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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PEDC-2023-10-18 City of Ithaca Planning and Economic Development Committee October 18, 2023 Draft Minutes October 19, 2023 PEDC Meeting - YouTube Committee Members Attending: Rob Gearhart, Chair; Alderpersons Phoebe Brown, Cynthia Brock, Ducson Nguyen, and Tiffany Kumar Committee Members Absent: Other Elected Officials Attending: Mayor Laura Lewis Staff Attending: Lisa Nicholas, Director, Planning and Development Department; Megan Wilson, Deputy Director of Planning; Thomas Knipe, Deputy Director of Economic Development; Maura Baldiga, Temporary Planner; Bryan McCracken, Historical and Neighborhood Planner; Yamila Fournier, Senior Planner; Jared Lane, Planner; and Nels Bohn, IURA Director Others Attending: None 1) Call to Order/Agenda Review Chair Gearhart read the emergency evacuation procedures and then called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. No changes were made to the agenda. 2) Public Comment Teresa Alt, 206 Eddy St, expressed support for the decriminalization of J-walking and encouraged PEDC to take steps to increase accessibility to affordable housing in the City and eliminate the CIITAP program. Zachary Wynn, XXX, requested information on the enforcement of the new unsanctioned encampments policy and identified problems that are occurring in existing encampments. Cynthia Brock thanked the speakers for addressing the Committee and referenced the County Planning Department’s 10-year housing needs assessment. She also addressed Z. Winn’s comments about the behaviors and offensive imagery displayed in the current encampments. Phoebe Brown thanked the speakers for attending the meeting and expressed concern about the enforcement of the unsanctioned encampments policy. 3) Special Order of Business – None 4) Announcements, Updates, Reports a) Short-Term Rentals: Tom. Knipe, Maura Baldiga, and Megan Willson presented information on the development and status of a Short-Term Rental Policy and shared the slides appended below. Alderperson Brock commented on the detrimental impact of the full-time, short-term rental units on the character of the City’s neighborhoods and asked how enforcement of the policy would be handled. Maura and M. Wilson outline the enforcement options under consideration and the tools available to assist the City with this work. Chair Gearhart asked how the public outreach sessions would be handled in terms of in- person and virtual attendance. Alderperson Nguyen asked staff to identify the three (3) Short-Term Rental types. As noted by Baldiga, the three (3) types are seasonal, owner-occupied, and occasional. The definitions for each of these types were outlined for the Committee. Alderperson Brock expressed concerns about the inspection requirements for short-term rentals and asked staff to identify the ways in which the safety of renters would be ensured. Wilson indicated that inspection requirements would depend on the type of short-term rental. b) Downtown Plan: Megan Wilson, Yamila Fournier, Jared Lane, and Bryan McCracken presented information on the development of the neighborhood plan for downtown and shared the slides appended below. Chair Gearhart was excited to see this project move forward and asked if the boundaries of the study area could be adjusted. Wilson explained the justification for the study area boundary, noting the completed neighborhood plans for the waterfront and southside neighborhoods and planned future work to examine the surrounding, unstudied areas. 5) Action Items (to Council) RIBS (RECYCLE ITHACA BIKES) LEASE EXTENSION Lease Extension for RIBs Program at 530 W. Buffalo Street Moved by Alderperson Nguyen; seconded by Alderperson Brock. Carried 5-0 WHEREAS, the Recycle Ithaca Bicycles (RIBs) program is a non-profit community bicycle shop and youth program operated by the Southside Community Center, Inc. (SSCC) that provides refurbished bicycles in exchange for work hours and offers bicycle repair classes, and WHEREAS, the RIBs program has operated at a former sewer pump station building owned by the City of Ithaca at 530 W. Buffalo Street (The Premises) since 2008, and WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca leases The Premises to the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA), who in turn subleases The Premises to SSCC for use by the RIBs program, and WHEREAS, the current monthly rent is $501, which is collected by the IURA and paid over to the City of Ithaca, and WHEREAS, the lease expired in June 2023, and WHEREAS, SSCC seeks to relocate the RIBs program to the Southside neighborhood, and WHEREAS, the City plans to install a new underground sewer pump station at the Premises in 2025 that will restrict site access during construction and reduce the leasable area at the Property, and WHEREAS, as an initial phase for rebuilding the sewer pump station, the City proposes installation of subsurface piping in the rear yard of The Premises in 2024 in a manner that is not expected to materially interfere with RIBs operations, and WHEREAS, SSCC agrees to move out of the Premises by January 31, 2025 and requests the current sub-lease agreement be modified to extend the term through January 31, 2025, and WHEREAS, on August 18, 2023, the IURA approved SSCC’s request for a short-term lease extension conditioned upon Common Council approval and recommends the City/IURA lease agreement be extended through at least January 31, 2025; now, therefore be it RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca Common Council hereby approves two amendments to the City/IURA lease for premises at 530 W. Buffalo Street to (1) extend the term of the lease through January 31, 2025 to enable the IURA to extend their sublease with the Southside Community Center, Inc. for the RIBs program, and (2) reserve the right for the City to initiate subsurface sewer pump station piping work on The Property in a manner that does not materially interfere with RIBs operations, be it further RESOLVED, that the Mayor, subject to review by the City Attorney, is authorized to execute any and all agreements and documents necessary to implement this resolution. b) Resolution of Support – Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT – HISTORIC TAX CREDIT GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT Moved by Alderperson Brock; seconded by Alderperson Nguyen. Carried 5-0 WHEREAS, Ithaca’s rich community history is represented in its built environment, and the preservation of its historic resources connects our residents to their collective past, helps to establish a sense of place in our neighborhoods, contributes to the economic vitality of the city, and supports our sustainability goals, and WHEREAS, the federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC) is the largest federal investment in historic preservation and a critical economic development tool used to revitalize communities, and WHEREAS, as stated in Plan Ithaca, the city’s comprehensive plan, Ithaca encourages and, if possible, facilitates the use of the HTC incentive in local development projects, and WHEREAS, the value of the HTC incentive has diminished over the past decade because of IRS rulings, administrative burdens, changes in the credit structure, as well as spreading the distribution of the credit over 5 years, and WHEREAS, local access to the HTCs remains limited for many owners of historic properties for the reasons noted above as well as the program’s eligibility requirements, our community’s high property values, and the relatively “small” scale of our rehabilitation projects, and WHEREAS, a bipartisan Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act [H.R.1785/S.639 (HTC-GO)] was introduced in the House of Representatives and Senate in March, 2023, and WHEREAS, the House and Senate bills include permanent provisions that will add value to the HTC, improve access to the credit, and increase investment in smaller rehabilitation projects, and WHEREAS, these revisions will directly benefit the citizen of the City of Ithaca, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca wholeheartedly supports the proposed revisions to the HTC program as outlined in the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act, and be it further RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca’s Common Council encourages the House of Representatives and Senate to pass this legislation to increase access to the HTC incentive for our residents. 6) Discussion Items – Alderperson Ducson Nguyen a) Proposal to Repeal City of Ithaca Municipal Code Section 346-17, “Pedestrian Crossings” Alderperson Nguyen letter of explanation bringing this item forward is attached to these minutes. 7) Review and Approval of Minutes a) May 2023 Moved by Alderperson Brock; seconded by Alderperson Nguyen. Passed unanimously. 8) Adjournment Alderperson Nguyen moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Alderperson Kumar. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM.