HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PL&D-2001-11-29 PLANNING COMMITTEE cOp'Y
MINUTES
November 29,2001
Attending: Tracy Farrell, Chair; Susan Blumenthal; Ed Hershey; Pat Pryor; Diann Sams
and Mayor Alan J. Cohen
Staff Attending: H. Matthys Van Cort, Director of Planning and Development; JoAnn Cornish,
Deputy Director of Planning and Development; Jennifer Kusznir; and Sue
Kittel of the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency
Others attending: Members of the Public (see attached list)
A. Agenda Review: No changes in the agenda were proposed
B. Public Comment:
Fay Gougakis urged everyone to speak into his or her microphone. She then commented
that she was not happy with the recent Northside Summit. She said she believed the
Commons fountain is a waste of money, and Cornell should pay for the Ithaca Falls cleanup.
Response to Public Comment
Pat Pryor and Tracy Farrell responded saying the information disseminated at the Northside
Summit came from the neighborhood residents, and, in their opinion and that of the residents,
the Summit was a great success.
C. Reports: There were no committee reports
D. Issues:
1. Proposed zoning change for former Wilcox Press site
JoAnn Cornish explained the proposed Zoning Change from B-4 to CBD-60.
Pat Pryor said she is aware there are some property owners along Hudson Street and
Giles Street, which overlook the property proposed to be rezoned,who are concerned
about the proposed change, both because of feared impacts on views and noise impacts
during and after construction. Pryor said she was sympathetic to these concerns but
understands the developer has met with the neighbors and is committed to designing and
building a project on the site which will minimize any negative impacts on its
surroundings. Pryor concluded by saying she believes the new zoning is appropriate and
she's supportive of the change.
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Cornish noted that the developer wants to work with neighbors in order to ensure the
negative impacts are kept to a minimum.
A discussion regarding noise from the site ensued. Ed Hershey said that he is in favor of
the proposed zoning change. After further discussion, Susan Blumenthal moved to
recommend the zoning change to Common Council as proposed. Pryor seconded. The
motion passed with 4 in favor and Diann Sams abstaining.
E. Public Hearing on Six Point Traffic Plan:
The following comments were made:
John Criscitello of 401 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca, said Cayuga Street is already dangerous and it
is extremely difficult to exit his driveway. The street is used by tow trucks, tractor trailers
carrying cars, and other vehicles that regularly speed through the area. He said there should
be a tax on students and vehicles.
Adrienne Loh of 227 W. Spencer St., Ithaca, said her house would be impacted or removed
by the widening of Spencer Street. She said she's extremely upset about the proposal, her
house is a very unusual and valuable example of the Arts and Crafts style with beautiful
interior mahogany trim work. Any of the Spencer Street proposal would have a large impact
on her property.
Eric Lerner of 504 S. Plain St., Ithaca, said he was a member of the Steering Committee for
the Six Point Traffic Plan. He said the history of Plain Street was that it had been closed to
vehicular traffic in 1964 and then changed to a pedestrian bridge in the middle of the 70s. It
was reclassified by the MPO from a local street to a collector street. Lerner said that the
MPO told him they received a letter from the City asking for the street's reclassification.
Lerner said he did not oppose the plan but thinks the City should take more time to evaluate
additional alternatives.
Lauri Dahl of 213 W. Spencer St., Ithaca, said she too lives on Spencer Street and her house
would be severely impacted by any of the Spencer Street alternatives. She asked whether her
house would be taken if the street is converted to two-way traffic. She thinks her house
would be made unlivable with any of the alternatives. She thanked Thys Van Cort and Steve
Ehrhardt for the help they have given her in understanding the plans and reaching this
conclusion. However, she said she had been generally ill served by the City and that this
proposal is very bad on her and her family. The City should do the right thing by the
residents of Spencer Street.
Ann Cedarholm of 334 S. Geneva St., Ithaca, said she believed the City should set priorities
for the components of the plan. She felt the Plain Street bridge would not solve Albany
Street's problems.
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Jason Hamilton of 610 S. Plain St., Ithaca, said he believed that the Plain Street bridge
would not solve Albany Street's problems.
