For the past year and a half, the Lysander Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) Committee has been working to revamp the town’s nearly 24-year-old guidelines for development. Now, the committee is ready to present its finished CLUP in a public hearing Feb. 9. Results from a 2014 survey showed what Lysander residents want most out of the CLUP is to protect the area’s waterways, farmland and open space, as well as to improve traffic flow. Bill Lester, chair of the CLUP Committee, said the new plan will do just that. “The key is to preserve the viewshed and the farmland,” Lester said.
One of the features of the CLUP is incentives for developers to include conservation easements within their plans to preserve those wide open spaces. A conservation easement would require developers to set their subdivisions back from the road a certain distance so as not to interfere with the scenic rural view in Lysander. In exchange for protecting and incorporating natural elements into their plans, developers can build more densely populated lots instead of the 40,000-square-foot, lower-density lots allowed in the previous plan. Lysander’s planning board will take a more hands-on role in approving new developments as well. Planning board members or town engineer Al Yager will tour prospective development areas in person to see the existing features of the land. “Maybe you’ll see some streams that could be incorporated into the development,” Lester said. “A woodlot could be incorporated as a nice amenity.” Protecting the waterways
The town doesn’t just have aesthetic value in mind. The CLUP will also help stem the flow of pollution into area waterways. In 2010, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation declared the Seneca River and part of Cross Lake polluted. “It has to be one of the town’s best assets, and for it to be declared polluted is a crime,” Lester said of the Seneca River. Lester said septic systems discharge waste into the river. This doesn’t only affect the Seneca River: as the Seneca meets the Oneida River in the Three Rivers area, the pollution is passed along into the Oswego River, which flows into Lake Ontario. This pollution has far-reaching consequences, as the Great Lakes are essential to both the U.S. and Canada’s drinking and industrial water needs. The DEC recommended that the town of Lysander seek help from the DEC and the Onondaga County Health Department to clean up these waterways. Lysander is doing its part with the CLUP, which bans new septic systems, instead requiring new developments to connect to publicly owned water treatment systems, such as the Baldwinsville-Seneca Knolls Sewage Treatment Plant. Lester said it’s up to the developer to pay for the installation of pump stations to the treatment plant. Yager said once new development begins, the town and existing water and sewer districts may be able to help connect new subdivisions to the public system. It’s up to other municipalities to manage their sewage treatment, too. The Seneca River flows through Cayuga County, which is experiencing the same issues with sewage management as the town of Lysander. “If we do our job, Cayuga County’s got to do their job,” Lester said. “We’ve worked with [Onondaga] County to make sure somebody’s looking upstream.” Improving traffic flow
While diverting pollution from the region’s waterways is one of the immediate goals of the CLUP, a more long-term effect of the revised plan is the improvement of traffic flow in the area. As more subdivisions pop up in Lysander, more traffic studies will have to be done to find out where new signals should be installed or where new turning lanes would be helpful. A study conducted by the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council identified congestion issues at the village’s Four Corners and at the intersection of Route 370 and John Glenn Boulevard. Lester said the state Department of Transportation would direct much of Lysander’s development through traffic studies and road improvements. “Nothing will change until development starts to occur,” Lester said.
Looking ahead
While change may come slowly with the new CLUP, Lester said it is meant to provide for Lysander’s planning needs until about 2050. One of the major problems with the previous CLUP was that its last major revision was in 2007 — 16 years after its creation. As issues such as water and sewage management, traffic and population evolve over the years, the CLUP will be reviewed at least once every three years. “The committee has identified the area that can be developed on the peninsula, still leaving farmland,” said Town Supervisor John Salisbury. “It means we’ve got future development. It’s going to be good for the environment and a good way of life.” A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, at the Lysander town hall. If the town board approves the plan, it will be sent to the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency (SOCPA) for approval Feb. 12. The full text of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan can be found at bit.ly/lysanderCLUP.