HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CAC-2014-04-14City of Ithaca Conservation Advisory Council Minutes
April 14, 2014
7:30 – 9pm, Third Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 108 East Green Street
Present: Jesse Hill, chair; Tom Shelley, C.J.Randall, Noah Demarest, Matt Yarrow, Maureen Bolton,
George McGonigal, Michael Culotta
Absent: Augusta Christensen
Meeting was called to order at 7:30
March minutes: Several misspellings were corrected, and it was moved to change the format in which it
was printed and approve the revised minutes at the May meeting.
Site Reviews: There were no new sites to review at this meeting.
Jesse Hill report on Steep Slope Ordinance:
It was noted that progress has slowed since the winter holidays and renewed effort should now be
initiated to move work along. Steep Slope protection has dovetailed with the rewriting of Parking Lot
ordinances over the concern for the degradation of lake water quality due to urban run off. Yarrow has
presented data collected from CIS demonstrating the extent of the pollution; this validates the needed
effort to correct current conditions with revised ordinances.
Hill met with Nina Bassuk to discuss how STAC will be quantifying the improved tree health of
specimens planted in the permeable pavement test site that was installed ten years ago across from Island
Fitness. The new guidelines just published by STAC have provided CAC with specific planting
instructions to be used in any future Parking Lot Ordinance. This publication also illustrates how the
planting of trees and the use of permeable pavement and Structural Soil can reduce surface run off
dramatically.
Hill also reported on his meeting with Scott Gibson. Gibson is reviewing the current Storm Water Policies
for the city of Ithaca and feels that overall they are effective but in view of the current climatic variables
certain requirements need to be adjusted slightly to accommodate anticipated increases in major rainfall
events. One example given was to raise the RRV (run off reduction volume) percentage. Compliance to a
higher retention rate could be accomplished by requiring more bioretention areas, as one example. SWPP
will be a valuable resource to help with CAC efforts to write suggestions for new slope and parking
ordinances.
Significant erosion has been observed following city work next to the 130 Clinton Street site. Speculation
on how much greater erosion will occur once the construction begins led to an observation that Ithaca
City Code 176.4 states no construction should take place within 100 feet of the center of any stream in the
city. Discussion followed on how this project was approved despite CAC’s concerns, and what kind of
enforceable regulations need to be put in place that will allow for economic development while still
protecting the city’s natural resources. In regards to slope protection, merely specifying an arbitrary angle
at which building would be prohibited would not serve to prevent surface water issues, geological strata
stability concerns, and other important ecological factors.
Randall attended the Save the Rain presentation outlining Syracuse NY’s water conservation program and
it was also noted that TWLA is working on a stream buffer/recreation project to improve the section of
Onondaga Creek that passes through the city limits. Demarest stated that CAC should be outlining a long
term plan, 30 to 50 year, which would protect and improve the riparian buffer zones of Ithaca’s
waterways.
Discussion followed on how to approach CAC’s efforts to influence better ecological conservation efforts,
either from the “top-down” as in suggesting new ordinances and code requirements or from the “bottom-
up” by designating, area by area, sites that should be fully protected from development. Randall observed
that the City of Ithaca is about to switch to the new NYSDEC EAF Mapper, and if we could submit a map
called Ithaca’s Environmental Overlay District, which would be a blanket category that would include
UNAs, Stream Buffers, and other sensitive Natural Areas, any application that would involve any of these
areas would immediately trigger an EIS and give the appropriate authorities time to consider, and if
needed, block development on these sensitive sites.
The draft of Comprehensive Plan for the City will be presented to the public in the upcoming weeks and it
was agreed that CAC should submit a memo to the Comprehensive Plan Committee outlining our current
project. Two focus groups were formed to write the submission and add notes to the draft. Culotta, Hill,
Yarrow and Randall will meet at the Public Library at 6:00, Tuesday, 4-15-14 to discuss building
ordinances. Demarest, Shelly and Bolton will meet at STREAM at 2:00, Friday, 4-18-14.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:05