Village of Lansing
Planning Board Meeting
The meeting of the Village of Lansing Planning Board was called to order at 7:30 P.M. by Chairman Ned Hickey. Present at the meeting were Planning Board Members Doris Brown, Phil Dankert, Carol Klepack and Maria Stycos; Alternate Member Mario Tomei; Attorney David Dubow; Engineer Brent Cross; Code Enforcement Officer Ben Curtis and members of the public.
Hickey opened the Public Comment period. As there was no one present who wished to speak, Klepack moved to close the Public Comment period. Seconded by Dankert. Ayes by Brown, Dankert, Stycos, Hickey and Klepack. Motion carried.
Storm Water
Management Regulations:
Hickey stated he has met with developers and David Herrick of TG Miller Engineers and asked Herrick if he is working on Storm Water Management Regulations for the Village. Herrick stated he is not. Hickey subsequently e-mailed Mayor Hartill and the response was that he felt the Town of Lansing's regulations were too generic but that something should be developed by the Village by early next year.
Hickey felt the Board should review the Subdivision Law Appendix G which is about Stormwater Management. Cross should also review this. Hickey stated he and Curtis are concerned about wetlands under 12.5 acres in size and wondered if that should be included in the stormwater regulations. Dubow stated Appendix D Section 7 relates to drainage and should also be reviewed. Also Appendix E Number 7 deals with specifications for storm drainage systems and should be reviewed. Dubow noted these are specific to subdivisions and the new regulations should apply to other actions as well.
Curtis suggested that Soil & Water Conservation or some other third party might be designated to assess sites and determine if wetlands or other hydrologic resources require special attention. Curtis stated the developer would pay for the service. Curtis stated Soil & Water Conservation works closely with DEC. It was noted that the Town of Lansing has created a position called Erosion Control Officer. Dubow stated this is a title, but is probably not intended to be a new position as it is likely to be assigned to current staff. Cross stated this could be the Code Enforcement Officer, the Engineer, or someone else. Cross stated another possibility would be for the Bolton Point consortium to hire someone or assign a current employee to provide this service for the municipalities in the consortium.
Hickey asked Cross for his comments. Cross responded that to date he has been able to use various sections in the Village’s laws and regulations to address specific areas of stormwater management such as quantity or rate of discharge. Beyond that, the current regulations do not address specifically newer issues DEC has added to SPEDIES such as quality issues. Cross stated the Village of Lansing is classified as a MS4 which stands for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System. Cross stated DEC required municipalities within urban areas, such as the Village of Lansing, to comply with 6 minimum measures. A report can be found on the Village web site at the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) Annual Report link which shows how the Village is addressing each of these items. Item No. 1 deals with public education. Cross stated he participates with other members from MS4s as well as Cornell Cooperative Extension, Soil & Water Conservation, and Cayuga Watershed Network to develop programs on issues pertaining to water quality. The information is then made available to the public. Hickey felt maybe the Board needed to have someone come before this Board to discuss these issues. Cross stated these programs are more grassroots, aimed at identifying steps homeowners, for example, can implement to improve the discharge of water from their properties. Cross stated Item No. 2 deals with public involvement and participation. Cross stated the Public Hearings the Planning Board holds for projects where stormwater management is a concern meets the criteria as members of the public are allowed to comment on site plans. Item No. 3 pertains to illicit discharge detection and elimination and requires an individual to seek out violations and enforce regulations. Items Nos. 4 and 5 deal with construction site storm water runoff control and post construction controls. Cross stated the silt fencing, storm ponds and sediment controls that the Village requires are all examples of these requirements. Item 6 is pollution prevention and good housekeeping practices. This addresses stormwater management practices of the municipalities themselves, such as those used for salt storage, water main repairs, ditching, etc. .
In summary, Cross stated that what the Village currently has as its stormwater provisions could be integrated into the proposed regulations, but more would need to be added. Regarding the size of detention ponds, Cross stated DEC has guidelines which must be met by developers. The Village can prescribe alternate methods for meeting those guidelines, but must be able to demonstrate that the alternate methods produce comparable results. Cross stated a combination of the DEC Model Local Law for stormwater regulations, local laws such as the Town of Lansing law, the current Village regulations, as well as the Water Resources Council consensus document could in combination provide guidance to the Village. Cross felt the task for the Village of formulating a document should not be overwhelming. Cross stated he did not think that Dave Putnam of TG Miller had compiled the Town of Lansing stormwater management local law, but rather it came from a consultant in the Rochester area. Hickey stated the Village’s regulations will be used often and the Planning Board should have input as they would most likely be the ones using it, along with Cross, Curtis and Superintendent of Public Works John Courtney. Cross has spoken with Putnam who is active in groups working on stormwater management issues for the County, and Putnam has a lot of material available to assist with the formulation of regulations for the Village. Dubow stated this could be a cooperative effort with more municipalities than the Village.
