Town of Gorham Comprehensive Plan November 2009 Table of Contents Acknowledgements Section I We would like to thank the members of the Gorham Planning Introduction ................................................................... 1 Board, Town officials and staff, and the many Town residents who provided valuable insight during the planning process. Section II Community Inventory................................................... 9 Planning Board Members: Thomas Harvey Lizabeth Watkins Section III Robert Farmer Dale Frankish Character Areas........................................................... 35 George McCadden Neil Atkins Andrew Hoover Section IV Vision, Goals & Recommendations............................ 45 Town Board Representative: Special Section - Agriculture & Open Space.............. 77 Allyson Adam-Anderson, Deputy Town Supervisor Section V Town Staff: Action Plan................................................................ 105 Sue Yarger, Planning Board Secretary Gordy Freida, Code Enforcement Officer Section VI Future Land Use........................................................ 115 Clark Patterson Lee provided consulting services for the creation and coordination of the Comprehensive Plan. Clark Section VII Patterson Lee is a Rochester based professional design firm Conclusion................................................................. 121 offering planning, architectural, and engineering services. Appendix A - Maps, Tables, and Charts............................... Appendix B - Community Survey ........................................ Appendix C - Community Survey Results............................ Appendix D - Community Input........................................... Appendix E - Demographic Tables & Charts...................... * All images courtesy of Clark Patterson Lee, unless otherwise noted. Town of Gorham 2008-2009 Comprehensive Plan SECTION I — INTRODUCTION Section I Introduction Introduction & Community During the nineteenth century, the hamlet of Gorham was an Background important trading, manufacturing, and milling center in the Town. Beginning in the first decade of the 1800’s the waters of Flint Creek The Town of Gorham was created were harnessed to power saw and grist mills. As trees were cleared, in 1789 from the tract of land in the Town’s fertile agricultural lands rapidly spawned a profitable western New York purchased by commercial agriculture industry. As the mills, trading stores, Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel blacksmith shops, and other businesses grew, additional buildings and Gorham east of the Genesee River homes were constructed. One of Gorham’s most prominent in 1788. The Town, originally landmarks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F) Hall, called Easton, was successively was erected in 1896 as a dry goods and grocery store; a grocery renamed in the following years as business is still located there today. Easton, Lincoln, and Bethel. The current name of Gorham was adopted in April of 1807 in honor of Nathaniel Gorham. In 1822, the Town was reduced in size when township 10 of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase was taken to form the Town of Hopewell located immediately to the north. Two years later, Gorham was enlarged when the portion of township 9 east of the lake, known as “the Gore,” was annexed from the Town of Canandaigua to the Town of Gorham for the convenience of its inhabitants. Early settlements in the Town included the hamlet of Reeds Corners, located in the northwest; hamlet of Gorham, in the east; and the Village of Rushville, straddling the southern Town line. The first European-American pioneers ventured out into what was then The I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) building at the northwest corner considered wilderness and relied on subsistence farming until of Route 245 & South Street. regional transportation improved; “...the pioneer had to make his way in the forest, clearing off the trees and stumps, that he might grow flax for his clothes, and wheat for his bread.”1 Because of its The Town of Gorham is home to some of the world’s most fertile proximity to the land office and county seat in Canandaigua, Reeds soils. Gorham’s productive land allowed the development of a Corners emerged as the Town’s first hamlet. prosperous agricultural economy in the Town during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The hamlet of Gorham continued to be anchored by agricultural-related industry until the departure of 1. A History of Ontario County, New York and Its People. Charles F. Milliken 2 Town of Gorham 2008-2009 Comprehensive Plan Comstock and Lohmann Foods (Aunt Nellie’s Kitchen) in the late 1980’s. Although the food processing companies have left, farming Modern comprehensive plans usually go beyond issues relating to continues to be the Town’s most important business. Over the last zoning and land use. A thorough comprehensive plan provides a three decades, in contrast with state and regional trends, the number community with clear direction that reflects the goals and priorities of of farms in Gorham has significantly increased due to an influx of its residents. Community goals and objectives are identified and a list Mennonite farming families. of recommendations and actions aimed at achieving the goals is developed. Although many of the recommendations and actions Comprehensive Plan’s Purpose pertain to land use and zoning, a wide array of issues may be addressed. A comprehensive plan is a community’s guide for future public and private investment and provides a legal framework for decision- By granting “home-rule” authority, New York State encourages local making. A community prepares a comprehensive plan to proactively communities to develop comprehensive plans for the sake of the address challenges it currently faces or issues likely to become health, welfare, and general prosperity of citizens. Many state important in the future such as development, traffic growth, changes agencies recognize the existence of a comprehensive plan as to community character, reduced natural habitats, insufficient documentation of community views and priorities. A properly affordable housing, and so forth. A comprehensive plan is intended executed comprehensive plan is sometimes required as a condition for to strike a balance between competing interests to ensure the best grants and other assistance for municipal projects. Granting agencies future outcome for the community and its residents. do this to ensure their funds are being used wisely; to encourage municipalities to act in concert with a stated vision and clear The process for the development and content of a comprehensive plan objectives; and to avoid funding ad hoc projects. is defined in New York State Town Law §272-a, which states: ...the materials, written and/or graphic, However, the vision and policies contained within the plan should be including but not limited to maps, charts, flexible and adapt to changing conditions within the Town as well studies, resolutions, reports and other conditions imposed on it from outside sources or events. The plan is descriptive materials that identify the goals, intended to guide development and decision-making over the next 10- objectives, principles, guidelines, policies, 15 years. Within this time period, the plan should be revisited by the community and its leaders to ensure the Town is on the right track for standards, devices and instruments for the its vision for the future. immediate and long-range protection, enhancement, growth and development of the Planning Process Overview town. The town comprehensive plan shall...serve as a basis for land use regulation, The process undertaken to develop a comprehensive plan includes infrastructure development and public and three important activities: understanding the present state of the private investment, and any plans which may community, determining the desired end state, and identifying the detail one or more topics of a town best methods for achieving it. The Gorham Town Board charged the comprehensive plan... Town Planning Board to develop an updated Comprehensive Plan 3 Section I Introduction with the assistance of the planning consultant, Clark Patterson Lee. Strengths No special committee was established or appointed. Allyson Adams- • Agriculture Anderson, Deputy Town Supervisor acted as Town Board liaison for • Good quality of life the project. The Planning Board served as the reviewed information • Reasonable tax rates make the Town affordable describing existing conditions to ensure its accuracy and served as a • Rural character of the Town sounding board for ideas and recommendations. • Mennonites are an important asset to the community as they continue to operate farms in the Town, contribute to the tax base and have a unique culture to bring in to the Town The development of the updated Comprehensive Plan included • Knowledgeable, committed and well-informed municipal officials community outreach and provided multiple opportunities for public participation to ensure that the plan represents the community’s Weaknesses vision for the future. The Town incorporated the following public • The Town lacks a program to encourage small businesses to locate or participation techniques in the process: start up there. • Lack of public access to local “treasures” such as the many gullies and Public Information Meeting waterfalls • Lack of retail or restaurants On August 19, 2008, a public outreach meeting was held to • Continue to encourage the changes that have improved the appearance accomplish