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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-DAC-2012-02-01DISABILITY ADVISORY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 12:15 p.m. February 1, 2012 PRESENT: DAC Chair — Roberts DAC Vice Chair - Gizewski DAC Members: David McElrath Erin Sember -Chase Jason Anderson Andrew Rappaport Jocelyn Scriber Jaime Freilich Information Management Specialist — Myers Danielle Conte, Tompkins County Office for the Aging Assistant Civil Engineer — Yost Planner - Wilson EXCUSED: George Eberhardt Allen Walters Alderperson Rooker Chair Roberts introduced himself and welcomed everyone that attended today's meeting to provide input for the City's Comprehensive Plan. He stated that today's meeting was being co- sponsored by the Tompkins County Office for the Aging. Tompkins County Office for the Aging Director, Lisa Holmes introduced herself, as well as Danielle Conte, who work for her and has been regularly attending the DAC meetings. Chair Roberts then had Disability Advisory Council members and those members around the room introduce themselves. Planner, Megan Wilson, introduced herself and explained that the City's existing comprehensive plan was completed in 1971 and has since been amended fourteen times by various neighborhood and strategic plans. She explained that the City is preparing a new comprehensive plan that addresses present -day issues at the local level. The City is undertaking a two -phase process for the preparation of the new comprehensive plan. This part of the planning process involves the preparation of a city- wide plan that identifies a vision and goals for the future. She further stated that in September 2011, the City began working with Clarion Associates of Chapel Hill, North Carolina on the preparation of the first part of the plan. The Clarion Associates team also includes Trowbridge and Wolf Landscape Architects and Martin Alexiou Bryson, a North Carolina -based transportation planning firm. Input from the public will inform an analysis of existing conditions and will be used to help formulate a vision and goals for the city. Public participation is a key component of this planning process. The Comprehensive Plan Committee is currently scheduling a series of neighborhood meetings and focus groups to be held over the next few months. Written comments are accepted at any time and should be submitted to Megan Wilson (project manager) at: mwilson(q)_cityofithaca.org or Third Floor, 108 E. Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850. More information is available on the city's website at www.cityofithaca.org. She further stated that the purpose of today's meeting is to obtain information from the public on their concerns, ideas for change, ideas for savings, etc. The plan is to have a draft report /plan completed by late Spring, with opportunities for additional input later in 2012. She explained that the pubic is being encouraged to complete the comprehensive plan comment form (which she distributed at the meeting, and is also available online) to provide as much input to the consultants as possible. She also displayed a map of the City of Ithaca that showed the boundaries between the City and other municipalities such as the Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights, etc. She reported that the Town of Ithaca is also in the process of completing a comprehensive plan, and is accepting input from the public as well. She can provide contact information for the Town of Ithaca if anyone is interested in submitting comments. February 1, 2012 Chair Roberts noted that input is encouraged even if one does not live in the City of Ithaca because people come to the City to work, shop, attend school, etc. and will have valuable input. The City of Ithaca is very interested in comments from the public about how to make it as accessible as possible for everyone. The following members of the public provided their input and recommendations as follows for the City of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan: Illa Quick, McGraw House, there is a need for a senior center, and transportation to church services on Sunday, as well as to medical appointments outside the county. David McElrath, Titus Towers, a presentation of the proposed Comprehensive Plan should be done at Titus Towers for the residents to provide an opportunity for their input. Pat Curran, handicap accessible parking — accessibility to parking meters, education of Community Service Officers that if handicap hangtags are displayed in a vehicle by a parking meter that has not been paid to not issue a ticket because the person might not have been able to get to the meter to pay it. Michael Cohen, playground for elders and seniors for exercise and socialization. There are underutilized parks in the City that might be ideal for this type of use. Esther Greenhouse (environmental gerontologist) — she would like to be more involved in providing input on incorporating accessibility needs into the comprehensive plan. Chair Roberts responded that the Disability Advisory Council is working with the City towards universally designed spaces so everyone has accessibility to everything they might want to do in the City. He noted that the City of Ithaca is full of old and historic buildings that make retrofitting them for accessibility difficult. Going forward planners and designers need to really think of the physical space and any and all people with many different accessibility needs being able to have access to anything they might need in that space. Erin Sember- Chase, the accessibility housing issue is really a very critical piece of the plan going forward. There is a definite lack of accessible housing in the City of Ithaca — especially for people coming to work at Cornell University. She noted that there have been many instances where staff come to Ithaca for interviews for positions at Cornell University, but are not able to find accessible housing for either themselves or a family member so have not taken the job. Chair Roberts stated that accessible public restrooms are also a barrier for people when they are thinking of visiting the City. Esther Greenhouse, noted that there may many "professionals" working on the comprehensive plan that may not have any education, knowledge or experience in meeting the needs of different people with varying accessibility needs. She suggested a sensitivity training for consultants and members of the comprehensive plan committee might have very positive results in the development of the plan. She wondered how housing accessibility needs were being identified, whether zoning changes might be February 1, 2012 needed, the idea of funding for projects being provided only if the project is designed so that it is universally accessible. She suggested