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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB Minutes 1992-01-21• FILED TOWN OF ItAACA TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING BOARD JANUARY 21, 1992 The Town of Ithaca Planning Board met in regular session on Tuesday, January 21, 1992, in Town Hall, 126 East Seneca Street, Ithaca, New York, at 7 :30 p.m. PRESENT: Chairperson Carolyn Grigorov, Virginia Langhans, Robert Kenerson, William Lesser, Floyd Forman (Town Planner), John Czamanske (Planner I). ALSO PRESENT: James Kazda, Kinga Gergely, Doug Brittain, Ashley Miller, Laura Marks, Dave Auble, Ephrian M. Tomlinson, Richard B. Fischer, Candace Cornell, John Whitcomb. Chairperson Grigorov declared the meeting duly opened at 7:30 p.m. AGENDA ITEM: PRESENTATION OF THE PROPOSED PLANS FOR THE REALIGNMENT OF THE PINE TREE ROAD /JUDD FALLS ROAD INTERSECTION. JAMES KAZDA, SENIOR CIVIL ENGINEER, TOMPKINS COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS. Maps were appended to the bulletin board. Mr. Kazda addressed the Board and stated that quite a number of • years ago there was some talk about an East Ithaca By -Pass and, as a result of those discussions and following studies, the project of maintaining and upgrading the roads in this area have been put on hold. Mr. Kazda offered that there have also been some studies done with respect to the accident rate within the project area, which is extremely high. Mr. Kazda said that over a five -year period there are over 100 recorded accidents indicated in the project area. Mr. Kazda said that everyone decided in 1991 that it was about time to go ahead with this particular portion of the project which is, again, more of a maintenance activity than anything else, although providing for the elimination of some of the areas where the Tompkins County Highway Department feels that safety of the motorist is somewhat compromised. Mr. Kazda stated that this maintenance activity is in no way connected to the East Ithaca By -Pass; this maintainance is a project by itself. Mr. Kazda stated that the project at this point is in the 1992 Approved Capital Program for Tompkins County, and the project budget as it stands today is $800,000.00, which includes design and construction. Mr. Kazda added that the County has completed the schematic design and noted that appended to the bulletin board is the result of the County Consultant taking a first crack at a design which met the County's basic criteria. Mr. Kazda noted that the next step is design development, then finally construction documents.. Mr. • Kazda commented that there was some concern voiced from the Board of Reps about whether in this financial climate that the County is experiencing it would be prudent to continue on with the project. °t Planning Board -2- January 21, 1992 • Mr. Kazda said that the County Board of would bring it back before the construction. • • Reps Chairman stated that he Board, before it went to Mr. Kazda stated that the current schedule for the project is for construction to begin in May 1992 and be finished in September or October 1992. Continuing, Mr. Kazda pointed out Snyder Hill Road on the map, along with the "Y" intersection, commenting that in the highway business "Y" intersections are fairly dangerous because it requires motorists to do many different activities in a single area. Mr. Kazda noted that there are a lot more accidents at "Y" intersections than at "T" intersections, adding, that is one of the reasons for the proposed '!T" intersection. Mr. Kazda noted that there would also be some grade changes to allow one to stop in a flat area at the intersection. Presently, one comes down the grade right to the intersection. Mr. Kazda, pointing to the map, said that the "yellow" is the edge of the driving lanes; the "red" is a bikeway /walkway. There will be paved shoulders along the road. Mr. Kazda said that Pine Tree Road will have a lefthand turn lane onto Snyder Hill Road and Snyder Hill Road will have a left and a right turn lane to get onto Pine Tree Road. Mr. Kazda said that Pine Tree Road stays pretty much the same from Snyder Hill Road until the Equestrian Center and where the proposed Tennis Facility is, where it widens out in order to provide for drop -off of the public transit system, then continuing on down right past the entrance, leaving the existing right -of -way in order to provide a "T" intersection for Pine Tree Road, Judd Falls Road, Mitchell Street and Ellis Hollow Road. The bikeway then would get onto the existing paved area of Pine Tree Road; Pine Tree Road also ends with a lefthand turn lane to make the turn to Mitchell Street. The bikeway at this point terminates, which is seen in red on the map. Once Ellis Hollow Road is crossed it narrows to five -feet wide which is then, essentially, a sidewalk, where most likely bicyles would be prohibited, but bicycle traffic would be facilitated on the driving surface itself. There will be an area four -feet wide between the edge of the driving lane (the white, line) and the base of the curb. The bikeway