Katherine Lockwood of 501 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca, said she believed that the City should
have notified her and other residents during the course of this study. She also asked what had
happened to the City's traffic calming effort. She said she would be subject to a lot more
noise if the plan is implemented. She said in the past several years many homes in her area
have been renovated and this investment would be lost if the plan were implemented.
Stanton Loh of 227 W. Spencer St., Ithaca, asked the mayor to work with area residents to
find the least damaging alternative.
Kevin Lowe 605 S. Albany St., Ithaca, said he was in favor of the Plain Street bridge and
that the Albany Street residents were asking only for a livable street by having other streets
share the burden currently taken by Albany Street. He concluded that the Plain Street bridge
should be built in order to spready traffic over severeal roads, and that traffic calming
measures should be implemented on Plain Street concurrent with bridge construction.
Jennifer Dotson of 212 Wood St., Ithaca, said she too had served on the Steering Committee
for the Six Point Traffic Plan and thought that adoption of the plan is premature. Not enough
public input has been received and more time should be given to come up with a better
solution. She said the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Council asked that Plain Street remain as
a low traffic volume bicycle route.
Sarah Young of 410 N. Titus Ave., Ithaca, said that in her opinion Alternative 2 of the Six
Point Traffic Plan should not be recommended. She urged the committee to respect area
residents who need more time to consider the various alternatives.
Tim Faulkner of 4851 Linehill Dr., Syracuse, said he represented John Kadar. Faulkner
said he believes the Generic Environmental Impact Statement(GEIS) for the Southwest Land
Use Plan does not list the Six Points and that the estimates in the GEIS for traffic
improvements were too low. He asked how much developers would have to pay for these
improvements.
Steve Ehrhardt of 409 S. Albany St., Ithaca, said the GEIS and the report by SRF
Associates indicated the City should build the Plain Street bridge. He said the new traffic on
Plain Street will be well within the livability limits. He also said all Six Points of The Six
Point Plan should be built together so that downtown residential neighborhoods will remain
livable after construction in the Southwest area.
Lydia Werbizky of 409 S. Albany St., Ithaca, said the City needed to have new private
development in Southwest in order to increase its revenues, but that the private investments
should be matched with public investments in infrastructure. She said the Six Point Plan
offers the City a chance to be proactive, and approval of the plan will preserve the downtown
neighborhoods.
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David Henderson of 121 E. Spencer St., Ithaca, said he was a member of the Steering
Committee for the Six Point Traffic Plan and he thinks the report was not finished. Details
were not adequately considered. He said he is a mathematician and used to analyzing
complex problems. He said the consultant's models included inaccuracy, which required
further study to verify conclusions.
Kris DeLuca-Beach of 614 S. Albany St., Ithaca, said there has already been a great deal of
debate and discussion and this was a time for action. She said that under the plan all streets
in the downtown neighborhoods would remain livable, and she pointed out the residents of
Albany Street are not asking the City to close the Albany Street bridge.
Sally VanOrman of 327 S. Albany St., Ithaca, said she was not convinced the proposed
Southwest development would be in the City's long term financial interest. She preferred
that any new development pay for its own infrastructure, and she was convinced it would
hurt downtown neighborhoods.
B. Lola Schissel of 107 Hillview Place, Ithaca, said that she has faith in the Common
Council that they would not let the Six Point Plan happen. Common Council should not vote
on a plan that would cause anyone to lose a home or to lose the livability of the
neighborhood.
John Beach of 614 S. Albany St., Ithaca, said the Spencer Street widening had previously
been recommended in the report of the Traffic Task Force as well as in the Southwest Area
Land Use Plan's GEIS Finding Statement and finally in the study by Wilbur Smith
Associates. Beach said Common Council should act before the Planning and Development
Board takes a final action on the Widewater proposal. He said the Six Point Plan is
necessary to save the downtown neighborhoods, and the traffic improvements should be built
with or without the southwest development.
Barb Christian of 226 Albany St., Ithaca, said she was in support of the Six Point Plan.
