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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CAC-2013-04-08City of Ithaca Conservation Advisory Council Minutes April 8, 2013 ADOPTED 7:30 – 9pm, Third Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 108 East Green Street Present: Rima Shamieh, chair; Jesse Hill, vice chair; Tom Shelley, Yash Gharat, Chris Hayes Visiting: Four Ithaca High School Government students Excused Absent: C.J. Randall, Eva Birk 1. Changes to the agenda 2. Approve January, February, and March minutes ·Motion to approve January, February, and March minutes made by T. Shelley, seconded by J. Hill, passed 4-0-1 with C. Hayes abstaining. 3. Chair report, Rima Shamieh Annual Report, for May Common Council meeting ·Discussion: J. Hill suggested minor revisions to explain the purpose of meeting with City officials and board members. Council developed language “to help determine CAC priorities and strengthen collaboration and communication.” ·Motion to approve annual report with this edit along with minor clerical admissions made by T. Shelley, seconded by J. Hill, passed unanimously. EMC report ·No report. NAC report (130 Clinton St comments) ·Rima has circulated the NAC comments regarding the 130 Clinton Street development. Ex-officio members and emails ·Discussion: Rima investigated what level ex-officio members (full members without voting privileges) should be cc’ed on emails and other correspondence. City Clerk advised not to cc ex- officio members on all matters. These officials are members on many committees and subcommittees and should be contacted only when needed. Council reached consensus that ex- officio members will not be cc’ed on correspondence and will be able to access minutes on the city website. ·J. Hill noted that Jennifer Dotson is interested in working with the CAC and sent apologies she could not make the most recent meeting. He has discussed the strategic plan with her. ·R. Shamieh noted the CAC must comply with Open Meeting Laws. This may be an issue when discussing projects via email. These discussions must happen at CAC meetings. 4. Common Council meeting report, ·C. Hayes was approved for membership on the CAC. 5. Planning Board report, CJ Randall ·C. Randall sent an email to CAC members detailing progress on Klarman Hall, approval of Maguire Fiat and Cornell Laundry, and progress on the Collegetown Zoning and CBD Zoning initiatives. ·Question was asked: How should CAC respond to these initiatives? Collegetown is in early stages and there will be plenty of time to comment. Unsure if the rezoning are listed actions, but if EAF is required, this is an additional opportunity to comment. Because CBD Zoning is in late stages, possibly to be voted upon May 1, there may be only opportunity to resend previous comments that have not been responded to. ·J. Hill motioned to reassert existing comments to Planning Board regarding CBD Zoning, R. Shamieh seconded, passed unanimously. ·J. Hill clarified that it is a hybrid form-Euclidean code that requires multiple documents to interpret. Initial concerns are that the code does not address greenspace or the pedestrian realm. ·R. Shamieh will ask STAC and Bike/Ped Committee what their thoughts are on Collegetown Zoning. 6. Comprehensive Plan Report, Tom Shelley ·C. Randall attended energy focus group, R. Shamieh submitted comments to water focus group. In addition, there has been a food focus group. ·These groups resulted in revised and new goals and refining of objectives and visions. ·A consultant working on EAF has sent a spreadsheet of issues and will soon send a narrative. These comments will additionally refine the sustainability chapter. ·Additional focus groups are still being planned. Groups of interest may be conservation/open space groups and circulation and transportation groups. 7. New Business Steep Slopes and other city-wide environmental protections – next steps ·R. Shamieh reported the model ordinance from Cayuga County has not yet been sent to Lisa. It is appropriate for rural towns, may need revisions to be appropriate for a city. ·T. Shelley mentioned a need to reduce sediment in creeks from farming, development, as this creates additional infrastructure expense such as dredging, erosion control. A group working on the Comprehensive Plan is identifying these costs along with long-term funding. ·Lisa suggested a process in which the CAC sends a draft of steep slope ordinance to staff, who will review and send back to CAC. It will go through several iterations, and then there will be a larger staff meeting to review the revised draft. This draft will then be sent to the PEDC. ·R. Shamieh reported C. Randall met with mayor, who gives a “green light” for such an initiative. ·R. Shamieh will take lead on this project. The goal is not only to draft a steep slope ordinance, but create a suite of overlay districts that conserve important features: o Steep Slopes o Stream/Riparian Buffers o Mature Tree Stands o Critical Viewsheds ·C. Hayes noted that it is integral to integrate these protections into the larger land use plan. R. Shamieh noted that this would be handled in the staff meeting. ·Motion to draft a Steep Slope ordinance made by J. Hill, seconded by T. Shelly, passed unanimously. ·R. Shamieh will draft a resolution supporting a suite of conservation overlay districts for review by the CAC. 8. Old Business Recruitment efforts – updates ·No updates for recruitment efforts. C. Hayes will consult with City Clerk and others to create outreach strategy for CAC, including finding or revising the logo and creating a facebook page. Minimum Tree Requirements ·Jesse will summarize and write a fleshed-out report and resolution to support minimum tree requirements for parking lots for review by the CAC. Draft Strategic Plan – approve ·Discussion: C. Hayes suggested adding priorities under #3 of projects already started, and remaining flexible on future projects. ·CAC agreed for a 3.2, Green Building ordinance, 3.3, Minimum Tree Requirement, and 3.4, Conservation Overlay Zoning Districts. ·Motion to accept Draft Strategic Plan as amended made by R. Shamieh, seconded by J. Hill, passed unanimously. 9. Review Subcommittee report Review Subcommittee was unable to meet. Reviewed projects: 325 Elm Street (Minor Subdivision) ·The subdivision is gently sloped. Some trees may need to be removed for a driveway. ·Recommend a negative declaration. Hector Street (Major Subdivision) ·Subdivision has been modified from last proposal and now avoids the planned Hector Street extension and is set back from the stream. ·Recommend a negative declaration. Enterprise (Façade renovation, reconstruction of existing lot, construction of new lot, new stormwater facilities, landscaping) ·Currently, there is little to no vegetation on most of the site, which is a gravel/asphalt driveway and building. ·There is a proposal to increase the number of spaces from 39 to 84 (24 for customers). There was some question why so many customer parking spaces were needed, but this is outside the realm of the CAC. However, the parking does have walkability, viewshed, mature tree, and permeable space impacts that should be mitigated if possible. ·There is a question about whether there really is only an increase of .2 acres of impermeable surfaces. The construction of the new lot appears to double the amount of impermeable surface. ·The project as proposed removes two 8” Ashes and a cluster of Poplars. These would be replaced by nine 3.5” caliper Maples along with shrubs and perennials. The CAC considers this an unfair tree trade, as the Ashes are long-lived and mature. ·In addition, there is question on why so much room in the inventory parking area needs to be paved. Could this area be used for additional parking so that the Ashes may be preserved? ·Reducing permeable surfaces for “green infrastructure” to reduce loads on City stormwater systems is also recommended. ·Although the site is approximately 165 ft from the Flood Control Channel, it is still highly visible from the water. It will also be visible from the planned Cayuga Waterfront Trail extension on the other side of the railroad tracks. This frontage is as important as the street frontage and should be screened by trees. Light pollution should be minimized from this vantage. ·An informal CAC policy recommends one existing or planted tree for every 5 spaces to reduce heat island effect, increase pedestrian interest, and air pollution impacts. Going by this standard, the inventory parking area would require 4 additional trees (that could include the mature Ashes, preferably screening the lot from the Flood Control Channel) and the customer parking area would require 1 additional tree (preferably providing shade to and breaking up the row of 17 spaces fronting the ROW). 10. Energy & Sustainability Subcommittee report ·Tabled because C. Randall not present.