itself will continue down Mitchell Street and join with the existing East Ithaca Recreation Way. The sidewalk will be raised with a curb. There is still a lot of work to be done with the driveways, and it has been presented to a lot of people, Bob Andree of the East Hill Gulf Station for one. Mr. Kazda stated that there is going to be a turn lane down the entire length of Judd Falls Road /Ellis Hollow Road, all the way down to Maple Avenue. Again, the bikeway paved shoulder area will continue to Ellis Hollow Road to the end of the project area. There are no plans at this point to continue anything down Ellis Hollow Road. There will be very few modifications to most of the driveways; Cornell has proposed that their long island be eliminated, and moved to a new location where it will become a little bit fatter and a little bit shorter. The walkway that comes up from Mitchell Street to the Judd Falls Plaza comes in at "this" location where there is a crosswalk; Cornell is also adding a sidewalk to • • Planning Board bring one up to the P &C. have storm sewers. -3- January 21, 1992 Mr. Kazda stated that the whole area will Mr. Kazda said that it is very difficult to recommend too many changes to the driveways at Eastern Breeders only because of their current operation which is expected to last probably for the duration of their lease, which is another seventeen years. Eastern Breeders does need a second means of egress from their property, because their driveway is very narrow in the back and one tractor trailer loading blocks all other deliveries to that facility. There is a lefthand turn from Judd Falls Road onto Maple Avenue and a lefthand turn from Maple Avenue onto Judd Falls Road, adding that a little bit of grade work and bank work is planned for the north side; hopefully it will improve sight distance. Also, some of the hill will be cut from the front of the cemetery. Mr. Kazda said it will be some improvement, but probably not as comfortable as everyone would like it to be. Mr. Kazda offered that as far as changes in traffic control, the engineering analysis says, at this point, that Judd Falls Road and Pine Tree Road should be a through road, and Mitchell Street and Ellis Hollow Road be stops, adding that there have been some concerns about installing a traffic signal in that location; this will have to wait for the cost figures to come in. During the bidding process it will be asked to have the installation of the light broken out separately so a decision can be made based on the numbers as to whether or not it is justified. Currently, it is anticipated that it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000.00 in order to have that intersection signalled. Board Member Langhans asked Mr. Kazda if he had any idea of the percentage of traffic going east, west, and south. Mr. Kazda answered that when McDonald's did their original proposal for the intersection, they did the most recent set of counts, and their numbers were used to come up with the proposal before the Board tonight. Basically, Mr. Kazda said that as to percentages most of the traffic goes north /south. Chairperson Grigorov wondered if there were any wetland problem at the intersection. Mr. Kazda responded, yes, this area "here" is defined as a wetlands, adding, the soil surveys were done and they are now in the process of securing a Corps of Engineers Permit; a letter from Cornell is needed for the permit stating that they do agree to the project because it is on private land. Board Member Kenerson asked about the paved area'of the road. Mr. Kazda responded that the lanes will be ten feet wide. Mr. Kazda said that the whole length of Judd Falls Road will be widened; the current pavement width is in the neighborhood of 24 feet and it is proposed to take it up to probably about 28 feet. Chairperson Grigorov asked about driveways. Mr. Kazda offered that it is proposed to eliminate one at Eastern Breeders, one at the Racquet Club, and two to the cemetery. Mr. Kazda stated that approval has to be secured from the Cemetery Association. • Mr. Kazda said that with respect to the project budget, and the way Tompkins County functions, the Public Works Committee chooses not to fund bikeways and walkways, as they think it is a Town function. r Planning Board -4- January 21, 1992 F- • Town Planner Floyd Forman will be working to see how that end of the project will be funded. Mr. Kenerson asked if there were any opinion that the lighting for the road is adequate, particularly if there is going to be a bikeway /walkway. Mr. Kazda said that lighting has been a Town function for quite some time. Ms. Langhans noted that the bikepath would be in the old roadway. Town Planner Forman offered that there are now some benefit districts that want to be lit, I they wind up being charged for the privilege of having lighting, and they work through the Town with NYSEG. Ashley Miller, representing the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council, addressed the Board. Ms. Miller asked about where the bikeway crosses Ellis Hollow Road. Ms. Miller