Fay Gougakis 406 Utica St., Ithaca, said the Common Council members lied and the
community is not ready for the Six Point Plan. She further said the Common Council had not
addressed the issue of speeding or speed limits in the City, and none of the Common Council
members care about her issues.
David Nutter of 243 Cliff St., Ithaca, said he has worked since 1990 on bicycle issues in the
City of Ithaca. He pointed out that the 1990 census said Ithaca has the highest percentage of
people walking to work and the highest percentage of bicyclists in a metropolitan area. The
Plain Street bridge would increase traffic on Plain Street and make it less usable for bicycles.
Ed Hershey moved that the public hearing be closed. Seconded by Sams. Passed
unanimously.
A motion was made by Hershey and seconded by Sams that the public hearing be closed.
Passed unanimously.
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F. Additional Issues:
2. Neighborhood Housing Initiative--Determination of Environmental Significance
The committee then discussed the Determination of Environmental Significance for the
Neighborhood Housing Initiative. Sue Kittel of the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency, told
the committee that the proposal and its environmental review has been circulated to
Tompkins County Planning Department,the City's Planning and Development Board, the
Conservation Advisory Common Council(CAC), and all other necessary agencies.
There was a recommendation for a Negative Declaration of Environmental Significance
for the proposal. Hershey moved and Pryor seconded that a recommendation of a
Negative Declaration of Environmental Significance be forwarded to the Common
Council. The motion passed unanimously.
3. Six Point Traffic Plan
Blumenthal said she had a hard time getting an overall picture of the impacts of all the
proposals provided by Wilbur Smith Associates, as well as difficulty understanding the
screen line analysis. She emphasized she had to fully understand data before she could
make an informed decision, and she was not sure she would be ready by next week's
meeting. She concluded by saying there should be more public discussion.
Hershey said he was not sure there would ever be the level of certitude that Blumenthal
wanted and more time might not shed more light on these issues. Hershey said in his
opinion, more time would not change the basic decision that the Common Council has to
make, which is whether or not to adopt a plan. He continued by saying that
neighborhoods were already experiencing traffic problems even without additional new
development in the southwest area.
After further discussion, Pryor said Common Council members will want to discuss this
proposal at the Common Council meeting, and she asked that the proposal be moved to
Common Council without recommendation.
Sams said in her opinion it was not so much about Albany and Plain Streets but rather
about Spencer Street and the removal of people from their homes along that street.
Farrell asked whether the CAC had been given an opportunity to comment on the plan,
which was answered in the affirmative.
Van Cort said the model prepared by Wilbur Smith Associates is an approximation, and
that it was provided information to give an indication of future traffic conditions. Models
of this type were not exact.
Blumenthal said the public should be given an opportunity to discuss these alternatives
further and a cost benefit analysis should be performed.
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After further discussion, Hershey moved, seconded by Pryor, that the resolution be
moved to Common Council without a recommendation from the committee. Three in
favor with Blumenthal voting no and Sams abstaining.
4. Site Plan Review Process—consideration of time limits
In the City, after a site plan is approved for development and a building permit is issued,
the developer has up to two years to begin construction. Mayor Cohen said he had
proposed a shorter limit of up to nine months for beginning construction of approved
development in the Southwest area for the following reasons:
The Southwest Area is the only area of the City with limits on the total
amount of development on a Generic Environmental Impact Statement.
Any development that is approved could potentially limit subsequent
development. The mayor said his concern was that with current time
limits on beginning construction, a developer's failure to construct
approved buildings could jeopardize the approval of additional
development for at least two years.
The mayor also said his proposal was limited to the southwest area covered by the GEIS,
and it would have an automatic sunset provision after the third year.
Pryor asked how a developer could get an extension and Van Cort responded the
language in the Site Plan Review Ordinance provides for an extension without going
through the full site plan review and environmental review process.
The mayor asked whether the Committee would be willing to pass the resolution to
Common Council without a recommendation. Pryor moved and Hershey seconded the
committee move the proposal to Common Council with a positive recommendation. The
committee unanimously voted in favor of this resolution.
Committee adjourned at 11:00 p.m.
MITID AID
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