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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStein, S DEIS.pdf To: Cayuga Heights Mayor Kate Supron and Village Board of Trustees From: Stuart Stein, Cornell University Professor Emen City and Regional Planning. 11 Cornell Walk, Ithaca, NY 14850. 607-273-3500 Date: December 15, 2010 t4.-z' Re: Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan Draft Environmental Impact Statement In my professional opinion, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement(DEIS) for Cayuga Heights'Deer Management Plan does not adequately address several significant potential negative impacts that may well occur if the proposed program is carried out. I will lay out these issues in this memo and request that they be addressed in a Supplemental DEIS. Those issues are directly related to the following: Impairment of the character or quality of important aesthetic resources or of existing community or neighborhood character as required under Section 617.7 (c)(1)(v) of NYS SEQR Regulations). These impacts relate to: 1. The definition and character of the community and neighborhoods that are likely to be impacted by the proposed action; 2. Important impacts to the larger community, including potential damage to some of the characteristics that attract tourism and motivate relocation to the area; 3. The impact on relations with neighboring municipalities in the Ithaca urban area; and 4. The SEQR requirement to examine and evaluate alternative means of solving the problem to which the proposed program is addressed. My credentials in addressing these issues are as follows: I am a Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning at Cornell, having taught subjects relating to community development, land use and urban design for 31 years. I hold professional degrees in both City Planning and in Architecture from MIT. I am a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, an honor given to only three professional urban planners in Upstate New York(north of New York City). I was an elected official in County and City government for 21 years, including the Chairmanship of the County Legislature and Ithaca City Council. I have been appointed to and served as a member or chair of many local and state government committees including: Chair of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council; Chair of the City of Ithaca Planning Board; Chair of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation; Chair of the Tompkins County Strategic Tourism Planning Board; and various others. 1 I was a citizen member of the committee appointed by City and Town governments to explore inter-municipal cooperation and potential consolidation of services between the City and Town of Ithaca (of which Cayuga Heights is a part). I have been a full-time resident of the Ithaca community for the past 48 years,including some years as a resident of Cayuga Heights. Impairment of Community Character Basic to an evaluation of "impairment"is the understanding of the meaning and definition of"community." Apparently, the DEIS consultants and the Village Board define the community very narrowly, as that area lying within the legal boundaries defining the Village of Cayuga Heights. However, in the urban planning field there are alternative definitions of community that are much broader in scope, and much more appropriate to the situation being discussed. Urban (and suburban) communities are seen as a part of a much larger "settlement organism," one that exists with strong interdependent relations to its neighbors. Cayuga Heights as a municipality is a component of the larger Town of Ithaca, which in turn is part of the larger still Ithaca urban or metropolitan area. People live in the Village, but travel to work at Cornell or elsewhere outside of the Village, shop downtown, and the children go to school in various locations around the area. Fundamentally, the Village is inseparably integrated into the Ithaca community. This is expressed in such basic ways as residents of the Village having an Ithaca, and not a Cayuga Heights mailing address, and the fact that such commonly-used businesses as grocery stores, movie theaters and auto repair shops used by residents of the Village are all located in the other municipalities that make up the larger Ithaca community. Consequently, elected officials in Cayuga Heights are obligated to consider the impact of their actions not just on the proportionally small population and area of the Village, but on Ithaca as a whole, a community that encompasses contiguous municipalities that share a common landscape, cultural values, economic and environmental interests. Indeed, this concept is embedded in a number of federal and state laws, regulations and grant programs. State and local governments have long recognized this broader definition of community and have fostered inter-municipal cooperation. In some cases inter-municipal cooperation is required in order to qualify for public grants-in-aid. One example is the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Commission, which,by Federal and State law defines our community (for grant purposes) as the Ithaca Urban area, which includes the City and Town of Ithaca (including Cayuga Heights), Cornell and several small contiguous built-up parts of Dryden and Lansing. Many other public programs also emphasize the concept of the larger community in programs dealing with youth and recreation services, water supply,public and fire safety, libraries, assessment, etc. Clearly, many of today's problems facing local