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Town Hall, 1830 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
The Town Planner's role is to work with property owners who may want or need to make an application for subdivision, site plan review, special permit, or variances.
The Danby Planning & Zoning Office coordinates town planning & development review processes as overseen by the Town Board, Planning Board, Board of Zoning Appeals, and the Conservation Advisory Council.
Town Planning is generally broad and includes such topics as environmental protection, stormwater management, comprehensive planning, mapping, and coordination with other planning agencies.
Development review includes accepting, review and processing applications for subdivisions, site plans, special use permits and other land use requests.
The Planning and Zoning Office also coordinates with the Building and Code Enforcement Office regarding zoning compliance for building permits, including aspects such as allowable uses, required setbacks from property lines, and structure locations.
The Planning and Zoning Office is available for meeting by appointment only.
Communication and business by email, mail, telephone, or Zoom is encouraged.
Public meetings of official bodies including the Town Board, Planning Board, and Board of Zoning Appeals are held both in-person and via video-conference. Please visit the town calendar for more information.
The Town of Danby has a history of planning for its future going back to the 1965 plan. The current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2003 and amended in 2011. View the Plan here. Comprehensive plan vision for Danby:
The Town works to implement the plan through the land use decisions of the Planning Board, Board of Zoning Appeals, the recommendations of the Conservation Advisory Council, and decisions on public resources, including budgeting and capital improvements.
The Town of Danby last amended our zoning on Jan. 4, 2022. The current law and map is available here.
Zoning regulates land use, and is a tool that local governments can use to implement the vision and goals of the community, as expressed in the Comprehensive Plan. Zoning regulations include:
When a proposed project does not comply with the Zoning Ordinance, an appeal may be submitted to the Board of Zoning Appeals (the BZA, a.k.a. the Zoning Board of Appeals, ZBA). Appeals may request:
Paper copies of these forms, and others, are available in the Planning Office. The BZA Area Variance Appeal form, including instructions and guidance, may also be downloaded.
The Town of Danby last amended our subdivision regulations on Jan. 4, 2022. The current law is available here.
Subdivision regulations control the way lots can be created and how development rights can be clustered on existing lots. These rules are one way that local governments can to implement the vision and goals of the community, as expressed in the Comprehensive Plan. Subdivision regulations include:
When a proposed project does not comply with the Subdivision regulations, an appeal may be submitted to the Board of Zoning Appeals (the BZA, a.k.a. the Zoning Board of Appeals, ZBA). Appeals may request:
Paper copies of these forms, and others, are available in the Planning Office. The BZA Area Variance Appeal form, including instructions and guidance, will be posted soon.
The Town Planner serves as the staff person to the two land use boards: Planning Board, and the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
In addition, the Town Planner is the staff person for the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC).
These groups are made up of dedicated citizen volunteers who make land use decisions and recommendations for the Town. The Town Planner’s role is to work with property owners who may want or need to make an application for subdivision, site plan review, special permit, or variances. The Town Planner takes in and reviews the applications, creates the meeting agendas, notifies the public, answers questions the boards may have at their meetings, and provides professional planning expertise as requested.
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The Town of Danby sits on the traditional & ancestral land of the Gayogoho:no’ (Cayuga Nation), one of the five nations to first form the Haudenosaunee. Indigenous peoples were largely forced out of Upstate New York by the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition in 1779. The land that would become the Town of Danby was a part of the Watkins and Flint Purchase, a 336,380 acre patent granted by New York State to numerous eastern investors in 1794.