Archive: Opinions

Dear Concerned Citizen, Just last week, you sent the following letter to our Village Planning Board:


I am a member of the Village Planning Board and, like you, a concerned citizen of our Village.  I happen to be very much in favor of the rezoning proposal that is the subject of your letter.  If you had identified yourself, I would have been happy to discuss the matter with you and explain .my reasoning, but your choice to communicate anonymously does not permit that.  So this letter is for you, and other concerned citizens who might want to weigh in on this issue.

There is currently before our Board of Trustees a proposal to rezone a 19.5 acre parcel of land on the south side of Bomax Drive, between TransAct on the east and Lansing Trails on the west, from Business and Technology ("BTD") to High Density Residential ("HDR").  This proposal was submitted by a developer who wants to build a 140-unit apartment community on the property, which is owned by Cornell University and has remained undeveloped for decades.  The proposal was well received by the Planning Board, which recommended it to the Board of Trustees.

As it stands, the property in question is zoned BTD.  It is undeveloped, so it is not generating an optimal amount of property tax revenue for the Village.  The BTD zoning would allow a developer or business to propose a light industrial facility (as large as 210,000 square feet), surrounded by parking lots – and, although the Planning Board could impose some limitations and restrictions on such a proposal, it could not deny it if it complied with current zoning requirements.  This is the factual context in which the Planning Board evaluated the rezoning proposal and voted, unanimously, to recommend it to the Board of Trustees.

I am not speaking for the Planning Board here, so I can only give you my personal reasons for voting in favor of rezoning the Bomax parcel from BTD to HDR.

• The rezoning would 'downzone' the property in question: a residential complex would have considerably less impact on the surrounding natural and built environments than would an industrial development.  
• A residential development on the parcel in question would provide a buffer zone between the businesses along Warren Road and the homes in the Lansing Trails and Heights of Lansing developments.  
• The proposed development, if and when it were approved and built, would be aesthetically superior to an industrial facility.
• The proposed development would be entirely consistent with the goals of our Comprehensive Plan. It would provide smaller units for singles, couples, and small families, at a walkable distance to jobs in the Business and Technology Park and retailers and restaurants along the North Triphammer Corridor.  Although the rents would not be inexpensive, it would provide downsizing seniors with an option to live in a multi-generational apartment community with more affordable rents than those available elsewhere in and near our Village.  
• The proposed development would produce much needed property tax revenue for our Village.  While a business developer would be apt to ask for a tax abatement to build here, the developers who are proposing this apartment complex are asking only for a rezoning to allow them to proceed.
• Finally, there's a critical housing shortage in Tompkins County, particularly in and around the City of Ithaca.  Our county is also experiencing a decline in sales tax revenues in areas outside the City of Ithaca.  I can't help but think that adding 140 households within walking distance of our Village business district would be a step in the right direction with respect to both of these problems.

And now, Citizen, I must dispute some of the assertions in your letter.  According to the most recently available Census data (2010), over 1100 of our Village's 1776 households are renters.  The Census data further indicates that there were over 1150 apartment units in HDR areas of the Village in 2010.   Accordingly, adding 140 more units could not possibly "more than double the existing number of apartment dwellings in our community."  Nor would it "conflict with the vast majority of Lansing residents," because that majority lives in apartment units.

Finally, as I understand Rita Smidt's account in 'Lansing at the Crossroads,' the Village was formed because the Town refused to regulate a flurry of commercial and HDR construction around the intersection of Route 13 and North Triphammer Road.   Our Village founders understood the need for land use regulation and planning to guide the inevitable growth that our community would experience.  The consideration of the rezoning proposal currently before our Board of Trustees is wholly consistent with our Village history and tradition.  I hope you will participate in the public hearing and debate on this issue.

Deborah Dawson
Village of Lansing
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