municipalities transcend legal borders and, therefore,must be addressed on a broader basis. These shared concerns require public officials and citizens within an urbanized area to work together, and when they 2 do so, they form a shared culture. That certainly is the case in the Ithaca urban area, and if Cayuga Heights acts without due consideration of its neighbors, this has the potential to damage that common culture. To maintain the vibrancy of our community, the trustees of Cayuga Heights, though leading the smallest of all of Ithaca's contiguous municipalities, must still be responsible for the impact of their decisions on the character of the community as a whole. Likewise, residents of neighboring Ithaca municipalities should not be expected to remain silent if Village officials propose a plan that could damage them or the character of the larger community. In professional planning terms, and clearly in the minds of many residents who live beyond those invisible municipal boundary lines that define Cayuga Heights, the Ithaca community as a whole would be negatively impacted by the deer-killing program being proposed by Cayuga Heights. This explains why people residing both inside and outside of the Village have come forward to offer criticism of the DEIS, and why, over the last two years, large numbers of people from other Ithaca municipalities have attended numerous public meetings to express their concerns on the deer issue. Some live within a few blocks of the village boundary, and have spoken of how this proposal will impact their lives negatively, either through the killing of animals they care about, or through negative changes in the character of the Ithaca community this plan will cause. Therefore, it is reasonable that they have come to meetings to be heard. And they have every right to participate, even though several Cayuga Heights residents have at times rudely addressed those not residing in the Village as "outsiders," "invaders" and "outside agitators," and even told them to "get out." More significantly,Village officials have expressed the idea that only input from residents of Cayuga Heights is of consequence in their decision making process. The DEIS itself also completely fails to address or assess potentially significant impacts on the wider Ithaca community. In my professional opinion, this calls the validity of its conclusions into question. The bonds of community are fragile, and when they are frayed or even broken, the impact on the well-being of the whole can be serious. That is a risk that is inherent in this proposal and the process that produced it, and it speaks to a potentially serious impact that is not addressed by the DEIS. There are troubling signs of increasing isolation of the village from its neighbors, including acrimonious public remarks directed at non-residents at public meetings on the deer issue, harsh and sarcastic comments made in letters to the editor in the local papers and on online forums. It is obvious that the effects of past Village actions on this issue, plus the impending possibility of the proposed deer-killing project moving forward, is having a cumulative negative effect on the broader community character and well-being, fomenting a kind of inter-municipal resentment that is not characteristic of Ithaca. The widespread perception that this killing plan is being implemented without consideration of its effect on the community as a whole, and with indifference to the effect it will have in isolating Cayuga Heights from the other Ithaca municipalities, is exacerbating the damage being done, damage that will very likely grow if the killing program is actually implemented. However, it may still be possible to avoid the worst of this damage if clear actions are taken by the Village trustees that have the effect of acknowledging their responsibility to consider the impact on the wider community, and if less drastic approaches than a mass deer-killing program, which exist, are taken to address deer-human conflict in 3 Cayuga Heights. The simple and cost-effective mechanism of allowing residents in Cayuga Heights to have access to the same practical fencing options available to residents of the neighboring Town of Ithaca, which has no equivalent deer controversy, is just one example. The DEIS does not seriously consider non-lethal alternatives with less severe negative impacts than the proposed killing plan, and therefore fails to satisfy the very clear requirements of state environmental law. External Impacts on the Larger Community I submitted a letter on October 28, 2009, as part of the earlier EIS process review, pointing out the impact that the deer-killing program may have on county tourism. I stated in that letter that such a concern needed to be addressed. However, the DEIS does not appear to have given any attention to the concerns identified in my letter. Since I am quite knowledgeable about tourism both as a professional planner, Cornell professor and former county public official, it is my opinion the trustees of Cayuga Heights are obligated to consider this issue with the potential to affect many. I am again requesting that the consultants and the Village Board address this issue. I want to be clear that, in regard to tourism, I am speaking only for myself, and am not speaking for the tourism board, for my department at Cornell, nor for the County legislature. Nevertheless, I do believe that my many years of experience in the field of tourism give me status to address the issue of economic development and community character to which tourism is a contributor. I