Comprehensive Plan
To access the Comprehensive Plan Committee's agendas, minutes, and other documents, simply click on the following link: Comprehensive Plan Committee. You will also find links to certain documents listed at the bottom of this page.
Completed in 1971, the City's existing comprehensive plan has since been amended fourteen times by various neighborhood and strategic plans. Local conditions that affect Ithaca, however, as well as national and global trends, have changed dramatically since the adoption of the 1971 plan, resulting in the need to prepare a new comprehensive plan that addresses present-day issues at the local level. As a result, the City has undertaken a two-phase process for the preparation of the new comprehensive plan. Phase I involves the preparation of a city-wide plan that identifies a vision and goals for the future, while Phase II will include the subsequent preparation of specific neighborhood or thematic plans, identified in Phase I.
Appointed by the Planning and Development Board, the Comprehensive Plan Committee is responsible for overseeing the preparation of Phase I of the new comprehensive plan. The Committee works directly with City staff and is actively involved with public outreach. The Comprehensive Plan Committee generally meets the third Monday of every month at 4:30 p.m. in Common Council Chambers. Members of the public are invited to attend and public comment is always welcome at the beginning of each meeting. Written comments are also accepted at any time and should be submitted to Megan Wilson at: mwilson@cityofithaca.org or Planning and Economic Development Division, Third Floor, 108 E. Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Several reports serve as the foundation for the draft Phase I plan. The first report, the "Planning Influences Report," examines existing conditions, trends, and future projections of population, housing, economic development, and land use. The Planning Influences Report includes a transportation analysis, as well as a demand and capacity analysis, to provide an understanding of the new development the city could accommodate in existing undeveloped areas and potential redevelopment areas. The first draft of this report was made available in early February 2012 and was then revised, based on comments from the Comprehensive Plan Committee, staff, and members of the public. This revised version is available for review below.
In Fall/Winter 2011-2012, the Comprehensive Plan Committee held 21 separate community workshops, open houses, neighborhood meetings, and organization meetings to solicit their input. The community meetings were well-publicized events that were designed to encourage public participation in the planning process and provide an opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns, and provide suggestions. A "Planning Issues Report,” summarizing all the input gathered at these meetings, was subsequently generated and is available for review below.
In March and April 2013, the Comprehensive Plan Committee will be organizing a variety of focus group meetings to discuss specific topic areas to be included in the plan. After the focus group meetings, the Comprehensive Plan Committee and City staff will use the previously collected public input, the reports mentioned above, and the information from the focus groups to draft the actual text for each chapter of the plan. Once the Comprehensive Plan Committee has reviewed and approved the first complete draft of the plan, the draft will then be formally presented for review and comment, at a second series of public meetings (most likely in the Summer 2013).
Upcoming Meetings:
- Comprehensive Plan Committee: April 15, 2013, 4:30-6:00 p.m., Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 108 E. Green St.
Documents:
- List of Completed Stakeholder Interviews
- List of Comprehensive Plan Committee Members
- What is a Comprehensive Plan?
- List of Completed Public Meetings
- Planning Influences Report (7/9/12) [Note: This is a large 18 MB file. It may take a few moments to open.]
- Planning Issues Report (8/22/12)
Do you have questions or are you interested in receiving announcements about the comprehensive plan? If so, please contact Megan Wilson at: mwilson@cityofithaca.org or (607) 274-6560.