What is Town Planning Advisory Service (TPAS)?
The TPAS program is a community-based regional planning service.
Individual communities
contract with the Delaware County
Planning Department to obtain professional planning services and technical
assistance.
Why was TPAS created?
The Service was developed as a partnership between the Delaware County Planning
Board and the A. Lindsay and Olive B.O'Connor Foundation.
The pilot was initiated in 1975 with two planners dedicated to working
with Bovina, Davenport, Delhi, Franklin, Roxbury and Stamford because it was recognized
that the all-volunteer planning boards needed assistance transforming their ideas
about their communities into logical plans of action. The original goal was to assist
local planning boards with subdivision and zoning reviews as well as provide technical
assistance in developing land use laws to protect the rural character of the communities.
Why is TPAS critical to the Delaware County's future?
The choices and decisions facing local planning boards in Delaware County today
are even more complex than they were 30 years ago. While local land use issues are
still of central importance to TPAS work, the regulatory environment that the County
and municipalities are situated in requires even greater technical expertise than
in the past. TPAS staff are positioned to effectively deliver additional County
programs,
like those offered through the Delaware County Action Plan (DCAP), and
still provide the monthly guidance and technical planning expertise to the municipal
boards. Today, the assistance provided to the participating communities includes,
but is not limited to:
|
*Current and comprehensive planning |
*Sourcewater protection |
|
*Municipal capital projects |
*SEQRA compliance |
|
*Watershed management |
*Land Use training and outreach |
|
*Grant writing |
*Mapping services |
|
*Hazards planning |
*Stream corridor planning |
The value of the Service is evidenced by the fact that 27 out of 29 municipalities
in Delaware County participates in TPAS.