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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PLED-2015-07-08Approved at the September 9, 2015 PEDC Meeting City of Ithaca Planning & Economic Development Committee Wednesday, July 8, 2015 – 6:00 p.m. Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 108 East Green Street Minutes Committee Members Attending: Joseph (Seph) Murtagh, Chair; Graham Kerslick, Cynthia Brock, and Josephine Martell Committee Members Absent: Alderperson Ellen McCollister Other Elected Officials Attending: Alderperson George McGonigal Staff Attending: JoAnn Cornish, Director, Department of Planning, Building, Zoning, and Economic Development; Jennifer Kusznir, Economic Planner, Department of Planning, Building, Zoning, and Economic Development; Nels Bohn, Director, Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency; Debbie Grunder, Executive Assistant, Department of Planning, Building, Zoning, and Economic Development Others Attending: Julie Holcomb, City Clerk; Addisu Gebre, Bridge System Engineer; Form Ithaca Chair Seph Murtagh called the meeting to order at 6:05p.m. 1) Call to Order/Agenda Review Other items added to agenda include: a) Old County Library Site – Update and Discussion b) Form Ithaca – Update c) Construction Stage in Collegetown – Ellen McCollister 2) Public Comment and Response from Committee Members Laurie Pattington, 204 East Corn Street, spoke on chickens/hens. If rabbits are allowed, chickens should also be allowed. They are relatively the same in nature as to their care. A flock of six hens will produce less feces per year than a large dog. They Approved at the September 9, 2015 PEDC Meeting are easily contained. Disease is kept to a minimum since hens eat their own fleas and ticks. Kirby Edmonds, 308 Hector Street, spoke on the Plan Ithaca as committee chair. Committee meetings, public forums, etc. were well attended. Ashley Miller, 126 Sears Street, spoke on the draft comprehensive plan namely the community gardens. The area of the City wh ere the community gardens currently are is not zoned for this purpose in the new Plan Ithaca. Relocating several 100 garden plots will be difficult. Where are they going to go? Where is there enough sun? Relocating the gardens to the Southwest area is not a doable alternative. She recommends adding a chapter entitled, Urban, and Agricultural Resources. Joel Fredell, 208 Lake Avenue, spoke on the comprehensive plan and its proposed changes to the location of the community gardens. If the gardens are moved from their current site, it will kill the program. There is no more direct connection to CSAs if the community gardens are moved since not all residents can afford a CSA membership. Tom Shiele, a comprehensive plan committee member. He spoke on the proposed changes to chickens in the City. The biggest issue is management. Local chicken owners should and will collaborate together thus helping each other. Training will be provided for anyone who is interested in raising chickens, inspection of the facilities to house the chickens should be done, taking care of each other’s chickens such as taking care of others dogs and cats could work. Daniel Shedd, 402 East Buffalo Street spoke on the Inlet and development. He is a holistic healer. We are making our lake sick. He hopes that the development will slow down. We are not taking care of what we have. We need to protect it. Nancy Brawn, 703 East Tompkins Street, spoke on the possible changes to the community gardens. A tremendous amount of work and effort from many people helps to make the community gardens work. Having local downtown compost would greatly help the City. She thinks the community gardens are crucial. She agrees that the Urban and Agricultural Resources chapter should be included. Chair Murtagh informed the group that the Comp Plan is not being voted on tonight, but rather approval to circulate is being requesting. 3) Announcements, Updates, and Reports a) EPMO - JoAnn Cornish reported that we are still working on a new fee structure and the City is working with the Landlords Association to help with this. Cornish stated if anything is done, the fine on trash can tops be minimized if not eliminate it. b) M-1 Zoning – Liz Cameron from the Health Department was present to provide information as to what is allowed and what will be allowed . Approved at the September 9, 2015 PEDC Meeting JoAnn Cornish asked what the permitted allowance on for Nate’s Floral Estates is. Liz stated that 115 lots is the limit. Expanding the estates will include digging up ground and may create problems f or existing tenants. Water and sewer is connected with the City’s facilities. The Department of Health doesn’t regulate that since the City does this. Cornish stated there is a back flow moderator that is maintained by the City Alderperson Kerslick stated he attended the tour and found it to be very well maintained. It was apparent that there are hook ups are already there. If these hook ups could