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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PEDC-2023-08-16 City of Ithaca Planning and Economic Development Committee August 16, 2023 Draft Minutes August 16, 2023 PEDC Meeting - YouTube Committee Members Attending: Rob Gearhart, Chair; Alderpersons Phoebe Brown, Ducson Nguyen, and Tiffany Kumar Committee Members Absent: Alderperson Cynthia Brock Other Elected Officials Attending: Alderpersons George McGonigal and Jorge DeFendini Staff Attending: Lisa Nicholas, Director, Planning and Development Department; Megan Wilson, Deputy Director, Planning and Development Department; Rebecca Evans, Director of Sustainability; Bryan McCracken, Historical and Neighborhood Planner; Nels Bohn, IURA Director; and Deborah Grunder, Executive Assistant Others Attending: None 1) Call to Order/Agenda Review Chair Gearhart read the emergency evacuation procedures and then called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. No changes were made to the agenda 2) Public Comment Theresa Alt, Eddy Street, would like the police out of the unsanctioned encampments. Remove empty lots as parking lots. Remove CITTAP. Alex Farrell, 252 Floral Avenue, don’t criminalize homelessness. Trevor Cross, 2163 Mecklenburg Road, discourages the camping bans. He would like to see more available housing. Isia Patie, 17 Leif’s Way, spoke on the encampments. This policy will cause a breech between Outreach workers and the homeless. Veronica Pillar, 1108 N. Aurora Street, Apt. 3, agrees with others. She questioned whether those in the encampments can remain there and the future campers will follow this policy. Why were the zones picked like they are? Can we do something with the vacant buildings downtown? Jade Brewer, 127 W. State Street, as an outreach worker, doesn’t agree with the policy. It does criminalize homelessness. The people who wrote the policy did not interact with the homeless. Michael Fenner, Nates Floral Estates. It is unfortunate that this problem has existed for 6+ are many people here in this room, and in the administration that having even been in the Jungle. Katie Sims, 104 Lake Avenue, and member of the tenant association. She provided a petition signed by many for Council not to approve this policy. Housing first. Adam Hart, 522 W. Seneca Street. A homes first policy should be enacted rather than the encampments policy. Natalya Cowilich, F&CS outreach worker, who works with the campers takes issue with comments that nothing is being done. It is recognized that there is a shelter option. That doesn’t work for all. There is also a lack of shelter availability. This is a land policy. Wendy Tanner, Jungle II, This policy does criminalize homelessness. There are bad people everywhere. She has lived in many places. Ithaca is not good for the homeless. Richard River, 910 West State Street, Graphic researcher in the encampments. He totally disagrees with this policy. Bringing police in the mix won’t work. The housing first policy should continue. Angelo Baez, Jungle III, has lived in Jungle I, Jungle II, and now Jungle III. Everyone gets robbed. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the Jungle. We are a family there. The outreach workers help us tremendously. The City needs to come down to the Jungle and talk to us. We are a community. We are not stealing. To move us from where we are is very wrong. Things have changed, and we are not being given a chance. John Monkovic, 931 East State Street, Ward 3, Cornell needs to do their part. During the winter months, CU has many open dorm beds, Genevieve Rand, 142 Giles Street, 2, this is cruel and inhumane. A vote for this policy is a to consider Trump homelessness policies. People will continue to be upset about it. Esther Herkowitz, 94 Mary Street, was homeless before. She is in favor of a land-use policy for certain areas where emergency workers can access. Margaret Slattery, 4 Jake Street, lives at Nates Floral Estates. I call the Jungle the Kingdom. Behind Lowes is owned by the City. We live in fear. Cameras pick up crime. Deirdre Silverman, 418 N. Cayuga Street, Ward 2, was hired to create the first shelter in Ithaca. Friends at Nates. We are pitting people who do not have much with people who do. We know we need housing. Kolya Vitek, 506 N. Tioga Street, Apt. B, housing first policy not camping bands. Sloan, 120 Irving Place, Stop considering homeless bands. I think it’s a disgrace to refer to some as residents and others as homeless. Alderperson Brock joined remotely to voice her opinion on the proposed policy. David Bulatek, 21 Jake Street, spoke regarding the amount of crime taking place at Nates Floral Estates. Suggested different paths around and away from the Nates Floral Estates. Zach Winn, 229 South Geneva Street, First Ward, is glad that the police involvement is not being considered. Response from Committee: Alderperson Kumar provided her thoughts on the policy. She thanked everyone who came to speak tonight. The residents of Nate Floral Estates are also among the most vulnerable in this community. She agrees with