Hickey will stay on top of this topic and will remind the Board of Trustees that this needs to be addressed in the near future.
Curtis stated the Village Planning Board has required some property owners to deed storm water management areas to the Village, but in the case of the Cardiology project on North Triphammer Road, the Village is requiring the owner to maintain the stormwater management facilities, provide access to them by the Village, and provide inspection reports to the Village. Dubow responded that the difference with the Colbert property is that it is owned by one owner whereas a subdivision is owned by the developer who sells all the properties and is then gone and no one knows who is responsible for maintaining the stormwater management areas. Curtis stated he understands the logic, but would like to see the various options and criteria for choosing one described clearly in the regulations. Hickey would also like to address the process by which the Village acquires recreation land. There was a discussion of the 6% figure and whether the Board must absolutely get 6% for each subdivision. Dubow noted that this is an entirely separate issue from that of acquiring land dedicated for stormwater management. Board members would like to discuss the recreation land issues in depth at a later meeting.
Hickey stated there should also be provisions in the law regarding wetlands. Curtis will call Soil & Water Conservation to see what services they can provide. Cross stated he thinks they may provide this service for individual owners of property but not developers.
Colonial Veterinary Hospital - Update:
Curtis stated he has spoken with the applicants recently and they were looking at some new alternatives for satisfying the Planning Board’s concerns. Hickey stated Colonial Vet is contemplating acquiring additional land owned by Don Edwards which is located on the south side of St. Josephs and abuts the northeast corner of Colonial Vet’s property. This would facilitate drainage off Colonial’s property to a stream that crosses Triphammer. They would still require a buffer as their property abuts residential land. Colonial Vet might then donate the Edwards property to the Village as park land to remain forever wild. The park could then both serve as a buffer and provide an attractive amenity for the neighborhood. Curtis noted Colonial Vet would still be required to go to the BZA to get a variance. Colonial Vet is checking on the feasibility of purchasing the land from Edwards. The park could also accommodate a future trail to North Triphammer Road.
Local Government
Training Survey:
Members discussed which topics they felt they would most
like training in. Brown stated she would
like to see hot-button issues or controversial issues included. Curtis expressed his interest in parking
standards as a topic. Dankert also
checked this. Hickey suggested each
check their top four preferences, hand in the sheets and he will ask Carol
Willard to compile and consolidate all the responses and the Board can finalize
the decision at the next meeting. All
agreed.
Greenway Trail
Names - Final Discussion:
Hickey stated he had not forwarded recommendations to the
Board of Trustees yet. Members discussed
various options. Names to be recommended
to the Board of trustees will be Wood Thrush Hollow Walk, Highgate Walk and
Sparrow Walk.
Approval of Minutes - November 14:
Stycos moved to approve the minutes of November 14th as revised. Seconded by Klepack. Ayes by Brown, Hickey, Klepack and Stycos. Abstain by Dankert who was not present at that meeting. Minutes approved.
Other Business as
Time Permits:
Hickey informed Board members that the Town of Ithaca
Planning Board would be having a scoping session on Dec. 6 about a 10 year
transportation impact mitigation plan anticipating Cornell's future expansion to the east. All communities within 1 mile of the
boundaries are being invited. Hickey has
materials for anyone who might be interested.
Dubow stated that Town of Lansing sewer line information is being reviewed. The Board of Trustees will continue to review the options and the Mayor anticipates forwarding a recommendation to the Town by year end.
Hickey stated goals will be established in January for the new year and members should review this year’s goals and think about what should be done in the coming year. Klepack will continue her work on the Greenway Plan. Hickey stated the Board might also want to consider a review of the Comprehensive Plan to consider the possible impacts of the proposed sewer line from the Town.
Adjournment:
Stycos moved to adjourn at 8:50 P.M. Seconded by Dankert. Ayes by Brown, Dankert, Hickey, Klepack and Stycos. Motion carried.