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Home My WebLink About2017-04-26 PAB Final Minutes 1 PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD 2 Wednesday, April 26, 2017 3 SCOTT HEYMAN CONFERENCE ROOM 4 125 East Court Street 5 6 FINAL MEETING MINUTES 7 Members Attending: 8 Name Representation Kathy Schlather P Human Services Rob Steuteville Built Environment Design Andy Zepp P Land Pres/Public Land Mgmt Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member Others Present Ed Marx P Commissioner of Planning Megan McDonald P Senior Planner Kristin McCarthy P Administrative Assistant Scott Doyle P Senior Planner 10 11 Guests: Hannah Plummer, Andrew Varuzzo 12 13 A quorum was present. 14 15 Call to Order – Chair David Kay called the meeting to order at 9:05 am. 16 17 Agenda Review/Changes & Approval of Minutes (March 22, 2017) 18 19 There were no changes to the agenda. 20 21 ACTION: Fernando de Aragon moved, and Rod Howe seconded, the approval of the March minutes. The 22 minutes were approved unanimously. 23 24 Presentation: Conservation in a Changing Climate: Structural Landscape Connectivity and Resilience in 25 Tompkins County, NY – Hannah Plummer and Andrew Varuzzo 26 27 Scott Doyle introduced the speakers, Hannah Plummer and Andrew Varuzzo, who have been doing 28 research for the County Planning and Sustainability Department on land-use and non-regulatory tools for 29 improving primary habitat connectivity. Hannah and Andrew are first-year master’s students in city and 30 regional planning at Cornell. 31 32 Andrew spoke to the group about the GIS model they developed for assessing habitat connectivity in 33 Tompkins County and the Southern Tier. They used Linkage Mapper, a GIS tool that connects wildlife 34 habitat patches by calculating “least cost” corridors. These zones have higher ecological integrity and avoid 35 roadways, etc. The idea is that organisms will follow the “least cost” or “least resistance” zones. 36 37 A regional model and a local model were developed. For their study, Andrew and Hannah wanted to see 38 how regional management in Tompkins County could impact a wider area. The local model was specific to 39 Name Representation Martha Armstrong P Economic Development Joe Bowes P Housing Sue Cosentini E Business Fernando de Aragón P Transportation Leslie Schill P Education Dave Herrick E Facilities/Infrastructure Rod Howe P Historical/Cultural Resources David Kay P Local Planning (urban) Darby Kiley P Local Planning (non-urban) Gay Nicholson E At-Large Martha Robertson E Planning Committee Monika Roth P Agriculture the County. To define the regional patches, they used the Nature Conservancy’s New England Habitat 40 Permeability data set. Local patches were derived from the Tompkins County 2007 Priority Protection 41 Areas. 42 43 Hannah reviewed existing land-use mechanisms for zoning of habitat conservation in Ithaca City and the 44 towns of Ithaca, Danby, Trumansburg, and Dryden. Their research also focused on identifying financing 45 mechanisms for water quality protection and critical habitat and biodiversity conservation. 46 47 Some ideas and resources they mentioned are listed below: 48 49 • Purchase of Development Rights 50 • Community Preservation Fund – successful in Hudson River Valley; a local referendum would need 51 to be passed by a municipality to authorize funding 52 • NYS Environmental Protection Fund 53 • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Regional Conservation Partnership Programs 54 • USDA Forest Service – Forest Adaptation Resources 55 • USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services Reports 56 • Tompkins County Stream Buffer Planting Guide 57 58 Their recommendations for improving wildlife habitat connectivity: 59 60 1) Short term – Pick low-hanging fruit like identifying culverts in need of replacement and seek 61 grant funding to replace them with more habitat friendly culverts. 62 63 2) Mid term – Amend zoning laws to conserve habitat, improve water quality, and protect 64 sensitive areas from development. 65 66 3) Long term – Establish a Community Preservation Fund to ensure long-term sustainable funding 67 for conservation efforts. Consider establishing a Transfer of Development Rights program. 68 69 Andrew remarked that one strategy is to identify tax parcels by ownership and relation to habitat patches 70 and corridors, and consider opportunities to promote intra-patch connectivity. Connecting patches is the 71 the way to establish viable wildlife corridor. 72 73 Discussion: TC Housing Strategy, Draft Recommendations – Megan McDonald 74 75 Megan McDonald shared with the group draft recommendations for the County’s Housing Strategy. Many 76 of these recommendations were shaped by feedback received on the Housing Summit from last fall. 77 78 Several attendees of the Summit expressed concern that certain voices are not at the table. There was a 79 need seen for a less formal organization than an advisory board to share news and progress and challenges. 