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Mission
The City Planning Office and the Office of Environmental Services are (organizationally) part of the Division of Planning and Development, within the Department of Community Development. Its mission:

To promote and protect the health, safety and general welfare of all residents by enhancing and conserving the social, economic and environmental health of the residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas by fostering the most appropriate use of municipal land and resources.

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The City of Niagara Falls Planning Office:

• Maintains the City's comprehensive plan, including transportation, land use, housing, public service, community facilities and its other elements;
• Administers zoning, subdivision and handles amendments to these and related codes;
• Reviews special use permits such as group care, day care, some commercial recreation and other conditional uses;
• Advises on disposition of City owned property, including dedication or vacation of streets, alleys and some easements;
• Assists in capital improvements and economic development;
• Helps with site planning and design for construction, sale, lease or use agreements involving City holdings;
• Provides staff services to the City Officials, Planning Board, Board of Appeals and other boards on community development matters;
• Provides some of the staff services for code enforcement, and other regulatory activities;
• Maintains maps, aerial photography, demographics and other information related to community growth and change;
• Works with schools, businesses, institutions and special districts, and with census, housing, conservation, preservation, highway, railroad, utility and other agencies as needed to ensure compliance with city development regulations and general consistency with our development goals.

While our mission is focused on zoning and physical planning and largely accomplished through zoning enforcement, site plan review and land use analysis, Planning is a comprehensive field, that requires the City's Planning Office to have access to all kinds of information. On a typical day, the Planning and Environment Offices may field calls for land use regulations, floodplain data, demographics, brownfields, recycling, economic development, municipal operations or other topic.

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The Office of Environmental Services

• Coordinates the City's Brownfield Redevelopment Initiatives, including management of Environmental Bond Act Grants from the New York State Department of Environmental Services (NYS DEC) and Brownfields Assessment Redevelopment Pilots from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)
• Assists Senior Planner in all environmental and planning activities such as environmental assessments and development reviews; prepares departmental recommendations on development proposals
• Responds to queries regarding FEMA Flood Zones and the National Flood Insurance Program
• Oversees all State and Federal environmental reviews in Niagara Falls
• Maintains and organizes United States Census Information and City Demographic Information, and performs geographic demographic analysis using the City's Geographic Information System
• Maintains and creates data sets for the City's Geographic Information System
• Provides mapping support to various City Departments, including Inspections and Engineering, Planning, and Community Development
• Acts as a liaison for local environmental groups
• Oversees the City's Recycling Program, and delivers Blue Recycling Bins to new residents
• Manages and coordinates the City's Memorial Tree Program

 

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