Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Plan Final Report September 2009 Prepared By: Town of Ulysses COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ulysses Town Board The update of the 1999 Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Plan began in 2006. The Comprehensive Plan Update Committee would like to recognize current and former Town Board members for their support for this project. • Douglas Austic, Supervisor (Current) • Roxanne Marino, Councilperson (Former) • Don Ellis, Councilperson (Former) • Elizabeth Thomas, Councilperson (Current) • Gerald Ferrentino, Councilperson (Current) • Lucia Tyler, Councilperson (Current) • David Kerness, Councilperson (Current) Comprehensive Plan Update Committee The Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Plan Update Committee was comprised of volunteers who contributed much effort, time, and energy in order to ensure the successful completion of the update of the Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Plan. x Sue Poelvoorde, Town Resident, Committee Chair x Bob Brown, Village Resident x Deirdre Cunningham, Village of Trumansburg Comprehensive Plan Representative x Heather Filiberto, Village Resident x Rod Hawkes, Planning Board Representative x Roxanne Marino, Town Resident x Sue Ritter, Town Resident x Elizabeth Thomas, Town Board Representative x Dave Tyler, Town Resident x Bob Weatherby, Agricultural Business Representative x John Wertis, Agricultural Business Representative The volunteer members of the Comprehensive Plan Update Committee would like to thank the many Town of Ulysses residents and landowners who provided input into this update of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. We also thank the following Town officials and staff for their assistance and input and Andrew Raus and Kimberly Baptiste of Bergmann Associates for their guidance and professional assistance. Marsha Georgia, Town Clerk Ken Zeserson, Chair, Planning Board Richard Coogan, Deputy Supervisor Robin Carlisle-Peck, Clerk Alex Rachun, Code Enforcement Officer Ben Carver, Clerk Prepared By: In association with: Thomas Daniels Town of Ulysses COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................... 1 2.0 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 3 Brief History of Ulysses ............................................................................................... 4 The Comprehensive Plan Update Process: An Overview ........................................ 5 What is a Comprehensive Plan? ................................................................................. 6 Summary of Supporting Local Plans and Studies ..................................................... 7 Public Outreach Summary ........................................................................................ 11 3.0 VISION, POLICIES, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS ..................................... 17 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 17 Policies, Objectives, and Actions .............................................................................. 18 4.0 FUTURE LAND USE PLAN ........................................................................ 37 Overview .................................................................................................................... 37 Purpose ....................................................................................................................... 37 Future Land Use Categories ...................................................................................... 37 5.0 PLAN IMPLEMENTATION ......................................................................... 55 Adoption of the Plan.................................................................................................. 55 Implementation of Actions and Policies .................................................................. 55 Evaluation of Progress ............................................................................................... 57 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... 59 Appendix 1: Summary of Community Survey Results ........................................... 61 Appendix 2: SWOT Analysis Results ....................................................................... 81 Appendix 3: Existing Conditions .............................................................................. 83 Appendix 4: Community Character Survey Results ............................................. 151 Appendix 5: Agricultural Land Use Preservation Zoning Technique ................. 181 Appendix 6: Implementation Table ........................................................................ 183 Town of Ulysses COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FIGURES AND TABLES LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1 – Historic Communities 4 Figure 2 – Future Land Use Plan 39 Figure 3 – Tompkins County Land Use and Cover Classifications 85 Figure 4 – Existing Zoning Districts Map 91 Figure 5 – Soils Map 95 Figure 6 – Natural Features Map 101 Figure 7 – Topography Map 103 Figure 8 – Transportation Network Map 109 Figure 9 – Water Service Map 115 Figure 10 – Community Resources Map 121 Figure 11 – Historical and Projected Population Trends, 1940-2030 124 Figure 12 – Racial Composition 125 Figure 13 – School Districts Map 129 Figure 14 – Employment Industries 138 Figure 15 – Family Income 140 Figure 16 – Agricultural Districts Map 145 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 – Summary of Future Land Use Plan Categories 38 Table 2 – Short Term Implementation Plan 56 Table 3 – Tompkins County Land Use and Land Cover Classifications 83 Table 4 – Zoning Districts 87 Table 5 – Traffic Volume 107 Table 6 – Single Family New Construction Permits 127 Table 7 – Median Single Family Home Prices, 2002 128 Table 8 – Unemployment Rates, 1995-2004 139 Table 9 – Size of All Farms, 2002 142 Table 10 – Size of Farms with Cropland Harvested, 2002 142 Table 11 – Size of Farms, 2002 and 2007 144 Table 12 – Farms by Value of Sales, 2002 and 2007 147 Town of Ulysses COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This update of the Town of Ulysses’ first Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 1999, outlines a refined vision and series of strategies for preserving, protecting, and enhancing the rural character, natural resources, and agricultural practices in the Town, balanced with an appropriate level and scale of growth and development. In June of 2006, the Ulysses Town Board appointed a Comprehensive Plan Update Steering Committee to conduct a formal revision of the 1999 Ulysses Comprehensive Plan, in accordance with the Plan Implementation recommendations and as directed by the Town Board resolution adopting the 1999 plan. This updated Comprehensive Plan was developed through a collaborative effort involving the Comprehensive Plan Update Steering Committee, representatives from Town boards, and residents with varying backgrounds and perspectives. The plan update was developed within a public participation process that sought to engage and involve the Ulysses community as a whole. Beginning with a Community Survey that was distributed by the Steering Committee in the Spring of 2007, the year-and-a-half planning process was open to all interested Town residents. A brainstorming session with Town officials and committee members, multiple steering committee meetings, public meetings, and land use workshop sessions rounded out the community outreach efforts associated with this updated Plan. The 2008 Comprehensive Plan provides an overall framework for decision-making and investment in the Ulysses community. It offers a snapshot of the community today and a direction for the future. It is, however, a fluid and flexible document that should be consistently reviewed and updated as conditions and visions for the community further evolve. The plan is intended to serve as a guide for the Ulysses community for the next ten to fifteen years, with updates applied as needed. The foundation of the update process for the Comprehensive Plan began with a thorough review of the Existing Conditions in the Town, broken down into physical, economic, and social attributes. A vast array of resources and information sources were reviewed in order to gather the data required to identify and document the key attributes of the community for the purpose of land use planning and visioning. As the planning process progressed, particular characteristics in the Town surfaced as being very important to residents. The rural character, agricultural lands, and natural resources within the Town are characteristics that people value for contributing to a positive quality of life. With an understanding of the importance of these characteristics, the Town developed a Vision Statement, to guide future actions, that recognizes the value of the agricultural heritage, natural resources, scenic viewsheds, environmental assets, tourism potentials, recreation opportunities, and beauty of the community. Bergmann Associates 1 Town of Ulysses COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Building on the Vision Statement, the Plan is organized into five Policy areas that reflect the aspects of Ulysses that residents want to see addressed with respect to future actions and implementation measures. The policy areas include: Environment and Natural Resources, Sustainable Land Use and Development, Local Economy, Community Services, and Community Identity. Within each of the Policy areas, Objectives and Action items were developed to assist the community