Archive: Opinions

You know those guys who make huge constructs from dominoes, tip the first one, and hope the whole thing will go down in a graceful, orderly pattern?  In some ways I see the future of Lansing in that way, a series of dominoes that, of placed right will lead to a lovelier town that preserves its heritage, is pleasant to be in, and relieves our property tax burden.

A 3% rise in property taxes is coming from the devaluing of the AES Cayuga power plant this year, and that is only part of the school tax rise taxpayers can expect this summer.  Meanwhile the Town has been hustling to grow its economy, bring new development where the Town wants it, and spread out the out-of-control tax burden.

The first domino is the idea for a town center.  Then comes the land the Town wants to use for it.  Then comes sewer.  Then comes planning.  Then developers and business owners.  If all the dominoes fall in a row, Lansing should see significant growth in a central area over the next decade, which we all hope will reduce property taxes and utility costs somewhat for existing residents.

This week a significant domino was toppled when the Town agreed on a purchase price for the town center land.  The state was asking for nearly a half million more than the $109,500 the Town had already paid, just to lift deed restrictions that would have prevented development.  Lansing's town attorney negotiated the price down by $195,700.  Town officials are satisfied that the new cost is reasonable, and this is money the Town can recoup if and when they develop it.

The next domino is sewer.  At the moment it looks like a sewer project is going to be on the high side, but the Sewer Committee is working diligently to adjust the proposed sewer district so it will serve the most people who want it while bringing the cost per unit down.  The last sewer project failed because it was too expensive.  This one will only succeed if it is affordable.

The planning piece is then going to drive everything else.  If the Town is proactive about creating an attractive, functional town center it will have one.  If not we'll end up with a randomly sprawling, densely developed area.  Either will probably help with the tax problem, but an attractively planned center will probably be more successful because it will attract people to live and work there.

In 2003 Ma Li Hua spent ten hours a day for over a month in Singapore setting up 303,628 dominoes.  It paid off -- he holds the record for toppling 303,621 of them.  In stark contrast Tim Ford, aka 'The Kinetic King', spent 36 hours setting up popsicle sticks for a live 'America's Got Talent' show last year and only a few of thousands turned over.

It seems to me that Lansing is trying to be Ma Li Hua.  A lot of the pieces are falling into place, though the final overall picture has yet to be drawn.  I would love to see an affordable sewer, a detailed map of where shops, residences, and businesses can go, and then see new roads and utilities put in to attract developers and center their activities where we want them.  To me those are the key dominos that will determine whether Lansing will be a municipal Ma Li Hua or the next Kinetic King.

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