Gay,
The vast majority of zoning regulations in New York, Ithaca and Tompkins County
included, are premised on the notion that the surburban built environment, with
its large lot single-family home development, economically and socially
homogeneous neighborhoods, coupled with the separation of various land
uses into isolated pockets accessible only by automobile, is a superior form of
development. In many of the communities I've worked in over the past two
decades, zoning regulations pose a major obstacle to developing the kind of
community where a person can be born, grow up, marry, raise a family, retire
and die in close proximity to family and friends..
This "whole life" community was the vision of the planners for Radburn, NJ in
the 1920s and the federal New Deal city of Greenbelt MD of the late 1930s.
Robert E. Simon, the developer of Reston, Virginia had the same vision in the
1950s. Despite the fact that the Radburn and Greenbelt were never fully built
out and that Simon lost control of his company before Reston was completed,
these communities came very close to achieving that goal through progressive
planning that accommodated a wide variety of residential architecture with
neighborhoods and design that provided for persons of all abilities to move
about the community.
Changes to local zoning regulation in New York that are needed include:
1) Perimitting a variety of residential architecture beyond the single-family
home on a large lot that most residential zoning districts in the state are
limited to, including those in cities and towns. Rampant discrimination in
zoning regulations against manufactured housing, townhome architecture and
rental housing throughout the state pretty much ensures that the types of
housing needed by our elderly, as well as the increasing number of home health
care workers and other needed to support the elderly in our communities, is
impossible without heavy tax subsidies.
2) Treating elder cottage (ECHO) housing as a legitimate accessory use and
permitting such homes in all residential districts. Also the standard "55 or
over" age restrictions normally applied in communities where elder cottages are
allowed should be eliminated in order to permit a) adult children with
disabilities to live close to their parents and remain within their community,
as opposed to a group home, and b) adult children who may desire to move home
to care for their elderly parents.
3) Incoprorate provisions that would permit senior living complexes such as
Ithacare and Kendall in the community. Despite the need very few
municipalities list such facilities as permitted uses in their zoning
regulations. Instead the developers of such community assets must jump through
numerous hoops and get special local legislation passed in order for these
vital facilities to be built.
4) Increase permitted zoning densities overall in order to encourage the
development of walkable, bikable communities and to promote the types of
population densities necessary to provide the critical mass of population
needed to make the neighborhood scale commercial retail and other services that
the elderly need close to home economically feasible. Denser, more compact
communities could also eliminate many of the costs associated with sprawl and
address the issue raised by Tom Shelly and others regarding burdensome taxes.
Bet regards.
George Frantz
_______________________________________________
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