Was the TOS saucer section ever intended to land regularly?

Question

For some reason, I have it in my head that in the early concept phases of Star Trek (what's now known as the original series), the idea was that the saucer section would detach and land on planets. This was later deemed to be too expensive to film, and so the transporters and shuttlecrafts were introduced to the scripts instead.

I like this idea because it gives some reason why the Enterprise is shaped the way it is: it was originally intended by Gene Roddenberry and the model's designer to be a flying saucer for planetary travel, coupled to a warp drive and engineering section that stays in orbit. The idea is that the saucer section and its landing gear were retconned as emergency features once the idea of regular saucer landings had been nixed.

The question is, is this story actually true? That is, is there any evidence, from interviews, memoirs etc., that regular saucer separations and landings were ever part of the plan for the series?

(Note: I'm not asking about in-universe information from technical manuals, scripts, or even the series bible, since those would all have been written after this idea went out the window - I'm asking instead for out-of-universe information about the early development of the series, before any scripts were ever written.)

Answer 1

I have found information on Memory Alpha that it was planned for the saucer section to be detachable. I have not found anything about them planning to land it on planets.

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Saucer_separation

While on-screen only a nacelle separation was mentioned in "The Apple" and "The Savage Curtain", a saucer separation was also described as a possibility in the writer's guide for Star Trek: The Original Series, The Star Trek Guide (third revision, page 15 of the supplement). In the guide, the saucer-like section is described to be "in fact a completely self-sustaining unit which can detach itself from the galaxy drive units and operate on atomic impulse power for short range solar system exploration." leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Star_Trek/1_Original_Series/Star_Trek_TOS_Writer's_Guide.pdf

And

Saucer separation was planned as a regular feature during the early days of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Several story lines, including a B-plot for "When The Bough Breaks", were to use saucer separation. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 50)) However, budget limitations at the time did not allow for extensive footage of the separated components to be shot and for the battle bridge set to be rebuilt. It was also felt that separation slowed the progress of the story. (Star Trek Encyclopedia (2nd ed., p. 431)) Unfortunately, this meant that the Enterprise was sent into a number of dangerous situations with saucer separation never being mentioned as an option.