Comprehensive Plan Update Moving Forward in Somers
For the first time in over two decades an update of the Town of Somers Comprehensive Plan is moving toward completion.
At its February 5 meeting, the town board was receptive to a timeline proposed by a consultant it hired to update the document, which has not been brought up to date since 1994.
The board set up a committee in 2003 that worked on revisions, but an update was not approved.
Frank Fish, president of BFJ Planning and a consultant working on the document for the town, said his company worked with the town to update its plan in 1988.
Fish said he did not want the revised plan to be too lengthy. He suggested that it be limited to “100 or so pages.” He said the former Comprehensive Plan committee did much work and he would incorporate it as part of his report to the town board.
Supervisor Rick Morrissey agreed with Fish. “We want to make it user friendly,” Morrissey said.
The topics Fish and Town Planner Syrette Dym plan to include in the document are: land use and zoning; residential development; business development and the Somers hamlet; transportation; environment and sustainability; open space and recreation; historic and cultural resources and community character.
Fish and the town board agreed to hold a public information session during the March 12 town board meeting. Fish is also proposing a public information session in May. Fish is planning to give the final draft of the revised Comprehensive Plan in June to allow the town board to review it over the summer. It will be up to the town board to adopt a revised plan.
