Archive: Opinions

The other day Lansing's Director of Planning C.J. Randall said to me, "The job of planning is to balance the public interest with private property rights."  This is something I have been thinking about lately as I have watched landowners incensed with town officials for allowing projects they don't like (near their properties) as well as developers who are frustrated by the same officials for not allowing them to build what they want.

I was in a conversation this week in which the person I was talking to excoriated the Planning Board and elected officials for being too lax about what is allowed.  This person passionately exclaimed that anyone is allowed to do whatever they want, that the planning board backs off if pushed, and the potential of the town will, therefore, never be reached.

Nobody has ever accused Lansing of having far reaching vision.  Back in the day nobody wanted any planning at all, which caused the Village of Lansing, who did want it, to split off from the town.  The Village Planning Board has a reputation for being tough, and it is true that they rigorously defend their zoning. The Town has historically been slower to get on the planning bandwagon.

That's why it came as a surprise when it was announced that a full time planner was being brought on board.  I assumed that meant that the town's vision would be defined in the way that the old Town Center committee defined it.  But in talking to C.J. I am realizing that her job is not to create the Town's vision, but to make it happen.  It's really up to the same people who haven't had much forward looking vision to come up with it.  She is driving the bus, but they are navigating.

They is us.  Lansing is a town that is proud of its heritage, rightly so, and it is one of its charms.  But it also resists change.  Things are fine the way they have always been.

Except, if you really pay attention things already aren't what they used to be.  There has been a lot of growth in the town, and judging by the angry neighbors that have been showing up at public hearings for new development plans, Lansing isn't always happy about it.

That old town center plan was something everybody could get excited about, because so many people were made to feel a part of its creation (and actually were).  When that committee was done and nothing happened, a lot of people felt let down.  Interestingly, now that the town center land is beginning to be developed it seems to be following the committee's plan, though in a less focused and determined way.  I was excited that the 153 acres there was a blank canvass, a unique opportunity for the Town to paint itself as it wanted to see itself, not as it had been.

But bringing a vision to fruition is complicated when there are so many different stakeholders.  The town was never really interested in investing in infrastructure and the things that would attract developers to make what we want in a town.  The current administration has been particularly successful in making infrastructure a condition of building here, saving the town that investment.  The trade-off is that rather than a grand unified vision, we get what we get.  The Planning Board is a buffer on that, but they are constrained by current zoning law.  So sometimes we get wonderful.  Sometimes we get blecch.

It's like those wooden puzzles for infants where there is a board with the outside of the puzzle cut into it, and the pieces fit in a predetermined way.  If you use the board the pieces fit neatly into the slots they were designed for, and you get the planned result every time because the pieces only fit into the base one way.  If you don't use the base, you get whatever you get, and given that it's toddlers doing it, you always get something you didn't expect.

Whenever I get on this high horse I think of President Kennedy.  He was young and charismatic, and had an innate talent for getting people excited about positive projects that would make the nation proud.  I didn't especially agree with his platform, but I admire him greatly for his ability to inspire a nation, especially such a diverse nation.  Well, I probably didn't know what his platform was.  I was 12 when he was assassinated, so I didn't have any opinions of note about social or political issues.  But I wasn't too young to get excited when he spoke on TV.  That's what I wish for Lansing.  Someone who can inspire people of diverse interests to define the future of the town and make it happen.  (And then land on the moon.)

The most perfect example of that is Walt Disney.  He carefully designed every nook and cranny of Disneyland, filling his canvas with his imaginative and delightful vision, not to mention an incredibly efficient system of maintaining it without his visitors being aware of what was being done to maintain the fantasy.  Yup, the real magic in the Magic Kingdom is its infrastructure.  I don't think any municipality can ever achieve that level of planning.  It sets a high bar to aspire to, though.  Something to think about.

Our planner has only been working here a few months, so Lansing finally has its full time driver.  Now it is up to we townspeople to be the navigator.  To really think about what we want for this town, and really use her considerable talents to realize Lansing's best future self.  Balancing the public interest with private property rights is a piece of it.  Steering the direction of both is what will make the difference between a future Lansing that everyone can love, or just a jumbled puzzle.

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