the incorporation of more shaded areas in the City, more public benches for people to rest, clean, accessible public restrooms or "resting areas." Jaime Freilich, visited UCLA botanical gardens last weekend where a lot of the paths throughout the garden were accessible. She noted that it is important to maintain the recreational trails in the area as accessible as possible as a tourism tool. She also feels that there is an educational component that needs to be addressed as well especially regarding access needs and traffic signals. Greg Gizewski, noted that he drives an accessible van that has a high roof and it cannot utilize the parking garages in the City because his van will not fit. He is very limited in where he can park his van in the City because in addition to having garages high enough, parking spaces outside of the garages need to be wide enough to allow his ramp to open so he can get in and out of the van in his wheelchair. Chair Roberts stated that public spaces such as City Hall, GIAC where public meetings are held also need to be considered in the comprehensive plan's accessibility needs — including systems for the hard of hearing so that the public can participate in meetings. Lisa Holmes, Tompkins County Office for the Aging Director, noted that placement of accessible housing — including senior housing within the City of Ithaca needs to be located so that people can easily access the library, doctors, stores, etc. She has model legislation on how universal design can be incorporated into zoning, building, and housing codes. She also noted that the "Complete Streets" program and timing of traffic signals for pedestrian crossing are also important to keep in mind as the plan is put together. Planner Wilson requested that Ms. Holmes provide her with a copy of that legislation as well as the results of Tompkins County Office of the Aging's complete streets survey that it conducted a few years ago so that she can include it with other comments for the consultants. Chair Roberts stated he plans to have the topic of "Complete Streets" on the March Disability Advisory Council meeting agenda. Esther Greenhouse noted that New York State has a high incident of fatalities for children and seniors as far as street crossings are concerned. She noted that the construction of wide shoulders on roadways, concrete dividers between pedestrians and motorists and bicyclist should be incorporated into plans in the future, as well as information /education to the public on how to safely cross roadways. Brenda Kuhn, stated that a lot of issues are being raised that were a concern back in the 1980's when the Disability Advisory Council was formed. She stated that education is a very important component, as well as letting people know what is already in place — including simple signage. She encouraged the Disability Advisory Council to follow up on some initiatives that have already been established regarding accessibility needs. She asked whether there was a designated ADA Coordinator in the building or planning departments. She stated that people who have concerns should begin working on them, and need to find out how to do that, who to go to in order to get them done. She noted that there is hope, as well as a lot of energy here for this need. Some good resources for support include Larry Roberts and City Clerk Julie C. Holcomb. V February 1, 2012 Dena Sinnigan (DAC Member Jason Anderson's nurse), explained that during the holiday season she and Jason made trips to the Shops at Ithaca Mall. Those trips really opened her eyes to places that are and aren't accessible. She stated that in some stores display racks needed to be moved to gain access to the bathrooms, and she brought some of these concerns to the attention of the workers in the stores. She also noted that she and Jason came across some unsafe walkways on Elmira Road near Home Depot where there are no sidewalks, which makes it unsafe for not only people in wheelchairs but for children and senior citizens. She stated that there are a lot of people in Ithaca who do care and are sensitive to accessibility issues, which is great as well. Brenda Kuhn, thanked Ms. Sinnigan for her comments. She proposed that Dena and Jason, along with the members of the Disability Advisory Council make a presentation to Common Council regarding the need to construct accessible sidewalks and crosswalks. She noted that Common Council members are the decision makers and need to be made aware of these issues. She further noted that Center Ithaca is not easily accessible either, especially since the installation of new heavy doors there. In addition, the pay and display stations in the surface lot of the Green Street garage are not accessible either. Chair Roberts responded that he could ask Common Council for time on their agenda to address these accessibility concerns. He also noted that the Disability Advisory Council does have contacts with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and the owner of Center Ithaca that it might be able to address specific concerns with them directly. He stated that he has a meeting with the owner of Center Ithaca on Thursday, February 2nd and will bring the issue of the new heavy doors into Center Ithaca to their attention. He will also follow up with appropriate staff to see how the new doors on Center Ithaca and the pay and display stations in the Green Street garage were allowed to be installed if they did not meet ADA requirements for accessibility. Brenda Kuhn, asked the people in attendance whether they think it is viable to work with the City on these issues that have been raised. She also suggested that someone with a video camera follow someone with disability /accessibility issues around the city to tape their struggles and then show that to Common Council members. It might help them understand the importance of providing accessibility to everyone. Ed Hooks, local lawyer, noted that in order to gain access to Center Ithaca when one is in a wheelchair they need to rely on the goodness of strangers to open the doors. He stated that some press could be exerted on the City that once things are put into place to provide accessibility that budgets for maintenance of them be created and put into place — i.e. for sidewalks, curb cuts, removal of obstacles, etc. He stated that the idea of having someone spend a day in someone else's shoes would have a great impact. He encouraged the Disability Advisory Council to set the bar a little higher and walk the walk. Chair Roberts thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and for their input. He encouraged everyone to complete the comprehensive plan comment form as well. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Sarah L. Myers Larry Roberts Information Management Specialist Chair, DAC Il