The meeting of the Village of Lansing Planning Board was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Acting Chairman Halevy. Present at the meeting were Planning Board Members Brown, Dankert, Klepack, Waterman, Village Attorney Marcus, Code Enforcement Officer Curtis, and Trustee Liaison Buck.

Waterman moved to close the Public Comment portion of the meeting as there was no one present who wished to speak. Seconded by Dankert. All in favor.

Public Hearing to consider Special Permit #1440, Bell Atlantic, to construct a 200 s.f. utility building adjacent to 15 Thornwood Drive in the Cornell Business and Technology Park in the Business and Technology District, Tax Parcel No. 45.1-1-55.17, owned by Cornell University.

Halevy opened the Public Hearing. Tim Burnett from Bell Atlantic was present at the meeting to answer questions. Per letter dated November 19, 1999 from Mr. Burnett, Bell Atlantic is proposing to place a pre-fabricated concrete telephone hut adjacent to the parking lot on the 15 Thornwood Drive site. It will be 120 feet from Warren Road, and there will be no access to the hut from Warren Road. Access to the hut will be from the parking lot at 15 Thornwood Drive. The exterior of the hut will be brick to match as closely as possible the exterior of the surrounding buildings. The hut will not emit any discernible noise and lighting will be minimal. The vast majority of the existing trees will remain and additional shrubbery is probable.

Halevy asked about the easement agreement. Once the Special Permit is approved, an easement will be granted by Cornell to Bell Atlantic for the placement of the necessary telephone facilities. The Bell Atlantic representative said that they had a strong commitment from Cornell University that an easement agreement would be permitted once they got the Planning Board's approval.

This utility building allows for extra cables and will service all of the Park as well as the majority of Lansing, both the Village and Town. It will also serve individual houses on the copper network. Bell Atlantic has only placed 3 of these in the last 5 years because it's a costly undertaking. However, they feel that this is a high tech area with the growth of the B&T Park, and this will allow them to provide high speed for any future growth in the area. This will not replace the connect box off Warren Road. The building houses electronic switching equipment. People will go into the building once or twice a week, but there will be no one working inside the building on a permanent basis. They hope to begin construction in May or June.

They do not have a landscaping plan yet, but they intend to make it look nice. They have to remove one tree. The Board agreed that a confirmation from Cornell University that the landscaping plan is acceptable to them will be sufficient.

Waterman moved to close the Public Hearing. Klepack seconded. All in favor.

Curtis said that as a non-residential structure under 4,000 s.f. , this is exempt from the SEQRA review. This can also be considered as an extension of utilities in an approved subdivision which also makes it exempt from SEQRA review. Waterman moved to classify this as an exempt action under SEQRA. Seconded by Klepack. All in favor.

The Board reviewed the General Conditions required for all Special Permits. Klepack moved that the Board accept the General Conditions. Seconded by Dankert. All in favor.

Curtis noted that the County Planning Department had no objection in their 239 review, and expressed their appreciation that the access came from 15 Thornwood Drive rather than Warren Road.

Brown moved to approve Special Permit #1440 with the condition that Cornell University confirms their acceptance of a landscaping plan. Seconded by Waterman. All in favor.

Mr. Goldberg, who was present at the meeting, had given the Planning Board another letter which gave an up-to-date estimate of the landscaping cost. Goldberg said that they have now determined that they can get Japanese Purple Maple Dwarfs. These trees have a mature height of no more than 6-7 feet. They will also put in 3’ or 4’ blue spruce at the rise and a lot of low evergreens at the low part of the rise between Bishops and the Small Mall parking lot. The blue spruce will be kept trimmed to prevent them from growing too high. The Board discussed the possibility of putting in larger trees but the consensus was that the purpose of this Planned Sign Area is to help people find the buildings, and that larger trees would obscure the view and defeat the purpose.

Goldberg got a quote from Kirksway Farm for the cost of the landscaping and Curtis got one from Cayuga Landscaping as well. Judging from these quotes, Curtis felt that an amount of $1,500 was appropriate for the security. Dankert moved that the Board accept security in the amount of $1,500 from Mr. Goldberg for the landscaping. Seconded by Waterman. All in favor.

