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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CAC-2013-05-13City of Ithaca Conservation Advisory Council Minutes May 13, 2013 ADOPTED 7:30 – 9pm, Third Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 108 East Green Street Present: Rima Shamieh, chair; Jesse Hill, vice chair; Eva Birk, Michael Culotta, Chris Hayes, C.J. Randall, Tom Shelley Visiting: Noah Demarest, Will Kay, Carolyn Peterson, Matt Yarrow Excused Absent: Yash Gharat ·Call to order, 7:30 pm. 1. Changes to the agenda 2. Introduce Guests, if Any ·N. Demarest, W. Kay, and M. Yarrow have all expressed some interest in joining the CAC. N. Demarest has served on the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board. M. Yarrow has experience in natural resources. 3. Energy Action Plan, Carol Peterson ·The Local Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gases was developed in 2006 by Kent Johnson, an intern with the City. Dennise Belmaker, energy sustainability planner consultant, assisted. ·In 2012 the Energy Action Plan was completed. It was presented to Common Council and public in May 2012 for approval, but pulled from the agenda because it had shortcomings. C. Peterson suggested it had excellent information, but no concrete goals and objectives to meet the overall goal of reducing greenhouse gas. o In September 2012, a group tried to complete the EAP, but this group only had one meeting. J. Dotson may have more information. o M. Culotta noted that the Council did resolve to work with International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), looked into municipal energy use, ranked projects by priority, and did address a number of priorities o T. Shelley noted that the Sustainability Report in comp plan addresses similar issues ·J. Dotson asks if the CAC would be interested in working to complete the EAP with a September deadline goal o The CAC could be used as a sounding board or do additional research to complete measurable goals and objectives/metrics. J. Dotson notes best practice is to have measurable 10-15 year “bites” rather than a broad 50-year goal. o Sue Kitell has offered to be a City staff liaison to a new effort to complete the plan. o The EAP should be comprehensive and include community strategies along with municipal strategies; J. Dotson used the dredging project, which will require large amounts of energy to transport the spoils, as an example. o S. Kitell has suggested looking to the Burlington, VT plan as an example for both municipal and community strategies o J. Hill , C. Randall, and T. Shelley volunteered to assist in a group organized by C. Peterson. Also interested is S. Kitell and J. Dotson. E. Birk can also assist, but has limited time (approx. 2 mo.) R. Shamieh will send C. Peterson contact info. ·Other Thoughts on EAP o M. Culotta noted that Nick Goldsmith is working on an Energy Action Plan for the Town of Ithaca and it may be valuable to coordinate. C. Peterson suggests Town and City are very different, R. Shamieh noted time is of essence. o C. Randall suggested using Comp Plan report that has LEED ND analysis (not yet released to public) o T. Shelley mentioned it may be valuable to find a volunteer “consultant” o Johnson Controls provides some metrics for City assets o C. Randall suggested it may be valuable to provide a menu of options for Common Council o N. Demarest suggested group may look into Ed Mazrea Architecture’s 2030 system, which includes 5 year community goals toward lowering carbon emissions o Group may work with TCPI, who has been talking about this 4. Approve May Minutes ·T. Shelley motioned to accept the May Minutes, E. Birk seconded, passed unanimously. 5. Chair Report, R. Shamieh ·Y. Gharat submitted resignation to CAC. ·T. Shelley agrees to be EMC liaison ·Common Council: presentation of our annual report: R. Shamieh submitted Annual Report to Common Council. It was received well. Ellen McCollister asked if the CAC was working on any issues regarding the gorges. R. Shamieh said “no,” but the Common Council should bring any potential issues to the CAC’s attention. ·Natural Areas Protections: o R. Shamieh meeting with Chris Prue regarding stream/wetland buffers. o M. Culotta noted that “natural areas” might not be strictly accurate, as the flood control channel is a constructed wetland, not a natural wetland. 