Fleming residents attended a public hearing on the SEQR review for the town's comprehensive plan addendum Monday night. But the town took no action on the addendum as it needs the approval of the Cayuga County Planning Board before it can proceed.
The county planning board was originally supposed to have considered the comprehensive plan on May 20, but the item was postponed.
Town Supervisor Gary Searing said the county planning board had too much on its agenda and postponed their review. The town lawyer advised the town to go ahead with the public hearing, and the town will amend or adopt the plan once county input is reviewed.
“We're basically done with the addendum,” Searing said. He was hopeful that almost everything will be accomplished at the July 14 town board meeting. He said the next step for the town's consideration would be zoning. The town intends to update its zoning code to reduce density of development along the lakeshore and within the Owasco Lake Watershed. It plans to work cooperatively with neighboring communities and agencies to develop an Owasco Lake Watershed Management Plan.
The town is still under a moratorium on building, but that moratorium will expire at the end of July. A Niles couple, Christine and Thomas Izzo, have been waiting for approval of a lakeside subdivision on 28 lots. The townhouse project has cost more than half a million dollars in engineering, studies, and other costs, according to Christine Izzo.
The overall vision and policies in the comprehensive plan did not merit significant changes. But natural resources and future development were addressed in detail. The degradation in water quality of Owasco Lake was of special concern with respect to increased weed growth, algae and invasive species.
With that in mind, the town added a natural resources policy to the four key policy areas in its comprehensive plan: regional cooperation, residential living, agriculture, and business and industry.
The town intends to remain a rural lakeside community, while there is a mix of rural, suburban and lakefront uses. It wants to balance future development and protection of rural and lakeside character, so it will guide development into desired areas and ensure future residential areas access, appropriately scaled to fit the town's character.
Negative impacts associated with large-scale development will be addressed. The town will modify zoning and land use policies to encourage development that protects natural resources, viewsheds, and open space areas. It will prohibit development in areas where irreversible harm would result. The water quality of Owasco Lake, Yawger Creek, Crane Brook, and Van Ness Brook will all be protected, and changes in acreage for steep slope development and the number of residential units located along the lakeshore and in the watershed will be controlled. While the town wants to offer a mix of housing choices, it will avoid sprawling subdivisions.
Public access to Owasco Lake will be measured by annual number of users at Emerson Park, and expansion will be limited to enhancing and increasing that use.
Lakeshore development will be limited to single-family homes, with higher-density development kept away from the lakeshore, either in hamlets or near civic/retail uses. As some lakeshore areas have no public water and sewer, development there will be discouraged.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
Town Supervisor Gary Searing said the county planning board had too much on its agenda and postponed their review. The town lawyer advised the town to go ahead with the public hearing, and the town will amend or adopt the plan once county input is reviewed.
“We're basically done with the addendum,” Searing said. He was hopeful that almost everything will be accomplished at the July 14 town board meeting. He said the next step for the town's consideration would be zoning. The town intends to update its zoning code to reduce density of development along the lakeshore and within the Owasco Lake Watershed. It plans to work cooperatively with neighboring communities and agencies to develop an Owasco Lake Watershed Management Plan.
The town is still under a moratorium on building, but that moratorium will expire at the end of July. A Niles couple, Christine and Thomas Izzo, have been waiting for approval of a lakeside subdivision on 28 lots. The townhouse project has cost more than half a million dollars in engineering, studies, and other costs, according to Christine Izzo.
The overall vision and policies in the comprehensive plan did not merit significant changes. But natural resources and future development were addressed in detail. The degradation in water quality of Owasco Lake was of special concern with respect to increased weed growth, algae and invasive species.
With that in mind, the town added a natural resources policy to the four key policy areas in its comprehensive plan: regional cooperation, residential living, agriculture, and business and industry.
The town intends to remain a rural lakeside community, while there is a mix of rural, suburban and lakefront uses. It wants to balance future development and protection of rural and lakeside character, so it will guide development into desired areas and ensure future residential areas access, appropriately scaled to fit the town's character.
Negative impacts associated with large-scale development will be addressed. The town will modify zoning and land use policies to encourage development that protects natural resources, viewsheds, and open space areas. It will prohibit development in areas where irreversible harm would result. The water quality of Owasco Lake, Yawger Creek, Crane Brook, and Van Ness Brook will all be protected, and changes in acreage for steep slope development and the number of residential units located along the lakeshore and in the watershed will be controlled. While the town wants to offer a mix of housing choices, it will avoid sprawling subdivisions.
Public access to Owasco Lake will be measured by annual number of users at Emerson Park, and expansion will be limited to enhancing and increasing that use.
Lakeshore development will be limited to single-family homes, with higher-density development kept away from the lakeshore, either in hamlets or near civic/retail uses. As some lakeshore areas have no public water and sewer, development there will be discouraged.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
