Village of Homer. (Photo via the Village of Homer).
The village of Homer is looking to update its comprehensive plan, the mayor announced at Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting.
The village’s current comprehensive plan was completed in 2010. With the village receiving a $76,500 New York State Smart Growth Comprehensive grant, the goal is to square away a new comprehensive plan by this year, said village mayor Hal McCabe.
Village deputy mayor Pat Clune mentioned the recommendation is to have a new comp plan every 10-15 years, noting the village has “knocked out” a majority of the tasks from the current comp plan.
McCabe noted the plan is for the village to hire a consultant, which will be covered by the grant. Thoma Development Consultants wrote the village’s 2010 comp plan. Much like the current comp plan, McCabe said, the new comp plan will potentially have over 200 pages.
“There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into producing it,” McCabe said.
McCabe said the comp plan is mainly used for all of the planning and zoning outlooks for the village, which includes work the village is doing to make sure projects are consistent.
“Having it up to date is a good thing to have for the village,” said village board member Ed Finkbeiner, noting the comp plan can be used favorably or disfavorably for references.
Finkbeiner mentioned the Byrne Dairy store and gas station located on Route 281 in Homer. He added that Byrne Dairy representatives used the comp plan as a reference for development in the village.
McCabe mentioned the current comp plan focused heavily on the village’s downtown area. For the new comp plan, he added, he wants it to focus on the village’s stretch on Route 281.
“We’re hoping (the new comp plan) will be on the same level or as close as we can (to the old comp plan),” McCabe added.
