Ward 3’s Diana Palmer: This is why Glens Falls needs a comprehensive plan

Ward 3 Councilwoman Diana Palmer submitted the following essay:

In the last week, I have received countless messages from constituents and stakeholders with opinions about Patton Property Development’s new proposed project on Glen Street.

People ask, “Do we want to be tearing down homes to build apartments?” “What about preserving history?” “Why only one bedrooms’ that are going to be expensive?”

Others say, “We do need housing” or “This will increase our tax base.”

Some chime in on the look and style and impact to the neighborhood. These are all good questions and good points.

Here’s the problem — our Planning Board, Zoning Board and Common Council are faced with this decision and others before it (like Stewarts’ recent proposal) without a good foundational document that can serve as a guide to our decision-making.

On Tuesday, the Common Council awarded the contract to begin our comprehensive planning process. I want to take a moment to make sure the public understands how important this is and how much their input is needed.

According to the Department of State, zoning changes should be adopted in accordance with a well-considered comprehensive plan. So what is a Comprehensive plan exactly? It is a basis for planning zoning and informed decision-making for our City. It allows us to make decisions today, guided by forethought about our City’s future, and in the best interest of all our residents.

This visionary document is built on a careful process of gathering public input from stakeholders like business leaders, civic leaders, industry leaders and most importantly — our residents.

The process includes public meetings, workshops, and surveys that allow you to weigh in on what you want the future of our City to look like.

Topics include housing, jobs, recreation, zoning, and so much more. It’s an opportunity for us as a community to identify our core values and identity.

What is special about Glens Falls? In what direction are we going? What do we want to preserve and what do we want to grow or change? I want to implore you to be part of the conversation because we need your perspective to help shape our future.

I first proposed the need for this in 2021 and have been working diligently since then to get this to fruition. Initially, there was no good funding source for renewing our plan and we were worried about the cost associated.

Not willing to give up on the idea of updating our plan, I was excited to learn last year that the DOS was offering a grant that would cover 90% of the cost to create a new comprehensive plan. I requested that we add a resolution to our agenda to apply for the grant, but the Mayor and his economic development team had reservations about applying because of other grants we had in the works and our staff’s capacity, so the resolution was not added. In an email I sent at the time, I stated:

“I would encourage you to reconsider postponing moving forward with this grant. If its your capacity to manage so much at once that is the concern, I think you know that grant administration and outside consulting costs are covered under the grant.

I’ve said this before and I will continue to maintain that without a good comprehensive plan, we are not giving ourselves, the planning board, or the zoning board a good source to base decisions from. I understand that plans can be cost prohibitive, but this is an opportunity to fund 90% of the cost.”

At the June 13, 2023 meeting, I introduced the resolution under new business and received unanimous support from the Common Council members present to pass the resolution from the floor.

A month later, the Mayor introduced a resolution to rescind my previous resolution that stated, “due to multiple applications and initiatives pending on behalf of the City at this time with New York State…further submissions to NYS could jeopardize the pending applications and initiative.”

I was astounded that the unanimous will of the Council was being overturned based on the faulty premise that we should continue to prioritize piecemeal grants for projects rather than have a visionary guide that would inform how we implemented those projects and which grants we want to apply for to begin with. Furthermore, I was advised by the DOS that submitting more than one grant would not jeopardize our chances and in fact – showing that we wanted to pursue a comprehensive plan may increase our chances of being awarded other funds.

We had a tense workshop before the Council meeting where both I and Councilman Lapham tried to overcome the objections. Ultimately, the Council decided to proceed with the Comprehensive Plan grant application which we were awarded along with the other grants we had been applying for.

I give you all this background so you understand that the opportunity for you to have a say and for the city’s leaders to make these decisions based on your guidance was hard fought and is before you now. When these public meetings start, please show up and participate. Your perspective will help to shape our City’s future.

I don’t think anyone enjoys the tense back and forth that comes up when we have to make these decisions in a vacuum. People feel uncertain and worried about trusting the process. I want to reassure you that help is on the way. The Comprehensive Plan will not negate the need for future debate on projects – nor should it; but it will make the discussion targeted, informed and give us a unifying place from which to start the conversation.

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