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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-11-29 PAB FinalMinutes1 PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD Wednesday, November 29, 2017 OLD JAIL CONFERENCE ROOM 125 E. Court Street, Ithaca NY 14850 FINAL MEETING MINUTES Members Attending: Guests: None Call to Order: Chair David Kay called the meeting to order at 1:30pm. Agenda Review/Changes: There were no changes to the agenda. Draft Minutes Approval: Martha Robertson moved, and Kathy Schlather seconded, approval of the October draft minutes. The motion was carried unanimously by the members present. Presentation/Discussion: Update on Cornell Housing Development – Leslie Schill, Cornell University Planner • Leslie updated the group on housing development on the Cornell University campus, including development on North Campus, Maplewood, and East Hill Village. She also said that Cornell is in the early stages of conducting a review of its workforce housing and is currently reviewing what peer institutions are doing for their employee housing needs. • The Maplewood project is coming along with some siding installed on the townhouses already. It is a mix of townhomes and apartments with a total of 900 beds. The goal is for full occupancy in fall 2018. ED is the developer with a land lease from Cornell. • Martha R. inquired whether it will be limited to graduate student residents. Leslie responded that the priority is to house graduate students but other groups will not be excluded. David K. and Kathy Schlather both asked if there was any empirical data on where residents would have lived before and where they would go after living in such university housing. Such information would prove helpful in assessing the impact of campus housing on the broader housing market in Tompkins County. Leslie posited that perhaps a post-occupancy survey of the first round of tenants could shed some light. • East Hill Village is in deep research mode working to balance commercial and residential needs, as they want to be sure not to be in competition with downtown. Name  Representation Name  Representation Martha Armstrong P Econ. Development Monika Roth E Agriculture Joe Bowes E Housing Leslie Schill P Education Sue Cosentini P Business Kathy Schlather P Human Services Fernando de Aragón P Transportation Rob Steuteville A Built Environment Design David Herrick E Facilities/Infrastructure Andy Zepp P Land Pres/Public Land Mgmt Rod Howe P Historical/Cultural Resources Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member David Kay P Local Planning (urban) Others Present Darby Kiley P Local Planning (non-urban) Katie Borgella P Interim Commissioner Susan Mann E Energy Kristin McCarthy P Administrative Assistant Gay Nicholson P At-Large Megan McDonald P Associate Planner Martha Robertson P Planning Committee 2 • In regards to the expansion of housing on North Campus, Leslie started with background information on Cornell’s Housing Master Plan, which aims to find short- and long-term strategies for student housing, in context with the Comprehensive Master Plan for the Ithaca Campus. Part of that process involved locating open areas for development or areas for redevelopment. The “CC Lot” was identified as a strong contender for redevelopment. • Cornell would like to be able to keep its promise of supplying first-year, sophomore, and transfer students with housing. The university may begin to mandate that first- and second-year students live on campus. Starting in 2020, Cornell intends to add 275 undergrads per year to the freshman class for four years. • There are 3,400 beds on North Campus now and they intend to add 2,000 new beds. Twenty-two potential sites were identified on Cornell land, but they were quickly reduced to 9. Part of the plan on North Campus is to create an expanded first-year housing area, and a “Sophomore Village” on a 5-acre location in the CC Lot area that would create a community for second-year students. It would have a 1,200-seat dining hall and 800 beds. • Another site slated for development is the North Campus recreation fields located off Pleasant Grove Road. The university expects to build housing for first-year students there. According to Leslie, a lot of zoning research had to be done because that area is at the boundary of several municipalities. Discussion: Housing Capital Reserve Fund Proposal – Martha Robertson • Martha R. spoke to the group in detail about her proposed housing capital reserve fund to address the issue of affordable housing and instability in the housing market in Tompkins County. A lively discussion ensued, with members asking questions and offering feedback. The proposed fund, which is modeled after the Capital Reserve Fund for Natural, Scenic, and Recreational Resource Protection, would allocate $3 million in one-time funding, pulled from the Unassigned General Fund Balance. • The fund could be used as leverage to bring in other monies from private