Halevy reported that the Trustees had reviewed the Comprehensive Plan and had made mostly minor changes. However, they did amend a paragraph that was written by Hickey, so the revisions were forwarded to Hickey for his review. Hickey responded that everything was satisfactory and suggested that one sentence be rewritten to read better. The Board rewrote the sentence as follows: "Within the Zoning Law, the Village should examine all housing options relative to the projected population growth and the 2000 U.S. Census figures when available. This is necessary in order to effectively accommodate change while striving to maintain a mix of ages, income groups and family types."

The Board reviewed the individual changes made by the Trustees and made minor corrections.

Waterman moved that the Board pass a Resolution to recommend the approval of the Comprehensive Plan with these additional changes. Seconded by Dankert. All in favor.

January 11, 1999: Waterman moved that the 1/11/99 minutes be accepted as amended. Seconded by Klepack. All in favor

The Board discussed a "Proposal for Planning Consultation on Commercial District Design Guidelines" drafted by Carol Klepack. Board members thanked Klepack for her effort. Marcus said that the proposal covered a lot of ground that has never been reduced to one statement before. Halevy said that he reviewed the proposal and determined that it did not conflict with the Comprehensive Plan. He also said that they would have to figure out how the N. Triphammer reconstruction project and future proposals by Pyramid Mall would fit in.

Halevy asked Klepack if she would look into how to find an urban planner who might be available and what a reasonable fee might be for such a consultant. Marcus suggested that they ask Manlius what they spent to use as a basis for comparison. Brown said that the town of Victor had recently made some nice improvements that might be worth looking at as an example of redesigning an existing development to improve pedestrian spaces, parking areas, traffic flow, etc.

Halevy asked about including the local business association. Marcus said that a consultant would want a list from the Village of categories of people to speak to, as well as names of individuals. The Board felt that as a first step, the Comprehensive Plan would provide a philosophical direction for the consultant.

Halevy pointed that the proposal suggests that the situation is changing because of the availability of sewer permits. However, he noted that there has been no further movement in this direction. Marcus added that he attended a meeting 2 weeks ago where Alan Cohen was commenting on various development issues. Marcus asked where Cohen felt the agreement with the regard to sewer capacity stands. Cohen gave a vague answer but said if things went very smoothly maybe an agreement could be put together by the end of this year. Halevy added that he had a similar experience in a meeting where Cohen was vague on the issue of sewers but did make it clear that the city was not going to do anything that would take away retail sales from the city.

Halevy would like to wait for Hickey to return before hiring a consultant. The Board can gather all the information in the meantime. Brown suggested that it would be nice to hire a consultant who has done work close enough that the Board can look at it. She would also like to look at Trumansburg and any other places that might give the Board ideas of what they do and don't want. Klepack said she would be more interested in hearing from people who conceptualized the Inlet Island or maybe places that started with vacant space but have by now been built to some extent.

Halevy said that there are 33 acres of Commercial Low Traffic land that is currently undeveloped. The site behind Billy Bob Jacks that Home Depot wanted to develop is around 10 acres. There is another section at the Ascot place and there are two lots on either corner of Oakcrest. Curtis pointed out that Klepack had listed banks as a possible use, but only administrative offices of banks are permitted in CLT.

Marcus suggested that the Board have a more definite idea of what they want a consultant to do and what their goals are. Do they want the consultant to provide architectural renderings in rough form of what N. Triphammer Road will look like from Pyramid Mall to Craft Road, or do they want examples of how certain sites might be developed? Is this a guide or yardstick that the Board will hold up to developers who come in with a plan to develop those empty sites, or this is going to be the basis for changing the Zoning Law to eliminate the side yard setbacks, or change the parking criteria, for example?

Halevy asked that Klepack do some research on how to find a consultant, and the rest of the Board will continue to think about this using Klepack's proposal as a guide.

Trustee Meeting. Halevy reported that the Trustees reviewed and revised the Comprehensive Plan, and said farewell to Audrey Kahin.

Marcus reported that he had received a Notice of Appeal regarding the Home Depot case. This preserves their right to appeal but does not necessarily mean that they will appeal.

Halevy reported that they now have 4 candidates for the Green Space Advisory Council. The Board decided not to wait for a 5th candidate, but to invite these 4 candidates to the next meeting to get acquainted. Based on that meeting, the Board can make their recommendations to the Trustees.

There will be a Planning Federation meeting on the topic of Smart Growth, sponsored by the National Audubon Society, on March 3 and 4. Joan Jurkowitz will be attending for the County.

Waterman moved to adjourn. Dankert seconded. All in favor.