6. Planning Board report, CJ Randall ·Meagan Wilson working on definition of “Green Space” in section 325-3 B for the Collegetown Area Form Districts. Trying to make it more than a set of architectural guidelines ·Purity Ice Cream submitted engineering report that suggested the expansion would require the amount of parking they are developing. The plan is for employees to park on the Cascadilla lot. CAC suggests that Purity and Enterprise may consider a shared lot, because they share ownership. Purity cites the church on Albany St. building an accessory lot as the primary use in the same zoning district as a precedent. C. Randall notes zoning doesn’t work on precedent. ·Klarman Hall is progressing with no problems ·Enterprise Rent-a-Car project submitted a new proposal the day of the meeting that preserves the mature ashes along with the poplar stand. This is different than the proposal the CAC recently reviewed. ·Maguire FIAT project will now screen the blank wall on the former Kmart side with vegetation. ·R. Shamieh suggests going to Public Hearing on Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Purity Ice Cream projects to voice CAC’s concerns o County has mentioned the Purity Project’s incongruity with West End Plan, CAC could cite specific examples of how the project conflicts with the plan o N. Demarest suggests that the Planning Board often lacks power in these situations and feels powerless, but helpful to remind Planning Board in what cases they have power o N. Demarest also mentions that the Purity project had been on agenda for two meetings, but was canceled because developer did not attend meeting o J. Hill suggests focusing on the specific projects and notes Enterprise may be more within the CAC’s purview ·J. Hill has spent time on the Collegetown Area Form Districts There is space for CAC to give input on several items: o Green Space: The PB is trying to define this because the word is used in the Collegetown Plan without definition. The purpose of Green Space is to be more than setbacks, but to have “soft space” for “public interaction.” o E. Birk notes that it might be valuable to include an option to contribute to a fund rather than to make a small square of green space so that larger more meaningful green spaces could be created. o Several questions of the purpose of green space and how it may backfire (making many unusable pockets rather than a unified plan) arose. CAC members should familiarize themselves with both the Collegetown Plan and the Area Form Districts. o There is a recommendation to retain 12% of land across the City, but it is not enforceable at this time. o M. Culotta noted that the Coal yard Apartments added green infrastructure and other sustainable features without planning board intervention. How can the CAC encourage these features in other projects? o Green preserve: The Collegetown Plan mentions preservation, but there’s no preservation in the codes. J. Hill suggests designating the gorge as a green preserve, but it is unclear how this preserve would be supported. The PED is working on this as well. o CAC members are to send comments to C. Randall before next Wed. 7. Comprehensive Plan Report, Tom Shelley ·Focus groups forming still. ·On Monday May 20, there is an open meeting for the development section ·The Sustainability report is being reviewed by Planning Board/Department and will be released to public pending creation of an executive summary 8. Old Business: Recruitment ·R. Shamieh made a text flyer, CAC members are to circulate it widely ·CAC also looking into adding this recruitment pitch to City’s Facebook, newsletter, etc. C. Hayes will discuss these possibilities with J. Holcombe ·C. Hayes noted three goals for outreach: o General education about what the CAC does to the public o Two-way communication to assist the CAC in setting priorities for its next set of projects o Recruitment for empty positions ·R. Shamieh noted one additional goal: General education about conservation issues relating to the City, which is a goal the CAC is charged with. 9. Review Subcommittee report Minor Subdivisions 309 & 313 Court St, 325 Elm St, and East State Street (Collegetown Terrace) ·CAC has no comments Site Plan Review Harold’s Square and Major Subdivision Hector Street ·CAC agrees with the letter from Ed Marx dated April 22, 2013 Re: Harold’s Square Mixed Use Project and the letter dated April 22, 2013 Re: Subdivision on Hector Site Plan Review, Thurston Avenue Apartments (New Project) ·LMPC approved Thurston ·Pros: pervious pavement, extensive landscaping, preserves some trees, uses swales ·Cons: Steep slopes, clear cut, major regarding, only small-scale restoration ·Questions to what trip generator model was used. It seems to just be a rough estimate based on two round-trips a day for 24 apartments. Some members disagreed with assessment that apartment would cause no traffic impacts to the neighborhood. Enterprise (Façade renovation, reconstruction of existing lot, construction of new lot, new stormwater facilities, landscaping) ·There is mention of a minimum size caliper in draft comments. N. Demarest recommends that the ideal caliper of tree is 1-2” in most cases to avoid soil shock. J. Hill noted that an appropriate species is more important than caliper (Swamp Oak is one example) R. Shamieh will remove language about caliper. STAC has more information regarding trees. Purity Ice Cream ·N. Demarest noted that the north parking lot layout does not contain enough space for cars to pull in and out of spaces.