employers, etc. It also could serve as incentive funding for building affordable units. The County, however, cannot “gift” the money directly. A different structure would need to be created, perhaps a fund TCAD manages. • Gay Nicholson asked her fellow members to keep in mind the economic and social justice aspects of this issue; too many residents in our community are stuck living in substandard housing. She argued that the first step should be determining the most beneficial and cost-efficient use of such funds: to rehab existing affordable housing or build new construction. She suggested a pilot study be done to identify worst-case housing units in terms of poor insulation, energy efficiency, etc., and come up with a methodology to address it. Rod Howe concurred with Gay on this approach. • Sue Cosentini said that she thinks funding should be designated for construction of energy efficient single family homes (SFH) close to the City of Ithaca. In her opinion, it would entice more SFH developers to build in our area. Martha R. said attention would be paid to the development focus areas. • Andy Zepp passed around information about the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB). The VHCB was created by the State Legislature in 1987 in response to community concerns over how development was changing the character of the Vermont landscape. That model addresses and funds projects around affordable housing, environmental preservation, and historic preservation. • Martha R. wants to ensure the fund isn’t used to develop housing that could be taken care of by market forces. David K. stressed the importance of focusing on what can be accomplished in concrete terms with this relatively small amount of money. • Megan McDonald added that it is costly to perform an environmental site assessment, a process that needs to be done at the start of a project. A capital reserve fund could possibly be earmarked for such occasions. 3 • Martha R. requested that fellow members forward additional comments to her via email. Recommend New Member Appointments to PDEQ – Katie Borgella • Katie shared the latest developments in PAB member applications and new member recruitment. She welcomed thoughts and insights from the Board. • Martha Armstrong, Joe Bowes, Andy Zepp, and Fernando de Aragón have all chosen to renew their seats on the Board. Katie will recommend their applications to Planning, Development and Environmental Quality Committee ( PDEQ) shortly. • She will also be recommending Marcus Riehl, a senior natural resources planner with NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, for the Natural Environment seat. • No one as of yet has applied for the second Education seat. • There was considerable discussion around two other new candidates, both of whom applied for the vacant At-Large seat. • Several members thought that the PAB should revisit the overall list of PAB seats to ensure the right mix is at the table before filling the at-large seat. In addition, several expressed a desire to focus even more effort on attracting applicants from under-represented populations in the community. • Katie said she would take everyone’s feedback into consideration while deliberating over her recommendations to PDEQ on appointments. Appointment Nominating Committee – David Kay • Monika Roth, who wasn’t at the meeting, has agreed to serve on the Nominating Committee. Rod and Fernando said they will be on the committee as well. Interim Commissioner’s Report – Katie Borgella • Tom Knipe, principal planner/tourism program director, has accepted a position with the City of Ithaca as deputy director of economic development. His last day with the County will be January 24, 2018. • The redesign of the Planning and Sustainability Department office continues to move forward, albeit more slowly than staff would prefer. However, the space will soon need to accommodate two more staff members so this project is being bumped up on the priority list. • The department plans to fill the new housing planner position within the next couple of months. • The department received $250,000 in NYSERDA grant funds to green the County fleet and launch a business energy navigator program. Announcements – David Kay • In regards to the Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability appointment, no formal decision has been announced publicly by the Legislature. • David K. said the PAB did ultimately have a small consultative role in advising on selection of the new commissioner. It was not an ideal process, however, and serves as a learning experience for the future. (No one discovered that the PAB was supposed to be involved formally in hiring the commissioner, per the County Charter, until the search for one was already substantially under way.) Member Reports • Fernando announced that the Ithaca Tompkins County Transportation Council is recruiting for a transportation analyst. Adjournment: Chair David Kay declared the meeting adjourned at 3:06 pm.