have a concern that the proposed deer-killing program may have a detrimental effect on characteristics of the community that make it a tourist destination. Tourism development is a recognized component of the county's broader economic development program, which, in turn, is focused on building the tax base and increasing jobs. There is some evidence that the County is seen as a special place, one that is progressive and enlightened, and that this attracts a group of tourists who will spend money here. Ithaca (including Cayuga Heights) consistently shows up on national surveys as a top place to visit and to live. Most recently, we were ranked number one in the country for "well-being." Several years ago the Utne Reader magazine rated the Ithaca area as the "most enlightened" community in the US. Our SPCA is seen nationally as a leader in the "no-kill" shelter movement for animals. We are recognized nationally as one of the centers of the healthy food movement with a vibrant farmers market, an innovative natural foods Co-op, and Moosewood restaurant known far and wide. EcoVillage, in the Town of Ithaca, is a leader in advanced community-building. Ithaca-Hours is known throughout the western world as a creative means of supporting local economic development and keeping money in the community. And we have excellent cutting- edge theaters, museums, arts and music. These, and more local "attractions", create an image of our community as a special place to which many people throughout the country respond. It is an image that is part of what brings them here as tourists. Moreover, it is an image that many who live here embrace with pride, and one that they have come to love. In my professional opinion, those who choose to reside in this community, and those who choose it as a tourist destination, are more likely than average to share a constellation of values that would include such things as inter- municipal unity, nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution, and respect for animals and the natural world. 4 A 2010 report analyzing the County tourism program (Profile of Visitors to Tompkins County), prepared by Chmura Economics & Analytics for the Strategic Tourism Planning Board, stated that visitors ranked "the feel of the area—the ambiance, diversity, the peacefulness," as what they enjoyed the most, or found most memorable, about visiting here. In fact, the area's "peaceful ambience" is one of several aspects identified as being likely to bring tourists back for repeat visits, according to the County tourism program staff (http://www.visitithaca.com/press/41.html). A program that entails the annual mass killing of deer in neighborhood backyards to protect garden plantings, in a municipality of Ithaca that refuses to let its own citizens use practical deer fencing, has the potential to detract from those qualities of the larger community that define its core values for many who choose to visit, as well as many who may choose to move here. Thousands around the country and the world have signed a petition against the Cayuga Heights deer-killing program. Local, regional and national media have highlighted the deer-killing controversy. Further, as more information is emerging about the lack of scientific validity behind the justifications for this program, additional unwanted attention is likely, due to the irony of this happening in the bedroom community of an Ivy League University. In 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, Ithaca was ranked in the top 100 places to live by Relocate America. In 2001, Mothering Magazine named it one of "25 Terrific Places to Bring up a Family." The growing appeal of this community for retirement, relocation, or raising children could be damaged by the fact that the deer-killing plan calls for not just a one- time bait and kill effort, but a multi-year program that could potentially be performed annually over a 5-10 year period, or possibly longer. Each year that the killing is performed, old wounds will be reopened, leading to an even greater rift than we're already seeing in relations between people in the village itself, and between residents of the village and residents of the wider Ithaca community. Since there are already people residing in Cayuga Heights who are saying they find the plan so morally repugnant that they will move away if it is implemented, it's possible many people might shy away from coming to our county for the very same reason,because they may see us as a community that uses violent means to solve our problems—not the progressive or enlightened place it once was thought to be. If this image of our larger community should become widespread, the broader Ithaca community and county, not just Cayuga Heights, could be impacted negatively in the long-term. This potential significant impact of the program on our community culture and its attractiveness as a place to live has not been considered in the DEIS, and I believe it should be. While the program's negative impact on the tourist program maybe difficult to pin down statistically(like many aspects of any tourism program), it should be recognized that such an impact is quite plausible, and therefore should be given further detailed study before the Village goes ahead with its program. Conclusion It is my professional judgment that the DEIS fails to adequately evaluate the potentially significant impacts outlined in this memo, not just on Cayuga Heights, but on the Ithaca community as a whole, and that these flaws need to be addressed before a responsible decision is made about the proposed program. 5