There shall be a Department of Planning and Sustainability under
the direction of a Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability, who
shall be appointed by the County Administrator, following consultation
with the County Planning Advisory Board, subject to confirmation by
the Tompkins County Legislature. The Commissioner shall be appointed
on the basis of professional training and experience and other qualifications
appropriate to the responsibilities of the office. The Commissioner
shall be directly responsible to the County Administrator for the
implementation of policies established by the Tompkins County Legislature.
The Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability shall have the
power to appoint such deputies, assistants, and employees of the Department
as may be necessary to perform the duties of the Office of Commissioner
of Planning and Sustainability and as shall be authorized by the Tompkins
County Legislature. All deputies, assistants, and employees of the
Department shall be directly responsible to the Commissioner. Except
as may otherwise be provided in this Charter, the Commissioner of
Planning and Sustainability shall have all the powers and perform
all the duties now or hereafter conferred or imposed by state law
upon a County Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability or a County
Planning Board and shall perform such other and related duties as
may be required by the Tompkins County Legislature.
The powers and duties of the Commissioner shall be to:
(a)
Prepare, in consultation with the County Planning Advisory Board,
a Comprehensive Plan for the development of the County, which may
include those topics authorized by New York State General Municipal
Law and other topics determined to be important to the County. Such
plan shall be submitted for adoption by the Tompkins County Legislature
in the manner provided by the General Municipal Law. The plan shall
be monitored annually, updated as necessary, and formally reviewed
every five years following adoption;
(b)
Collaborate with others to develop strategies, projects, and programs
to implement the Comprehensive Plan;
(c)
Collect and distribute, or cause to be collected and distributed,
information relative to state, regional, and municipal planning and
zoning in the County;
(d)
Conduct research into economic and housing conditions in the County
and the municipal subdivisions thereof, and seek to cooperate with
municipal and other bodies organized for such purposes; apply for
and administer economic and community development grants and funding
as authorized by the Tompkins County Legislature;
(e)
Maintain basic data on the County's population, demographics, land
use, housing, environmental status, human resources, and natural resources,
community facilities, transportation and infrastructure, and such
other matters and make such studies, analyses, plans, and recommendations
as may be necessary in the exercise of the powers and duties of the
office;
(f)
Coordinate sustainability efforts within County government and collaborate
with others on community-wide and regional sustainability efforts;
(g)
Develop and maintain various Geographic Information System maps of
Tompkins County resources; provide mapping services in support of
activities of County government and as part of technical assistance
services to local municipalities in the County;
(h)
Furnish services of the Department of Planning and Sustainability,
when requested and staff resources are available, to other County
departments, and to communities within the County in matters pertaining
to planning and zoning. The Tompkins County Legislature may establish
charges for such services;
(i)
Make recommendations concerning matters referred from municipalities,
pursuant to General Municipal Law Article 12-B, §§ 239-l,
-m, and -n, as presently exist or may hereafter be amended;
(j)
Work with other departments to develop and periodically update the
County's twenty-year Capital Plan; make recommendations to the County
Administrator and appropriate departments with respect to the County
capital program;
(k)
Act as a resource service for municipalities and agencies within
the County in gaining funding for appropriate programs from sources
other than County government, and coordinate and assist all units
of County government in preparing necessary documentation for funding;
(l)
Provide technical and administrative services and assistance to various
County committees, boards, councils, or commissions as may be authorized
by the Tompkins County Legislature.
There shall be a County Planning Advisory Board appointed by
the Tompkins County Legislature upon the recommendation of the Commissioner
of Planning and Sustainability and endorsement of the appropriate
Legislature committee. There shall be 19 members on the Planning Advisory
Board. Fourteen members shall represent the following major planning
interests: (a) economic development, (b) human services, (c) transportation,
(d) natural environment, (e) housing, (f) agriculture, (g) education
(two members), (h) business, (i) built environment design, (j) cultural/historic
preservation, (k) infrastructure or utilities, (l) energy, and (m)
land preservation or public land management. One member shall be the
Chair of the relevant committee of the Tompkins County Legislature,
or a designee of that committee. Two members shall represent local
municipal planning, one each from the urbanized and non-urbanized
areas of the County as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Two at-large
members shall be appointed to provide, as necessary, for geographical
diversity on the board or to represent a planning interest not otherwise
represented on the Advisory Board.
The members of the Advisory Board shall serve staggered three-year
terms, thus permitting the Tompkins County Legislature each year to
appoint approximately one-third of the membership of the Advisory
Board. The Planning Advisory Board may appoint such ad hoc members,
without voting privileges, as it deems necessary. The purpose of the
Planning Advisory Board shall be to serve as an advisory body to the
Tompkins County Legislature and to the Commissioner of Planning and
Sustainability. Recommendations to the County Legislature shall be
made in writing.
The Planning Advisory Board shall have the authority to draft
bylaws for approval by the Tompkins County Legislature, elect officers
from its membership, and establish committees, including an Executive
Committee. Updated copies of bylaws must be kept on file in the office
of the Clerk of the Tompkins County Legislature.
There shall be an Environmental Management Council (EMC) whose
members are appointed by the Tompkins County Legislature, and that
will receive administrative assistance through the Planning and Sustainability
Department as funding permits. The EMC shall have the authority to
draft bylaws for approval by the Tompkins County Legislature, elect
officers from its membership, and establish committees. Updated copies
of bylaws must be kept on file in the office of the Clerk of the Tompkins
County Legislature.
The EMC is charged with carrying out the following tasks:
(a)
The Council shall advise the County Legislature, through the appropriate
committee of the Legislature, on matters affecting the preservation,
development, and use of the natural features and conditions of the
County insofar as they have a bearing on environmental quality. The
Council shall also consider other matters referred to the Council
by the County Legislature or Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability.
(b)
The Council shall develop and conduct programs of public information
in the County that shall be designed to foster increased understanding
of the nature of environmental problems and issues and their solutions.
The Council shall conduct studies, surveys, and inventories, including
but not limited to surveys and studies for identification of those
open spaces, natural areas, wetlands, and other natural and scenic
features that are of local, County, or regional significance and for
which records shall be maintained.
(c)
The Council shall recommend ways to improve the coordination and
effectiveness of public and private projects and other activities
within the County as they affect the natural environment. The EMC
should maintain liaison with regional and state environmental planning
entities.
(d)
The Council shall prepare and submit an annual report of its activities
to the Tompkins County Legislature. The Council shall submit minutes
and other pertinent materials to the appropriate committee of the
Tompkins County Legislature and the Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability,
and correspond as appropriate with officials at the local, state,
and national levels.
(e)
When authorized by the County Legislature, the Council may accept
by gift, grant, devise, bequest, or otherwise, money or personal property
in the name of the County, for use in furtherance of the purposes
outlined herein.