the policy as it stands. It may however escalate the issues faced by our own Health Community without even effectively addressing the issues of Public Safety at hand here. It feels incomplete. How will it be enforced? What will constitute removal? At the very least we should take the time to include more of their voices in the process before even considering when we decide. Alderperson Brown thanked all who came tonight and spoke. She asks herself, she’s been in the Jungle, I have been homeless, I have talked to the Jungle residents. No one is really alone here. There’s a lot of history here. This has been happening for a long time. We cannot just band aid this. Alderperson McGonigal stated that it’s disheartening to hear we are not doing enough to fix this. We are not the County. We do not have a DSS department in the City. Alderperson Jorge DeFendini thanked all who came tonight to express their concerns. He applauds the homeless individuals who came to speak and apologized for not reaching out more. We need to take a proactive approach. 3) Special Order of Business – None 4) Announcements, Updates, Reports – None 5) Action Items (to Council) a) Ithaca Gun Smokestack – Funding Request for Structural Evaluation ITHACA GUN COMPANY SMOKESTACK – FUNDING REQUEST FOR STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS Moved by Alderperson Nguyen; seconded by Alderperson Kumar. Passed 4-0. WHEREAS, as stated in Plan Ithaca, the City’s comprehensive plan, it is the City’s goal that “all historic resources worthy of preservation will be protected, whether formally designated or not;” and WHEREAS, the Ithaca Gun Company smokestack is the only remaining architectural artifact from the factory complex of the Ithaca Gun Company, an internationally recognized and respected manufacturer of handcrafted firearms that operated along Fall Creek near Ithaca Falls for over 100 years; and WHEREAS, the smokestack was identified as having historic and architectural value in the 1990 Reconnaissance Level Survey of Historic Resources, City of Ithaca, New York, and is considered an undesignated historic resource; and WHEREAS, Common Council approved the Amended and Restated Redevelopment Agreement for the former Ithaca Gun Company factory site (Agreement) at the regular January 4, 2023, Common Council meeting; and WHEREAS, the Agreement outlines several options for the treatment and disposition of the smokestack, including a process through which the Developer and City partner to prepare an existing conditions assessment of the structure; and WHEREAS, At the June 1, 2023, meeting, Common Council agreed to partner with Visum Development Group (developer) to commission an existing conditions assessment of the Ithaca Gun Company smokestack and authorized staff to work with the developer to identify a qualified consultant to complete this work; and WHEREAS, Vertical Access was identified as the preferred consultant based on their professional qualifications, as required by the Agreement, and the proposed scope of their existing conditions assessment, which includes thorough documentation of the smokestack’s existing conditions, identification of deficiencies impacting its long-term stability, and cost estimates of any required repairs; and WHEREAS, the existing conditions assessment will cost $33,137 or $35,480, as outlined in Vertical Access’s proposal; and WHEREAS, the City may pay one-half of the cost of the existing conditions assessment pursuant to the terms of the Agreement; and now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, the City commits to paying one-half of the cost of the existing conditions assessment of the Ithaca Gun Company smokestack; and be it further RESOLVED, the City allocates an amount not to exceed $18,000 from existing funds in the Planning and Building Department’s 2023 authorized budget for this use. If this is approved tonight, it will then go to the September Council meeting and the developer would begin later in the fall. b) Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Plan Resolution to Adopt the City of Ithaca Distributed Energy Resource Plan for Community Choice Aggregation Moved by Alderperson Nguyen; seconded by Alderperson Kumar. Passed 4 -0. WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca has demonstrated its desire and commitment to be a leader in sustainability and social equity, as exemplified by the adoption of the Ithaca Green New Deal; and Whereas, the City of Ithaca has further demonstrated its commitment to social and racial equity and sustainability, as exemplified in the City of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan, Plan Ithaca and the City’s 2017 Assessment of Fair Housing; and Whereas, Common Council approved a contract between Local Power, LLC and the City of Ithaca to develop a Community Choice Aggregation plan in May 2022 and Local Power, LLC has submitted the City of Ithaca Distributed Energy Resource Plan for Community Choice Aggregation as a deliverable required in the contract; and Whereas, the Department of Public Service released new guidelines for