Town of Essex Comprehensive Plan Update

For the official New York State Department of Local Government Services document on Zoning and Comprehensive Plan, please click here. Additional information can be found here.

Comprehensive planning is an attempt to establish guidelines for the future growth of a community. As the term “comprehensive” suggests, this is an all-inclusive approach to addressing the issue of a community’s future growth. A comprehensive plan is the formal document produced through this process. The document is official in nature, meaning that it is designed to be adopted into law by some form of local government. The document should then serve as a policy guide to decisions about community development.

New York State Town Law § 272-a defines the requirements set forth for all municipalities to participate in comprehensive planning

The key principle in the concept of the comprehensive plan is that it is an instrument to be used by community leaders who establish the policies and make the decisions regarding physical development. The plan document should fulfill six basic requirements:

  • It should be comprehensive.

  • It should be long-range.

  • It should be general.

  • It should focus on physical development.

  • It should relate physical design proposals to community goals and social and economic policies.

  • It should be a policy instrument first, and a technical instrument only second.

https://web.extension.illinois.edu/lcr/comprehensiveplanning.cfm

Town of Essex Comprehensive Plan History

  • Dateline- April 12, 2024 - The Town Council appointed, by resolution Steven Engelhart and Kristin Kimball of Essex to serve as co-chairs for the Comprehensive Plan Committee. Over the coming weeks the co-chairs, in consultation with the Town Supervisor and the Planning Board Chairman will craft a committee of ~15 Essex residents ensuring a maximum amount of diverse backgrounds on the committee.

  • Dateline - March 6, 2024 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8NPlnbZ_M is a terrific link to a 2-hour webinar put on by the New York State Department of State Division of Local Government Services that addresses all aspects of comprehensive planning.

  • Dateline - February 1, 2024 - Town officials Todd Goff and Ken Hughes met with NYSDOS and Essex County officials to conduct a kickoff meeting for our comprehensive plan process. One of the first steps in this lengthy process will be to establish a local committee to provide leadership to the community on this process. Chairman Goff and Supervisor Hughes are working collaboratively to prepare a list of individuals from all walks of Essex life to volunteer for this responsibility, which will require Town Council approval to be officially formed.

  • Dateline - January 26, 2024 - The Town received notification from the NYS Department of State that they have fully executed the contract between the Town and the State and we can now begin to move forward with the process under the guidance of our Department of State liaison.

  • Dateline - September 15, 2023 - The Town has learned that our contract package (C1002339) has been accepted by NYS Department of State. It now must be countersigned and executed by fiscal officers for the NYS DOS, the Attorney General and the Office of the State Comptroller. This can take approximately 2 months.

  • Dateline - February 1, 2023 - The Town has been advised by Essex County Grant Administrators that the responsibilities of next steps now lie with the Department of State, which can take a few months to execute. Until then, the Town awaits word of what it is required to do to move the process along.

  • Dateline - January 23, 2023 - The Town received word from the New York State Department of State of the following grant award (applied for with help from the Essex County Community Resources):

    • Applicant: Essex (T) CFA number: 118111 Award Amount: $67,500 Project Name: Town of Essex Comprehensive Plan Update Project Description: The Town of Essex will develop a Comprehensive Plan update based on Smart Growth principles. Town residents, local stakeholders, and businesses will be involved in the identification and evaluation of existing local conditions, issues and opportunities, and the development of a community vision. In addition to describing and analyzing local conditions and issues and opportunities, the update to the comprehensive plan will also reflect community goals and include an implementation strategy.