NEW VISIONS WORKING GROUP E
MEETING NOTES
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, April 20th, 2004
at CDRPC Offices, 10 AM to 12:30 PM
ATTENDANCE: Todd
Fabozzi-CDRPC; Steve Feeney-Schenectady County
Planning; Rich Harris-Hudson River Valley Greenway;
Heather Mallozzi-Town of Malta; Sandy
Misiewicz-CDTC Staff; Clarence Mosher-Town of Glenville; Kevin
Novak-NYSDOT Region 1; Linda von der Heide-Rensselaer County
Economic Development and Planning
DISCUSSION SUMMARY:
Todd Fabozzi led the meeting and briefly reviewed the mission statement of the
working group and the proposed scope of work.
This led to a discussion of the kinds of issues the group should be
considering in its work. The following
summarizes the highlights of that discussion.
- The
question was raised as to what is the “regional context.” The view of the group was that on a
jurisdictional level, the region would be defined as the four counties of
the Capital Region, which is the same as CDTC’s MPO jurisdiction.
- Some
of the issues that may be detrimental to planning in the regional context
are that thought is not given to the regional implications of projects.
Also, it may not be clear what regional implications should be considered
when making local planning decisions.
- Most
planning ends up being reactionary instead of proactive. Good example of proactive planning is
the Greenway Compact in Dutchess
County. They offer guidance on planning and
development best practices.
Potential tool for the Capital District?
- There
was some discussion of the counties’ 239m review procedures and any
potential for expanding this review to the 4-county region (CDRPC review?
Unlikely. Check state of Florida’s
regional review procedures).
- CDTC’s
role in assisting local communities was discussed: the kinds of services
the MPO provides, are they known to community leaders, are there fees for
the services, etc. The idea was
raised to have reliable, well-publicized planning assistance funded from
outside of our (CDTC/CDRPC) budgets (Circuit Rider Planners as an idea).
- CDTC
could better fine-tune the Linkage program by creating smart growth
planning incentives - perhaps a guidebook could be developed and used to
guide linkage program planning studies.
Such a guidebook might contain information on good planning
principles that are supported with zoning text from places that have
implemented the principles and have had success with them. There was also interest in compiling
quality examples of development in a New York
context.
- The
need for incentives is important and good planning might be rewarded
through access to TIP money for projects.
- There
is a need to better articulate the regional planning principles to be used
at the local level.
- Education
of local government officials is critical to promote sound planning
principles.
- Comprehensive
planning should be encouraged and those plans should better match
municipal zoning codes. There was
mention that the more concrete the zoning, the more likely they can get
better projects. Also, that many zoning codes need to be revised to allow
for smart growth.
- There
is a need to identify the existing support structure for planning in the
Capital District for local governments.
What services do the counties offer, Department of State, others? What kind of assistance can you
expect? This was identified as a
key first step for the group.
- Can
the official map be used as an effective planning tool for not only laying
out street systems but for planning other than transportation? Explore
this issue.
- What
assistance does NYSDOT offer and where can municipalities find document
design policies? What role does
engineering judgment play in the decision making process?
NEXT STEPS:
CDTC/CDRPC staff will explore and document:
- A listing/description of local planning
assistance programs and materials
- The types of regional principles that
could be considered at the local level
- The content of regional compacts in
other areas and their potential in the Capital District
- A summary of the state of Florida’s review of developments of regional
impact
- The potential for circuit rider programs
- The potential use of official maps
- The potential content of a regional
smart growth guide book
- Regional incentive/assistance programs
and their attributes in relation to CDTC’s Linkage program.
Once these items have been documented, a discussion draft will be
distributed to the workgroup and a meeting will be set to review the document.