetings to arrive at a recommendation, with the first meeting to understand the problem, the second to evaluate the various options, and the third to agree on a recommendation that the consultant team can then evaluate in the needed detail," he says.

The study was prompted by intense neighborhood opposition to a proposed development that would bring 65 rental units to a 23 acre lot north of Dart Drive and close to Warren Road.  The developer, NRP Group, is trying to finance and facilitate the project by lining up limited partners and obtaining tax credits that bring the cost down to where it is affordable to build affordable housing.  NRP Group is partnering with Better Housing of Tompkins County, which will manage the complex when it is completed.

After several contentious public meetings Hartill decided to include neighbors in the advisory process, forming an advisory committee with representatives from all stakeholder groups.  The information yielded by the study will guide the Village Board of trustees and Planning Board as they make decisions on traffic and infrastructure as it impacts existing residents and new developments on undeveloped land.

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