The Glens Falls Common Council passed a resolution in August authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with the engineering firm EDR, for Preparation of a Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan for Glens Falls.
The city plans to use a grant to create an updated and modern Comprehensive Plan, in accordance with New York Stage’s Smart Growth Program. The plan’s recommendations will be the basis for a review and update of the city zoning code, and the goal of the city’s project is to set the city up for successful growth over the next 15 to 20 years.
“The comprehensive plan is the culmination of a planning process that establishes the official land use policy of a community and presents goals and a vision for the future that guides official decision-making,” says a report from the New York State Department of State.
“Having a comprehensive or well-considered plan ensures that forethought and planning precede zoning and zoning amendments,” the report says.
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The plan would include guidelines on zoning, architectural design, and ensure that decisions are made in accordance with it, rather than on an ad hoc basis.
In social media discussions and off-the-record conversations, some people said that a comprehensive plan would have quelled the recent dust-up in the city over developer Chris Patten’s work in the area of Glen and Washington streets in Glens Falls.
Patten has been erecting two apartment buildings on Washington Street that have vinyl siding rather than brick which most nearby buildings have.
He has proposed another project that would raze multiple buildings to put up another two apartment buildings and a related community center.
A comprehensive plan could clarify what materials are used in siding, roofing or lighting. It controls the heights of buildings and how closely they may be set to the road and one another.
Once a comprehensive plan is established — the city last tried in the 1990s but did not approve one — zoning codes and other policies are changed or created to match with the plan.
“The Department of State says that planning and zoning decisions should be made in accordance with a well thought out comprehensive plan, and our city really lacks that guidance,” said Diana Palmer, third ward councilwoman. “What we have is very outdated. So I definitely think that once we go through the comprehensive planning project process, which includes stakeholder input and public input, we will have a document that will help us make these decisions in a much more informed way.”
Now that EDR has been awarded the contract, they will be interviewing various stakeholders in the community, sending out surveys, holding public forums, and attending community events to try to reach more people. A comprehensive planning committee has also been formed, which includes members elected by the council and the mayor.
“I also named two people from the planning board and two people from the zoning board to sit on the Comprehensive Planning Committee,” Mayor Bill Collins said. “The timeline for that being done is about 16 months,” he added. They have not yet set a schedule for meetings.
Mark Levack, of Levack Real Estate, a local realtor in Glens Falls, agrees on the need to have local stakeholders on the committee. He believes that the committee could be composed of property owners, business owners, nonprofit organizations, and local government representatives.
“There are key community members willing to serve that have vision and whose input will be valuable in charting this course. We need to engage these people with the responsibility of helping to create a good plan and with that give this group a certain amount of authority as well,” he said via text message.
Palmer believes that the city can sometimes be reactive, dealing with issues as they come up, or applying to grants as they come along. The comprehensive plan would actually give the city a roadmap, she said.
“Here’s what the community thinks, here’s what we’re trying to achieve,” Palmer began. “These are the grants that make sense to apply for. These are the areas that make sense to spend money. Here is how we should be making development decisions. Without that kind of guide we are, I don’t believe we’re making as informed decisions as we could be.”
Collins agrees that a comprehensive plan is a step in the right direction.
“It’s a great step. It certainly allows the public to weigh in on the comprehensive plan itself, but also in the housing plan, in a development plan,” he said.
A comprehensive plan was completed 25 years ago, he said, but the council never adopted it.
Concerned community members who showed up for public comment regarding the new Patten project at the latest planning board meetings echoed some of Palmer’s concerns about the lack of a comprehensive plan.
“I think the major concern is that there’s no overall strategic plan for all the issues that Glens Falls is facing as it’s growing and prospering. So everything is sort of piecemeal at this point,” Meaghan Golden, a resident of Glens falls, told the Post-Star.
Elizabeth Miller, of Miller Mechanical Services, another local business in the city, said that if everyone knows what the plan is, then there are fewer problems when one is developing and running into questions. Having a comprehensive plan would mean that the city agrees on what development they would like to see where and what that development should look like.
“Let’s do a plan so we don’t bump up against these walls,” she said.