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, Village Attorney Marcus, Code Enforcement Officer Curtis, and Trustee Liaison Buck.

Klepack 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.

Klepack drafted a statement of the Planning Board's concept of a planned CLT district to give a future planning consultant something to work with. Klepack also obtained a list of potential consultants in the area. She suggested sending 2 or 3 firms a proposal and have them come to a meeting to discuss how they would approach that proposal

Halevy said that $15,000 was submitted in the budget for this purpose and if that's not sufficient the amount can be increased. He said that the Board has to decide what they expect the consultant to do. Klepack felt the consultant would primarily be working on design, and that would include factors such as transportation, safety, and landscaping.

Brown suggested that the Board make a wish list of things they agree upon. Marcus said that one direction that the Board can take is to develop a very general set of guidelines or goals to refer to when developers submit plans within the targeted area. The other direction the Board might move toward is to develop amendments to the Zoning Law. The consensus of the Board was that the goal is to provide some kind of unified appearance to future development in that district and the permitted uses in the CLT district should remain entirely within the existing Zoning Law. However, some changes in the Zoning Law's quantitative requirements such as heights, setbacks or parking requirements may need to be amended.

Curtis asked if the design criteria would be incorporated into the Zoning Law. Klepack felt that this would involve a change in the Zoning Law in that it would establish a review process to determine if a plan met the Board's design criteria.

The Board reviewed the elements of the draft proposal:

1. Commercial development should be screened and buffered. This is already required in the Zoning Law. Halevy suggested that "in accordance with the Zoning Law" be added.
2. Parking should be centralized to greatest possible extent. Halevy added "and shared." Klepack said it depends on where access roads are, but perhaps there is some natural topographic feature that would hide a parking area or otherwise make one area more reasonable for parking areas so that areas around buildings would not have to be regraded and paved. Curtis asked if this would include for example a parking area on the Butler property that would enable Pyramid Mall to increase their size without moving out of this district. Klepack said that was not consistent with what she envisioned and the parking should only be sufficient to accommodate the CLT district. She said there would not necessarily be just one parking area but perhaps pockets of parking areas. Halevy wondered if having a municipal parking lot may discourage some people from locating their business in this CLT. Curtis pointed out that this is what the Village is trying to do - take more control over how development would occur to deter some businesses and encourage others. Brown pointed out that some businesses need close access for picking up merchandise. Klepack said that these are the questions that a planner would be addressing. Marcus suggested this goal be reworded to say "to minimize the overall quantity of parking or driveway surface" instead of "to the greatest extent possible."
3. Connected with walkways. Perhaps a covered walkway could connect centralized parking areas to commercial areas..
4. Uses should conform to existing Zoning Law. Curtis clarified that there cannot be a bank with tellers, a drive-through window, or an ATM, but there can be a bank administration building.
5. Circulation should be internal to the area; no egress or ingress on Triphammer Road. Curtis said that this has has been encouraged in the past more as a matter of protocol than an actual restriction. When people come in with proposals he tells them that the chances are the Planning Board will propose alternates to curb cuts on Triphammer Road.
6. Modern, progressive, clean, efficient, architectural style. Curtis suggested that there are similarities in the architectural styles of Friendly's, the Village Office Campus, the church and Squeaky Clean's. Klepack agreed that she could envision a style along the lines of the Village Office Campus. Marcus said that the Board may find themselves making recommendations as to materials, color, angle of roofs, etc. These are things a consultant might be able to suggest. This goal should include the sentence " A consistent architectural style would help unify the area. " Marcus suggested that a similar statement could be made for a consistent landscaping style.

A plan for consistent signage has been discussed as well. Curtis said that a grant submitted to the Planning Federation for a planned sign area for Triphammer Road was turned down. If the road is renovated and becomes 3 lanes, it would change the dynamics of spotting a business and preparing to make a turn, particularly if curb cuts are reduced. It might be worthwhile to have some kind of consistent and predictable signage so drivers can change lanes in time to turn. Also, Curtis said that businesses are complaining about the difficulty of drivers spotting their businesses from Triphammer Road. The goal should include the need for "systematic signage to allow for safe traffic circulation, and easy business identification".

The Board discussed how mass transit should be considered in the plan. Brown suggested that businesses be given some sort of incentive to encourage their employees to take advantage of mass transit rather than driving to work. Curtis added that road design should encourage use by mass transit, and that bus shelters would be desirable.

Klepack will revise the draft proposal based on the Planning Board's discussion. The Board planned to take a trip to Victor on April 10 to see how they have dealt with the development of undeveloped land.

Once the Board has developed their ideas, the next logical step is to interview several of the consulting groups.

Dankert moved that the January 26, 1999 minutes be approved as amended. Klepack seconded. All in favor.

Klepack moved that the February 8, 1999 minutes be approved. Seconded by Brown. All in favor.

Trustee Meeting. Halevy reported that the Trustees considered the the addition of Cooke Imports to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area and Mr. Cooke attended the meeting. There were questions raised about the precedent that would be set, but the Trustees did approve the Planned Sign Area amendment.

The Comprehensive Plan was accepted subject to one more review for non-substantive corrections. Halevy has reviewed it and finds no corrections to be made. Marcus said that the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan does require a 239M review by the County Planning Dept. He asked Halevy to see that Joan Jurkowich received a copy.

Marcus said that in 1998 the Board had asked him about drafting a law that would specify a list of exempt SEQRA actions for the Village so the Board would not have to go through a SEQRA review every time there is one lot being divided into two, and it can just be classified as an exempt action for the Village of Lansing. The Board was going to think more about a list of other things they might want to make exempt actions. Curtis will give Marcus a list and it will be put on the agenda soon to brainstorm about other options.

The proposed local law regarding mobile homes will be put on the next agenda.

Klepack moved that the meeting be adjourned at 10:00PM. Brown seconded. All in favor .