Welcoming the new Town Planner

After joining Danby as the Town Planner during the COVID-19 pandemic, David West is leaving Danby to become the Director of Planning and Economic Development for the City of Geneva. Taking David’s place as the Town Planner is Ithaca native Greg Hutnik.

After a handful of applications, Hutnik was chosen and officially hired by the Town Board at their July 19 meeting. Hutnik is an Enfield resident who grew up in the Town of Ithaca and has been working as a planner for Cayuga County for almost four years.

“I found myself doing some environmental consulting after receiving my undergraduate degree, but then I made a big switch and I went into environmental education for a couple years,” Hutnik said.”Then I moved out to Denver, Colorado to start my master’s in urban and regional planning which was just a two year program, but I stayed out there for another four years in a really fast growing suburb of Denver.”

His earlier work included environmental protection as a focus, so he brings somewhat different strengths to us. I expect the differences to complement what David brought and look forward to working with him.

The move back to the area was a family-based decision four years ago and Hutnik quickly found the Danby Town Planner position open. While he did not land the job the first time around, he said the positive experience reinvigorated the excitement and love for his home.

“I saw a lot of investment and planning that has been happening in these smaller towns and that was just really exciting from my perspective to see. What drove me to apply is Danby’s investment in planning. They’ve really only had a full time planner, I think just for the last four years and before that it was more of a contractual basis,” Hutnik said. “So the investment that Danby has been putting forward into planning and future planning is really exciting and I want to be a part of that.”

Hutnik added that one of the challenges of planning in general is how to encourage Hamlet style development to help add to the tax base and to add more community space while simultaneously protecting areas from growth that folks living in Danby might not see as appropriate for the community. 

“I’m most excited about being involved in a little bit of everything: what I see as being the sole planner for a town like Danby is that I won’t just be doing planning, long range planning, and I know they have a comprehensive plan update coming down the pike, and we’ll work on that, but I’ll be also wearing a lot of hats,” Hutnik said. “There’s the hat of the zoning enforcement officer and I’ll be just generally responding to questions in the town, whether they’re planning and zoning related or not, I’ll be working on stormwater issues, and so many other things. There’s an opportunity to work sort of more regionally with neighboring towns and the county. It’s all very exciting and different from my last few positions.” 

In addition to his excitement for the position, Hutnik added that he feels like he is the right person for this job. He said that while he is from the area and knows it well, he also takes pride in the communities that he lives and works in.

“What I want people to know about me is that when I get involved in a place I am committed and take ownership of it and take pride in being a part of it and I’m a friendly person. I’m very open to just having conversations with people and to problem solving and so I’d like the people of Danby to know that they’ll be in good hands with me,” Hutnik said. “I’m very active in my home community of Enfield and will be giving that caliber, if not more, to the community of Danby. I have friends, family who are here and so it’s my community too, it’s not just where I work.”

Hutnik officially takes the reins August 21 and can be reached at planner@danby.ny.gov. A final farewell from outgoing planner David West is available for viewing in the Danby monthly newsletter at https://danby.ny.gov/august-town-newsletter/.An outgoing and welcoming party will take place for West and Hutnik on August 16 at 5:00 p.m. before the Town Board meeting at the Town Hall, 1830 Danby Road. Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend. Questions and further information about this meeting can be directed towards the Danby Town website at https://danby.ny.gov/news/ or call the Town Clerk at 607-277-4788.