HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CAC-2013-10-07City of Ithaca Conservation Advisory Council Minutes
October 7, 2013 DRAFT
7:30 – 9pm, Third Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 108 East Green Street
Present: Rima Shamieh, chair; Jesse Hill, vice chair; C.J. Randall, Tom Shelley, Noah Demarest, Matt
Yarrow, Maureen Bolton, Michael Culotta
Absent: Augusta Christensen
Meeting was called to order at 7:32
September minutes were approved without corrections
C.J. Randall report- Planning Board
September meeting was cancelled, no report.
T. Shelley report - (EMC)
Plastic bag ban meeting went well, public outreach and information campaign is underway to prepare the
retailers who will be impacted.
(Comprehensive Plan) committee reviewed first draft of Plan, and the first public review of the
neighborhood development plan will be scheduled soon.
(Energy Action Plan) draft will be presented to city administration, suggestions will go back to the
committee in November and the final version will be voted on by the Common Council in December.
Tom noted that the Comprehensive Plan and the Energy Action Plan both reflect the standards set by
LEED-ND and compliment each other.
Jesse Hill report NYSACC Conference in Buffalo, October 3 -5
The conference was attended by approximately 200, some participants were from Canada. Presentations
covered all aspects of environmental concerns involved with development and field trips included Love
Canal and the Niagara Power Authority, both of which Jesse attended. The greatest benefit was
networking with other CAC members. It was noted membership to NYSSAC requires a membership fee,
but that would provide more communication within the organization. Jesse met with (name needed Nick
Goldsmith?), chair of the Town of Ithaca’s environmental group, and it was suggested that a quarterly
meeting with this group could be very productive. The takeaway from this conference was that
sustainability in development is achieved when green infrastructure is planned, natural systems and
ecosystem functioning are considered in the planning.
Steep slope ordinance: The sub committee determined that to frame an ordinance CAC needs to catalog
the resources of this city and from there create a framework of justification for an ordinance by stating
what we have, what needs protection, what others have done to achieve this, and what the City of Ithaca
should do. It was agreed that the LEED-ND set informed standards from which CAC could model the
steep slope ordinance. The new DEC SEQR form may also have a slope component. The ordinance needs
to be easy to understand, enforceable and present obvious benefits to the neighborhood as well as being
flexible enough so as not to discourage development. Jesse noted that the NYSDEC citizen Statewide
Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP) report from 8/14/2007 rated the water quality at the south end of
Cayuga Lake as “impaired,” as determined by the TMDL being exceeded. The report stated that this is a
result of urban runoff and stream bed erosion, Jesse made the observation that this would help to justify a
steep slope ordinance. Discussion of how to proceed and keep the Planning Board and the Planning and
Economic Council informed and supportive revolved around creating some GIS examples of two or three
actual sites in the city to demonstrate the value of an ordinance. Thurston Avenue and Gun Hill were
suggested as example sites.
GPA: Rima was the only committee member to attend the meeting and after a three minute turn on the
floor was not allowed to submit any more comments. A commission structure was proposed but a more
“organic” approach was favored over a radical overhaul. All committees should be present at the next
GPA meeting on 11/20/13 to offer their concerns with the proposal, and to support keeping and improving
the existing structure.
2014 elections Rima will not seek reelection to the chair in 2014. She has some amendments for the by-
laws and the handbook which she will send to all CAC members to review this coming month.
Site Reviews: All site reviews were passed without objection, however many questions were raised about
the extent Hobby Lobby is expanding the footprint of the building and the ongoing site grading as regards
to the site plan presented in the August CAC meeting.
Steep Slope GIS: Matt demonstrated all the information he has made available to CAC through GIS
mapping. Susan Nixon has been very helpful, and several of her GIS compiled maps illustrated the extent
of impervious pavement and tree cover in Ithaca.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:12