A commercial landscaping project on Airport Road will get another 120 days to clear a regulatory hurdle that Town of Canandaigua officials said is becoming increasingly common as developers wait for state and federal wetland determinations.
The Canandaigua Planning Board approved a third extension Aug. 25 for CPN-2026-073, a previously approved commercial landscaping facility in the town’s Industrial zoning district. The board made clear that the extension was being granted because the outstanding issue is largely outside the applicant’s control, rather than because the project itself has changed.
Logan Rockcastle told the board the project remains caught in the process of determining whether wetlands on the site fall under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Environmental Conservation or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Rockcastle said he has been working with a wetland delineator and contacting the Army Corps regularly for roughly two months, but the project remained 18th in line for a determination at the time of the meeting.
The distinction matters because the applicable agency could affect what restrictions apply around the wetland. Rockcastle said his consultant expects Army Corps jurisdiction, which he said would mean there would not be a 100-foot state wetland buffer, but the project cannot proceed on that assumption without written confirmation.
“So that determination of who has jurisdiction hasn’t been made yet, and that’s what we’re waiting for,” Rockcastle told the board.
He attributed the delay to a backlog of projects and uncertainty surrounding changes to New York’s wetland regulations. Town staff told the board the situation isn’t unique and warned that similar extension requests could continue as projects become stalled by DEC, utility or other outside-agency reviews.
The Airport Road proposal has already been through multiple rounds of town review. The agenda identifies the extension as associated with CPN-2025-053, a site plan reapproval. An earlier version of the project, CPN-2023-093, had been approved by the Planning Board before those approvals expired.
Rockcastle said work on the wetland issue began as the project moved through that reapproval process. Because the earlier approval had lapsed into 2025, he said the project became subject to a new set of DEC regulations and needed a wetland delineation before it could move forward.
Town staff also explained that the timing problem is partly built into the regulatory process. Outside agencies sometimes want to see that a local municipality has approved a project before spending time reviewing it, meaning applicants can reach the end of a local approval period while still waiting for a separate agency signoff.
That put the Planning Board in an unusual position because the applicant had already received two extensions.
Board members discussed whether granting another extension could create an unwanted precedent. The consensus, however, was that extensions should be evaluated case by case and that a delay created by a third-party agency is fundamentally different from an applicant failing to advance a project.
The board ultimately directed that the resolution explain that distinction. The approval was amended to characterize the action as a third extension for 120 days and to state that it represented a variation from the board’s standard policy because of circumstances beyond the applicant’s control.
Board members also explored what would happen if they refused the extension.
Rockcastle said the project would have to go through the site plan approval process again. Members noted that would mean additional application and engineering costs along with more staff and board time, despite the unresolved wetland determination being the primary issue holding things up.
A planning attorney participating in the meeting said the key question in considering an extension is generally whether circumstances have changed enough to justify reconsidering an earlier approval. If the zoning, surrounding development and other substantive conditions remain unchanged, requiring a new application could simply recreate essentially the same review process at considerable expense.
The board also discussed whether newer town standards would apply if the extension were granted. Staff said updated requirements would apply when construction moves forward where applicable, even though they wouldn’t necessarily alter what the board previously approved.
After adding language explaining the unusual circumstances behind the request, the board approved the extension. No opposition was recorded in the meeting transcript.
The Aug. 25 agenda contained no other development applications, leaving most of the remainder of the meeting for board business and updates on longer-term town planning issues.
Shoreline work pushed back as applications increase
Town staff told the Planning Board that work on recommendations involving the shoreline has slowed as the town moves deeper into budget season.
Staff said they hope to return to the shoreline work in September, but budget preparation has taken priority. At the same time, the town is beginning to see more applications under its form-based code, several of which could reach the Planning Board within the next month.
Officials said the new code requires additional staff review as they work through unfamiliar standards and prepare applications for the board.
The town is also considering changes to Planning Board funding in the next budget, including how alternate members are compensated.
Staff said alternates often attend meetings even when they aren’t needed to cast a vote because following an application over several meetings can be important if they later have to participate formally. The town is considering whether alternates should be paid for meetings they attend rather than only when they’re eligible to vote.
The proposed budget also includes additional money for Planning Board training. Legal and engineering costs, which had previously been budgeted by individual boards, are increasingly being pooled together, officials said. Engineering expenses are frequently charged back to applicants.
Trails and master planning could become a bigger focus
Planning Board member Amanda VanLaeken also provided an update on the town’s trail work, saying the committee involved in that effort was preparing to become more active as the busy summer recreation season winds down.
The group has already worked on trail markings and is looking at what projects can be advanced in the near term. VanLaeken said more substantial updates could come later in the fall.
The conversation quickly expanded beyond individual trail projects to a larger question: whether Canandaigua should develop a comprehensive trail master plan that could guide future development reviews.
Board members said such a plan could function similarly to planning documents that identify priority locations for sidewalks. If the town knows where future trail connections should go, the Planning Board could use development applications as opportunities to preserve or build those connections rather than attempting to assemble them later.
Officials said a trail plan would need to address more than routes. Construction standards, maintenance responsibilities and long-term planning would also have to be considered.
Town staff said master planning is already part of budget discussions for 2027, including a possible parks and recreation master plan and a future comprehensive plan update. One unresolved question is whether specialized master plans should be completed first and then incorporated into a comprehensive plan, or whether the comprehensive plan should come first.
The town’s recent acquisition of additional land has added urgency to the discussion because officials now have to determine how new property fits into the broader parks and trail network. Staff said roughly 60 acres were involved in one recent acquisition discussed during the meeting.
Officials expect trail planning activity to increase this fall as Parks and Recreation Director Greg Reynolds moves beyond the department’s busiest season.
Town plans to build on July 4 event
The board also received an informal review of the town’s Fourth of July celebration, which officials described as a major success and an event they intend to continue.
Town staff said attendance exceeded expectations and feedback was generally positive despite the celebration being held away from the lake. The land-based setting provided more room for attendees and allowed for a larger fireworks display.
One of the most significant problems was food service capacity.
Officials said lines became especially long as the fireworks approached, with some attendees reportedly waiting 45 minutes to an hour. The town is already considering how to bring in more food trucks next year without creating unnecessary direct competition among participating vendors.
Staff also praised the fireworks show provided by Young Explosives, saying the land-based launch site allowed for a larger display than might otherwise have been possible.
Traffic leaving the event was heavy, but officials said law enforcement was able to move vehicles out of the area effectively.
The town plans to use lessons from this year’s celebration to expand and refine the event rather than rethink the overall format.
The board also approved minutes from its Aug. 11 meeting and received updates on several upcoming planning and stormwater training opportunities before adjourning shortly after 6:30 p.m. The Planning Board’s next meeting was expected to carry a heavier application schedule after a relatively light stretch of meetings.
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