80 81 Other points made and lessons gleaned included the following: 82 83 • The public doesn’t realize what housing resources are already out there. Perhaps build a web-based 84 Housing Information database. It could serve as one-stop shopping for housing. 85 • TCAD staff think it’s vital to get developers in the room to speak more informally about barriers to 86 housing ─ e.g., gaps in financing, etc. 87 • Downtown Ithaca Alliance is interested in condo development and middle income housing. 88 • Chamber of Commerce is researching other sources of funding. 89 • County is exploring infill development. 90 91 • County should work to engage community in preliminary development issues; not doing so has led 92 in the past to projects being pulled because voices of opposition have been heard too late in the 93 process. 94 • In regards to the Community Housing Fund, increase funding and invite partners who can contribute 95 financing, such as other local governments and businesses. 96 • Streamline zoning process for desired places and projects. Work with municipalities to update 97 zoning. 98 • Look at existing housing supply, which often has quality and code-enforcement problems. 99 • Include energy efficiency and accessibility in Housing Strategy. The Office of Human Rights is 100 working on an anti-discrimination law based on source of income (such as Section 8). 101 • Megan wants to have conversations with Housing Needs Assessment participants first before 102 reaching out to public in May for feedback 103 • Ed thinks momentum is building among different groups for housing development. The County will 104 play a leadership role, and the Legislature will be involved, but partners from the business 105 community and other stakeholders are needed as well. 106 • Andy Zepp commented that the County could coordinate between developers. 107 • Kathy Schlather added that the County can help with connectivity between smaller communities in 108 terms of zoning and code enhancements. 109 110 Introduction of New Education Member Leslie Schill – Ed Marx 111 112 The group welcomed Leslie Schill, who replaces John Gutenberger as Education representative, to the PAB. 113 Leslie heads up the Campus Planning Office at Cornell and used to work as a senior planner for Tompkins 114 County. 115 116 Applications for PAB Membership (PDEQ Recs) – Ed Marx 117 118 • Atu Darko’s and Susan Mann’s applications will be forwarded to the Planning, Development, and 119 Environmental Quality committee for consideration. 120 • PAB also needs to recruit for Natural Environment and Higher Education representatives. Ed asked 121 members to spread the word; they are open to looking at other kinds of educators, too. 122 123 Commissioner’s Report – Ed Marx 124 125 • Big area of feedback from Joan Jurkowich’s presentation on renewable energy development in 126 Tompkins County has been concern over noise from wind turbines. 127 • The Energy Focus Area report is almost finalized; a decision regarding pursuing an alternative to the 128 West Dryden gas pipeline sits with the Public Service Commission, and they hope to have a 129 definitive answer by May. 130 • The new Tompkins County Energy Task Force held its first meeting. 131 • Tompkins is the first county in the Southern Tier to be certified by NYSERDA as a Clean Energy 132 Community. This designation allows the County to apply for more forms of state funding. 133 • A public policy group from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was advised by Dane County to 134 speak with Tompkins County about our community climate initiative. 135 • The Planning and Sustainability Department submitted a resiliency grant to New York State. 136 • In mid -May, the Tompkins County Legislature will vote whether to acquire and improve the 137 Tompkins Trust Company Building so it can serve as home of the new Heritage Center. 138 • The Conference Center Feasibility Study is done. Reviews are mixed. 139 • Ed, Fernando de Aragón, and Joe Mareane and Members of the County Legislature’s Transportation 140 Committee met with officials from NYS Department of Transportation in Syracuse. 141 142 Potential Future Member Presentations/Announcements – David Kay 143 144 • David K. asked if any members would like to volunteer to give a presentation at a future meeting. 145 Rod likely will, once a decision has been made regarding the Heritage Center. 146 • Darby Kiley is working on draft zoning changes for the Town of Ulysses and would appreciate 147 feedback from her PAB colleagues. 148 • Leslie Schill said she should have something to present further along. 149 150 Adjournment – 151 152 Chair David Kay adjourned the meeting at 10:33 am. 153 154 155 Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability Department 156 Approved by PAB: 6/28/2017 157 158