COMPREHENSIVE PLAN & ZONING REVISION
The Village of Trumansburg’s first Comprehensive Plan was adopted in February 2008. Now, a decade later, the Village is beginning a thorough review of that plan to find out what, if anything, may have changed in the past ten years with respect to the community’s desires for the future. Once this necessary process is completed, a review of the 2012 Zoning Ordinance will take place to see what changes may be needed to keep the Ordinance aligned with the Comprehensive Plan.
Committee
To facilitate this project, a Committee has been formed by the Village Board to shepherd the review and revision process. The Committee consists of one member from each of the Village boards (Village Board, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals), the Village Zoning Officer, the Village Code Enforcement Officer, and several members of the community at large who all bring to the table various perspectives and viewpoints. The members of the Committee are:
Jessica Giles, Chair (Planning Board member)
Ben Darfler (Village Board member)
Scott Sheavly (ZBA member)
Tom Myers (Code Enforcement Officer)
Laura Schneider (Zoning Officer)
Steph Bailey
David Breeden
Rachel Giordano
Kathy Klemperer
Tom Pepe
Under the supervision of the Mayor, the mandate of this Committee is to, among other things, organize the public forums that will drive the information gathering process for the revised Comp Plan, as well as assist in the selection process, and then work closely with, the third party consultant that the Village is going to use throughout the rewriting process. The Committee will also be the first group to review and offer edits and comments on draft documents created by the third party consultant, before making recommendations to the Village Board.
All questions regarding the Committee should be addressed to Mayor Hart at mayor@trumansburg-ny.gov
Professional Consultant
In addition to the formation of the Committee, the Village Board has released an RFP seeking the services of a professional planning firm to aggregate and collate data collected throughout this process. The firm will also be mandated with drafting the language of the revised Comprehensive Plan and, later, drafting the language of the revised Zoning Ordinance. The firm will work closely with the Committee in all stages of the review and revision of the Comp Plan and the Zoning.
Tentative Timeline
- June 2018: Committee formalized. RFP released, allowing 4 weeks for response.
- July 2018: Begin review of RFP responses.
- August 2018: Award bid – the winning bidder will then work with the Comp Plan/Zoning Review Committee through the remainder of August and all of September on planning the project.
- September 2018: Schedule first Comp Plan community forum for October.
- October 2018: Community forum/workshop to begin information gathering under the guidance of the Professional Planning Firm.
- November 2018 – January 2019: Planning Firm conducts independent surveys
- February 2019 – April 2019: Second (and possibly third, as needed) community forum/workshop
- May 2019 – June 2019: Revised Comp Plan drafting begins
- Summer 2019: Review of Draft Revised Comp Plan
- Fall 2019: Comp Plan adoption
- Winter 2019/Spring 2020: Review and draft revision of 2012 Zoning Ordinance
- Summer/Fall 2020: Public review/comment/input on Draft Revised Zoning
- Winter 2020/2021: Revised Zoning Ordinance adoption
FAQs
Q: What is a Comprehensive Plan?
A: A Comprehensive Plan is a guiding document which identifies a vision for a community’s future and outlines strategies to achieve that vision. A “Comp Plan” is not law, but is used to inform how laws, particularly zoning laws, are written. The 2008 Comprehensive Plan can be found HERE.
Q: Why do we need a Comprehensive Plan?
A: NY State law strongly encourages Villages to adopt Comprehensive Plans and, over many years, case law has called into question – and in some cases invalidated – laws passed without a Comp Plan, or not in keeping with a Comp Plan.
Q: What is zoning?
A: Zoning law governs land use and can be as loose as having no zoning at all, or can be as restrictive as to dictate the size, style, architecture, and aesthetic design of a property, both commercial and residential. Effective zoning strikes a balance between a community’s desire for governance of land use and private property owner’s rights.
Updates
- June 12, 2018 – An RFP has been released for a professional planning firm to assist the Comprehensive Plan & Zoning Revision Committee in this process. The RFP can be found HERE.