wondered if that was just going to be delineated by paint on the road. Mr. Kazda responded, yes. Doug Brittain, 135 Warren Road, appeared before the Board and wondered if the trees in the cemetery would be able to be saved. Mr. Kazda answered, yes, all the trees on the other side of the wall will be saved. Candace Cornell, representating the Town Conservation Advisory Council, spoke from the floor and wondered how much of the wetland would be impacted. Mr. Kazda responded that Cornell did some wetland delineation of their piece of property when they were doing the Tennis Facility, and they identified "this" as being wetland. Mr. • Kazda said that the County reviewed the survey and expanded to try and find the other boundary. Mr. Kazda said that he was not sure but it could be a little bit over an acre. Ms. Cornell wondered how much of the wetland would be filled in. Mr. Kazda responded that it would be in an area of about 50' X 1001. Ms. Cornell wondered if any of the drainage patterns empty into that wetland from the roadway. Mr. Kazda answered, yes, probably. Mr. Kazda stated that Cornell is also evaluating and it will be turned back to the Town for their evaluation as well, making "this" area a mini -park that will either be maintained by the Town or left to go natural. Laura Marks, of the Conservation Advisory Council, addressed the Board and asked about water flowing into Six -Mile Creek or Cascadilla Creek. Mr. Kazda responded that there is a definite break in the grade within the project, and it is not certain where there will be a break in the storm sewer systems presently, it breaks either at the first or second entrance to the cemetery. Mr. Kazda offered that it is proposed that Pine Tree Road will have an 8 -foot shoulder. Mr. Kazda offered that this presentation will be given to the neighborhood committee on February 3, 1992 at the Senior Citizens Home located on Ellis Hollow Road. Mr. Kazda said that the presentation will be given at 7:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. • Chairperson Grigorov thanked Mr. Kazda for his presentation. Planning Board -5- January 21, 1992 • AGENDA ITEM: PRESENTATION OF THE TOWN OF ITHACA DRAFT OPEN SPACE REPORT. JOHN WHITCOMB /CANDACE CORNELL, TOWN OF ITHACA CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL. Ms. Cornell appeared before the Board and proceeded to show slides of Ithaca. Ms. Cornell said that in February 1990 the Town Board adopted a resolution creating the Conservation Advisory Council, and its primary initial job was to come up with a Conservation Advisory Open Space Report -- it is also part of the mandate of New York State Town Law. Ms. Cornell said that the Council is supposed to develop an inventory and make recommendations as to which lands should be preserved or protected, and which lands would be appropriate for development. Ms. Cornell commented that the priority was to preserve the air and water quality of the Town, and to protect the valuable and significant natural areas. Ms. Cornell stated that there are a number of State Parks and there is a need to connect these areas, because one of the major problems in wildlife conservation these days is habitat fragmentation. Ms. Cornell stated that there is a need to establish appropriate development patterns and protect areas of valuable natural resources. Ms. Cornell stated that farming really needs to be promoted not only as a viable resource and a viable occupation, but also because it provides a beautiful landscape of Ithaca that actually adds to the quality of everyone's life. Ms. Cornell said that there is a need to provide adequate park and • recreation space for future population. Ms. Cornell said that scenic views and areas of historic and cultural significance need to be protected. Ms. Cornell commented that there is a need to enhance the beautification of already existing developments, by creating buffer zones and proper landscaping around already existing areas. Ms. Cornell stated that at the beginning of their mission they developed a schematic design -- they first decided to figure out what was open space. Ms. Cornell said that it was decided that the definition for open space was those areas that had minimal or no development on them -- minimal meaning farm lands that had a barn or two with two out buildings. Ms. Cornell stated that the criteria for the open areas were natural areas, agricultural lands, park and recreational lands, scenic views, and other open areas which include buffer zones, cultural and historic sites and urban areas, such as urban buffer zones. Ms. Cornell stated that after the above criteria were established they did an inventory from which they produced 'a map that designated all the open areas, then, if the inventory and conservation open areas map that was created is accepted by the Town Board, it will become the official open space index, and it is hoped that the map will be used by the Town's Comprehensive Plan. Ms. Cornell noted that their methodology was rather complex, they had no model to work from so they had to work from scratch, trial