be used, would it be permitted to hook up to? Cameron stated that the 115 lots are approved and if these two hook ups mentioned are part of the 115, there would not be a problem hooking them up. Alderperson Brock stated that it is her understanding that if the City changes the zoning, it’s up to the property owner to request the expansion and work with t he Department of Health. Cameron stated that there were plans for these additional sites that were approved, but nothing was done at that time. Mayor Svante Myrick joined the group at 6:50 p.m. c) Ithaca Falls Natural Area – Signs have been erected at the site starting that lead has been found. The sign continues to state that anyone with questions can contact the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). There will be a press release to be held soon with the updated information. d) Lake Street Park (Plaza?) Enhancements – The Engineering Office attended the Natural Areas Commission meeting. It was decided that the project will begin in the spring not this fall. e) Incentive Zoning – Lynn Truame will be attending a conference in August on this topic. Once attended, she will report back to this committee. 4) Action Items – Voting to Send on to Council a) Public Art Mural – This was not voted on because the Natural Areas Commission stated that although they like the art, they don’t feel the area in which the mural will be located is the right area. Approved at the September 9, 2015 PEDC Meeting Megan Wilson stated that this project has received P ublic Arts Commission recommendation. They do like the mural itself, but doesn’t necessarily agree with the Natural Areas Commission. Alderperson Martell stated the Natural Areas Commission liked the art. It just didn’t agree with the area in which they want to locate it. To this group it looked a lot like graffiti with the bright colors. The Public Arts Commission will work with the artist for a different location. b) Taxi Regulations – Julie Holcomb, City Clerk, distributed the proposed changes to the taxi regulations. Since the committee received this proposal at the meeting, it needed more time to read and digest it before voting. Alderperson Brock asked about the meter rates that were brought up last month. Holcomb thought it would be a good idea to eliminate the meter rate but stick with a flat rate. With meter rates, nothing is left up to chance. Some fares may end up being much more than anticipated since the cab may either pick up other fares or take a different and possibly longer route which would just add to the cost of the fare. Alderperson Kerslick moved to circulate as written; seconded by Alderperson Martell. Carried unanimously. 5) Approval to Circulate a) Comprehensive Plan Megan Wilson provided an overview of the Comprehensive Plan (Plan Ithaca) Alderperson Kerslick thanked Megan for all the work she has done on this Plan. He asked for clarification of the land use categories. JoAnn Cornish commented on the community gardens site. The City has waited almost two years for a developer to come in and suggest something for this site. No one has come forward. Chair Murtagh stated he is fully commented to keep the community gardens as is. We are all committed to this, but stated that the community gardens site should not be part of this Comprehensive Plan. Alderperson Kerslick moved to circulate; seconded by Alderperson Martell. Carried Unanimously. Approved at the September 9, 2015 PEDC Meeting 6) Discussion a) Backyard Chickens Alderperson Kerslick would like to see this researched more. If we go with this, we need to know what to expect. We need more information as to the guidelines -- Coops, free range, etc. It would be ideal to discuss this with Cooperative Extension. Alderperson Brock admitted that she was at first not interested. There are people who will take very good care of their chickens, and those that will not just like there are good dog/cat owners. If we take on this pursuit, regulations as to size of lot, weather, etc. need to be considered and not to burden City staff. Alderperson McGonigal likes the idea to reach out to Cooperative Extension. We must be mindful that not only humans enjoy chickens for the meat and eggs, but other predators do too such as skunks, coyotes, etc. McGonigal stated that there are people who would love to raise chickens but do not want to break the law. It was suggested we reach out to Cornell Coop Extension and Tom Schiele to assist us with a list of guidelines. Other questions raised were whether the City had a contract with the SPCA? Do we have complaints on the existing chickens in the City? Alderperson McGonigal stated there is one way to handle it – just remove any reference to chickens in the Code. 7) Review and Approval of Minutes a) May and June 2015 Both sets of minutes with suggested edits from Alderperson Brock were moved by Alderperson Kerslick; seconded it by Alderperson Martell. Carried Unanimously. 8) Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.