Community Choice Aggregation programs that require local municipalities to approve of all voluntary investment programs associated with said programs; and Whereas, a Distributed Energy Resource Plan has the potential to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 14% or more and reduce the financial costs associated with electricity procurement; and Whereas, a robust Distributed Energy Resource program will increase the reliability and resiliency of energy supply in the City of Ithaca; and Whereas, the Community Choice Aggregation Administrator is expected to manage the securing of loan providers, system procurement, and billing on behalf of the City of Ithaca; and Whereas, the City of Ithaca will select a Community Choice Aggregation Administrator by the end of calendar year 2023; and Therefore, be it: RESOLVED, the City of Ithaca adopts the City of Ithaca Distributed Energy Resource Plan for Community Choice Aggregation to complement the forthcoming Tompkins Green Energy Network program. 6) Discussion Items and Request to Circulate a) Zoning Permit – A Proposal to Create a Permit Deputy Director Megan Wilson reported on this proposal. She stated that this part of the zoning code can be difficult to understand. What she is trying to accomplish is to stream line approvals of smaller projects that typically come before the BZA. By smaller projects she is referring to existing structures particularly homes in residential neighborhoods that do not meet the current requirements. Requirements include yard setback, a building covering the lot more than is allowed, repairing or expanding a large rear deck, or need to replace front steps with a code compliant width tread. All of these projects trigger the need for an area variance from the BZA. The process involves a building permit then an area variance. This process currently can take up to six weeks to receive their building permit alone. The hope is to find a way to streamline some of these so that the property owners can make the needed repairs so that they would like to make safety improvements meet code without potentially going through a six weeks process through the BZA. As law dictates now, staff cannot approve a variance under New York State Law. Only a board of zoning appeals if the municipality has one that can do that. We can change what would require a variance so some of these things that come to the board often and are approved with an explanation from the property owner. These are things that we could look at, set thresholds and approve through a limited process similar to what we have for site-plan review. The City currently has a limited site plan review process or a staff level historic preservation approval. This would be in many ways an equivalent to those that exist with our other boards that we have. We have talked at the BZA several times about things that come up often and are ones that they wish they didn't have to make the property owner wait to get approved. That is where this list on the subsequent page came from. Nearly all of the examples that I included on the subsequent page are examples of cases that have come to the BZA since Wilson started working with the board several years ago. One of the most important things to know is new construction is going to still come to the board and would require a variance if they cannot meet the zoning ordinance. There are also certain things that will still continue to go to the BZA like off-street parking deficiencies which may need a little more evaluation as well as telecommunications setbacks. Wilson stated an ordinance has not been drafted yet. She wants feedback on this. If this is something the committee would be interested in moving forward, she will go ahead and draft that and circulate it for further comments. The Committee was in favor of Wilson drafting an ordinance to be brought back at a later date. b) Draft Unsanctioned Encampments Policy The draft policy was circulated for comment. Many comments were shared in addition to comments made during tonight’s meeting. The City Code currently dictates no camping is allowed on City property. Alderperson Kumar would like the amber zone to be removed. It really relies on citizens’ complaints and individual perceptions. Alderperson McGonigal stated we would be naïve to think that there are not criminals in the Jungle. Next Steps: Jorge stated he would be happy to help with the drafting of a more condensed policy. Chair Gearhart will try to pull together a subset of PEDC committee and the encampment working group to work on a revised policy from the discussion tonight. Nels Bohn stated that there are two types of City land – parks and the lightly regulated City land. Chair Gearhart moved to continue the meeting for another 15 minutes in order to have a complete direction going forward, . 7) Review and Approval of Minutes a) June 2023 Moved by Alderperson Kumar; seconded by Alderperson Brown. Passed unanimously. 8) Adjournment Alderperson Kumar moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Alderperson Nguyen. The meeting adjourned at 10:10 p.m.