and error, and come up with a methodology of their own, and, basically, all of the open areas in the Town were identified, then they had to figure • out a way of ranking the areas. Ms. Cornell stated that their goal for ranking was to come up with a criteria for the need for additional preservation. �-� Planning Board -6- January 21, 1992 • Continuing, Ms. Cornell said, that first of all they divided the Town into 178 open areas, adding that everyone on the CRC practically rode around for days and days and took extensive notes on all the ecological attributes of the areas, or historical areas, and they searched for burial sites, along with looking for scenic views, and, using that, they created an inventory. Ms. Cornell said that they checked on all the existing information and added their own, and from that they created the Open Areas Conservation Map. Ms. Cornell said that they had to develop a formula of how they were going to rank the 178 areas that they had. Ms. Cornell stated that the formula they used was based on the need for additional protection, as they were going to rank areas by the need for additional protection; that was equal to: the physical features minus the existing protection measures plus developmental pressures. Ms. Cornell offered that they had a long list of physical features and it took months and months to come up with a numerical value that could be assigned to these things. Ms. Cornell said that it was a very, very difficult task they looked at other Towns throughout the United States and how they tried to do it, and everybody said it is just an impossible task to do -- how does one rate a forest? Ms. Cornell noted that they wanted to come up with some objective numerical values so they applied 10 points to biological corridors, critical environmental areas of which there is only one in the Town -- the Coy Glen area -- endangered and significant wildlife habitats, floodplains, wetlands, Class 1 and 2 agricultural soils, and steep slopes greater than or equal to 150. They also gave 10 points to unique natural areas that were developed • by the Environmental Management Council, and DEC classified streams, A through CT (T standing for Trout), and natural ponds greater than one acre, of which there is only one in the Town of Ithaca. They gave 7 points to mature forests greater than 5 acres, Class 3 agriculture soils, all DEC classified streams, active farm lands, buffer zones between land use areas meaning buffer zones between housing developments, etc., and artificial ponds greater than 1 acre and scenic views. They gave 4 points to cultural areas such as nature preserves, cemeteries, historic sites, historic landmarks, recreational areas like golf courses, parks and trails, and areas that are contiguous within 100 feet to unique natural areas, critical environmental areas or State Parks, commenting, these need to be preserved as buffer areas.. Ms. Cornell said that they substracted existing protections. Privately protected areas were given 10 points, adding that Cornell's natural areas are protected by their own scale. Existing regulations were given 0 points. Ms. Cornell stated that at the moment they do not have any environmental protection overlay districts (EPODs) nor any conservation zoning, commenting, when those things come into being they will probably get higher values. Ms. Cornell said that they do not view the DEC or Army Corps of Engineers permits as giving a lot of protection. Later on as zoning gets more stringent and there are more protective agriculture districts higher points will be given. Ms. Cornell said that they added developmental pressures -- at the moment they have given 10 points to the availability of water and sewer. They gave 4 points to the existence of development proposals. Ms. Cornell said that, basically, the formula is that all a- `. "- Planning Board the physical and cultural substract the protections, developmental pressures which development proposals. -7- January 21, 1992 and historic features are added in, then then add on the availability of is water and sewer and the existence of They started out with 178 areas, then they were ranked by intrinsic value which means the question of all that are natural, historic and cultural points. Then they removed the 25 publicly protected parcels. That left them with 153 areas, which were all ranked by total intrinsic value (TIV). Ms. Cornell stated that there is a large break between the first 32 parcels and the rest of the parcels, so they decided to take the,first 32 parcels and rearrange them again by adding in the developmental pressures and the protections to come up with any for additional protection. Ms. Cornell offered that the total open space in the Town is 12,818 acres, and the total amount of open space in the top 32 areas accounted for 4,838 acres which is approximately 380 of the total open space in the Town. The privately owned Ag land accounted for almost 2,800 acres which is about 22% of the open areas in the Town. It accounts for 58% of the top 32 parcels in the Town. Privately owned non - agricultural land was about 1,400 acres and approximately 11% of the total open space in the Town, and was 28% of the top 32% of the Town. Institutional land -- Cornell University and `Ithaca College -- was approximately 5% of the total open space in the Town and 13.5% of the 32 top areas. Ms. Cornell said that agricultural • land is definitely getting preference in the report, and in the future when the agricultural report comes out and it gets incorporated in the Comprehensive Plan, it is hoped that the-Town of Ithaca will come up with other modes of protecting Ag land and come up with incentives for farmers, but for now they feel it is essential to protect farm land for one reason it adds to the quality of everyone's life and it has to be maintained as a viable occupation as part of our culture, it gives us food and, basically, the farms own most of the land in the Town and if we do not help them protect the land, then we are not protecting open space. Ms. Cornell mentioned uses for the open space index in that it is hoped that it will be an information base for the Comprehensive Plan, and its SEQR evaluations, subdivision evaluations, and site plan reviews, and they are hoping it will help direct development'in the areas where it is most suitable and guide it away from areas that are sensitive in terms of ecology and cultural reasons. They are hoping it will identify areas that need more protection in terms of zoning, EPODs, cluster development, and conservation easements. They are hoping that it will identify areas in need of transfer of development rights and purchase of development rights, and as a last resort acquisition by a public land trust, such as the Q4y% Lake$ Land Trust, Finjer Ms. Cornell stated that the presented study is an initial study, is and next year they hope to revise it; there is a lot more to do on its Ms. Cornell said that they would like to delineate stream corridors and wetlands in the Town, and they would like to do further At this point, Ms. Cornell announced that she hoped questions and comments would be submitted about the report, adding that they are needed no later than January 29, 1992. They could be dropped off in Town Board Member John Whitcomb's box at Town Hall or mailed to Candace Cornell., AGENDA ITEM: APPROVAL OF MINUTES - May 21, and December 3, 1991' The Board did not act on the approval of minutes as there was not a quorum present. AGENDA ITEM: REPORT OF THE TOWN PLANNER Town Planner Floyd Forman reported that Assemblyman Martin Luster is scheduled to speak to the Planning Board on March 5, 1992. Mr. Forman stated that the process is moving along with respect to engaging a consultant for the D /GEIS; interviews will be held next •, week with Town Supervisor Shirley Raffensperger, Planning Board Chairperson Carolyn Grigorov, Town Engineer Dan Walker, and Town Planner Floyd Forman present. AGENDA ITEM: COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE Town Planner Floyd Forman reported that review of the policies is continuing. ADJOURNMENT Upon Motion, Chairperson Grigorov declared the January meeting of the Town of Ithaca Planning Board duly adjourned. Respectfully submitted, 21, 19911 Mary Bryant, Recording Secretary, Nancy M. Fuller, Secretary, Town of Ithaca Planning Board. Planning Board -8- January 21, 1992 a- study on wildlife habitats. They need to identify more cultural, historic, and scenic sites; especially historic. They would like to develop plans; and actually start implementing these plans for developing biological corridors and greenbelts to connect the various larger wildlife habitats in the area, such as the State Parks, and by doing the biological corridors it will increase the health of the environment and eco ^system of which we humans are a small but dangerous part. At this point, Ms. Cornell announced that she hoped questions and comments would be submitted about the report, adding that they are needed no later than January 29, 1992. They could be dropped off in Town Board Member John Whitcomb's box at Town Hall or mailed to Candace Cornell., AGENDA ITEM: APPROVAL OF MINUTES - May 21, and December 3, 1991' The Board did not act on the approval of minutes as there was not a quorum present. AGENDA ITEM: REPORT OF THE TOWN PLANNER Town Planner Floyd Forman reported that Assemblyman Martin Luster is scheduled to speak to the Planning Board on March 5, 1992. Mr. Forman stated that the process is moving along with respect to engaging a consultant for the D /GEIS; interviews will be held next •, week with Town Supervisor Shirley Raffensperger, Planning Board Chairperson Carolyn Grigorov, Town Engineer Dan Walker, and Town Planner Floyd Forman present. AGENDA ITEM: COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE Town Planner Floyd Forman reported that review of the policies is continuing. ADJOURNMENT Upon Motion, Chairperson Grigorov declared the January meeting of the Town of Ithaca Planning Board duly adjourned. Respectfully submitted, 21, 19911 Mary Bryant, Recording Secretary, Nancy M. Fuller, Secretary, Town of Ithaca Planning Board.