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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CAC-2013-01-14page 1 of 2 City of Ithaca Conservation Advisory Council Meeting Minutes Jan 14, 2013 7:30 – 9pm, Third Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 108 East Green Street Present: Rima Shamieh, chair; Jesse Hill, vice chair; C.J.Randall; Michael Culotta; Tom Shelley Absent: Yash Gharat, Eva Birk 1. Meeting Minutes Approval Motion to approve December 2012 meeting minutes made by M. Culotta, seconded by T. Shelley, passed unanimously. Motion to approve November 2012 meeting minutes made by T. Shelley, seconded by J. Hill, passed unanimously. 2. Chair report, R. Shamieh Have been speaking to various city officials regarding role of CAC in coming year. Projects to consider include the Energy Action Plan, and banning plastic bags, which would be an intermunicipal effort. Considering ways to streamline the review process and to improve collaboration and communication with other boards and councils. 3. Vice Chair report, J. Hill Will be meeting with Deborah Mohlenoff and Chris Proulx on the activities of the Government Progress & Accountability (GPA) committee, and how CAC can assist its efforts. Suggested creating a subcommittee for site plan review, pursue Form-Based Code research and formulate comments about the Central Business District re-zoning. The Common Council's Planning and Economic Development Committee has formed a temporary sub-committee to address parking requirements city-wide, which J. Hill is a member of. The committee is considering the elimination of minimum parking requirements. Might be useful to remain neutral. There are several environmental issues with regard to parking such as air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, non-point source pollution, parking lot design controls. One member mentioned that a California study of state law similar to SEQR may actually have a detrimental affect on environmental concerns. Form Ithaca is a community group that was formed to commence a demonstration. C.J. Randall mentioned conflicts of interest concerns regarding her professional work and her role on the CAC. 4. Comp Plan report, T. Shelley, proposed outline of the comprehensive plan dated 11/20/12 was submitted Phase 1: Defines areas and goals. Phase 2: Public input through staff and committee members. Process will use focus groups, which will be facilitated by committee members. Each focus group will consider a set of questions and submit answers to the areas that will comprise the draft elements of the plan for review and recommendation by the Planning Board and Common Council. Target date for completion of the draft is June 2013, followed by public input during the summer. 3-6 members of the main comprehensive plan committee are chairing each of the seven (7) sections. T. Shelley distributed a “Proposed outline for the City Comp plan” dated November 20, 2012; it has since been modified. T. Shelley is involved in putting together section III of the plan, Community Livability, and section VI of the plan, Mobility and Transportation. Sustainability principles will be incorporated into all chapters of the plan. A consultant has been hired to review building codes, energy action plans, etc. in th city. The energy section was stalled last year. R. Shamieh and/or T. Shelley will forward notices they receive regarding organizational detail from Planning Department. 5. EMC report E. Hamilton has stepped down from both the CAC and the EMC. She submitted the most recent EMC meeting minutes for us to review. 6. Common Council Report A new Common Council member has been appointed to be the CAC liaison, Jennifer Dotson. 7. New Business page 2 of 2 • Member Recruitment: There are currently two vacancies and we may require as many as four new members before the end of the year, since two of our members are graduating students. Brainstorm of possible recruits resulted in the following (with CAC members responsible for contacting recruits in parentheses): Carolyn Peterson (R. Shamieh), Dave, an energy audit professional (J. Hill), Allison and Jeff (C.J. Randall), Nick Goldsmith (J. Hill), Blake Myers (R. Shamieh), John Bosak (T. Shelley), Ann Clavel (R. Shamieh). Mary Tomlan was asked about joining by M. Culotta but did not express interest. • Strategic Plan Retreat: The date for the strategic plan retreat was tentatively set for Monday, January 28th, 6-8pm. • Training Opportunity: The Environmental Review and Ethics training set for January 29th is full; R. Shamieh and J. Hill have reserved seats. • CAC Logo: Charles Pyott at the Planning Department created a logo for CAC use, if we choose to use it. • Environmental Review for the East State St./ MLK Jr St. and Mitchell St. traffic signal and street widening project. What are the design elements for the pedestrian amenities at the intersection to provide safety, visibility shelter, inter-modal transport elements? At one point there was to be a plan to dedicate privately -owned (Collegetown Terrace) land to a pedestrian crossing station. Is that promised parcel part of the design process?. When will this design be included in the proposal? 8. Old Business • Central Business District re-zoning proposal review. J. Hill developed comments that were submitted. Comments emphasized the lack of design criteria to protect trees and the pedestrian experience. The building footprint can take up 100% of the building lot, leaving no room for landscaping. There are tree or greenery requirements. CAC should consider major development concerns that are related to the review process, such as parking, stream buffers, slope restrictions, and form-based code, and develop a set of guidelines we can refer to and build off of for reviews. Because we have statutory authority, under SEQR, perhaps we can develop a set of criteria for development in the CBD including design controls for “smart code” approaches to development. 9. January Reviews • Purity Ice Cream review: No comments • Maguire/Fiat review. This development includes an addition of parking lot spaces. Are they complying with some minimum parking requirement? Who owns the land where the tree islands are located? The need for the area variance? Setback from curb and feet from requirement. Does the revised plan include a diversion of stormwater to be filtered before it enters the drainage ditch? It appears they are adding landscaping to the streetscape but the key issue is whether the stormwater is filtered before coursing into the Inlet through the drainage ditch. The lot is currently gravel (pervious coverage) The result will be impervious coverage. What stormwater runoff measurements can be taken? CAC recommends a larger stream setback in return for granting the street set back. CAC doesn't recommend the construction of sidewalk along the drainage ditch bank the sits along the north boundary and runs east to west into the flood relief channel. This area needs streamside buffer instead. Bird habitat coming from the contiguous forested stream corridor. • Clinton Street Apartments proposal: Need slope controls for development. Meeting adjourned at approximately 9 pm.