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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB Minutes 1993-02-23AL FILED 11 OV61 of ITHACA ® TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING BOARD Cler FEBRUARY 23, 1993 The Town of Ithaca Planning Board met in regular session on Tuesday, February 23, 1993, in Town Hall, 126 East Seneca Street, Ithaca, New York, at 7 :30 p.m. PRESENT. Chairperson Carolyn Grigorov, Robert Kenerson, Candace Cornell, Virginia Langhans, Herbert Finch, Dan Walker (Town Engineer), Floyd Forman (Town Planner), John Czamanske (Planner 1), John Barney (Town Attorney). ALSO PRESENT: Bruce Brittain, Joan Bokaer, Patrick Walkinshaw, Noel Desch, Don Lucenti, Richard Wallace, David Klein, Dave Auble, Marci Yaremko, Jerry Weisburd, John Whitcomb. Chairperson Grigorov declared the meeting duly opened at 7 :36 p.m. and accepted for the record the Clerk's Affidavit of Posting and Publication of the Notice of Public Hearings in Town Hall and the Ithaca Journal on February 16, 1993, and February 18, 1993. Chairperson Grigorov read the Fire Exit Regulations to those assembled, as required by the New York Department of State, Office ® of Fire Prevention and Control. AGENDA ITEM. PERSONS TO BE HEARD. Chairperson Grigorov asked if there were any persons present who wished to speak., Noel Desch of 1.32 Updike Road asked the Board if it would be possible to have an overhead projector at each of the work session sites and a screen at the special meetings to be held for the Comprehensive Plan in each of the neighborhoods. Chairperson Grigorov asked if there were any more comments from the public. At this time, there appeared to be no more comments and Chairperson Grigorov closed this portion of the meeting at 7:37 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATION TO THE TOWN BOARD WITH REGARD TO A LOCAL LAW TO AMEND THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF ITHACA TO PERMIT MODIFICATION OF SINGLE FAMILY HOMES ON SUBSIZE LOTS WITHOUT OBTAINING BOARD OF APPEALS APPROVAL. Chairperson Grigorov declared the Public Hearing in the above - noted matter duly opened at 7 :38 p.m. and read aloud from the Notice of Public Hearings as posted and published and as noted ® above. ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 2 February 23, 1993 Meeting Town Attorney John Barney addressed the Planning Board and stated that this is an Amendment to Section 54 of the Zoning Ordinance. Attorney Barney stated that the problem arises in this situation where there is a provision in the Zoning Ordinance which says that prior to the enactment of an amendment with respective size of a lot, one could still go ahead and build a single family house on that lot even though it is less than the required size. For example, you have an R -15 zone, required size is 15,000 square feet, somebody had a lot that was 10,000 square feet, they can build a house on that lot as long as they meet the other requirements; such as setbacks, side yard, height, and so forth, without getting anything other than the normal permit. Once built, that house becomes a non - conforming use and under our Ordinance, in order to expand or enlarge a non - conforming use, you have to secure approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Board is faced with a situation where one could build a whole house on a sub -sized lot, but if one has an existing house on a sub -sized lot and one has to put a deck on the back, they have to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals to put the deck on. This Amendment is intended to address that problem and says that if one has a sub -sized lot and a valid ® non- conforming use or structure on that lot at the time, and if the enlargement itself does not create any other non - conformity, one can go ahead and do it without going to the Zoning Board of Appeals. It also clarifies Section 57 which talks about building a single family house on a sub - standard lot by adding the word "only" just to make clear it is only a single family house that can be constructed on a sub -sized lot. There appearing to be no further discussion, Chairperson Grigorov asked if anyone were prepared to offer a motion. MOTION by Herbert Finch, seconded by Candace Cornell. RESOLVED, that the Planning Board hereby recommends to the Town Board the Adoption of the Proposed Local Law No. 4 for the Year 1993, as proposed. There being no further discussion, the Chair called for a vote. Aye - Grigorov, Kenerson, Langhans, Cornell, Finch. Nay - None. The MOTION was declared to be carried unanimously. �I Town of Ithaca Planning Board 3 February 23, 1993 Meeting Chairperson Grigorov declared the matter of the Consideration of a Recommendation to the Town Board with regard to a Local Law to Amend the Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Ithaca to permit modification of single family homes on subsize lots without obtaining approval from the ZBA duly adjourned at 7:41 p.m. AGENDA ITEM: DISCUSSION CONCERNING PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE TOWN OF ITHACA SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS. Town Planner Floyd Forman stated that most of the changes focus around what actually happens, as well as changes to the law that have been made, such as the new sign law that is not incorporated in this document. There are a couple of changes that will be dealt with later, but most of the changes talk about where things are being dropped off; where people park at Town Hall; the Public Notice Law; the new Sign Law that was passed by the Town Board on Page 6, Item 4. that has been installed in the Subdivision Regulations. On Page 14, there was a typo in Building Height. It should read, "the distance from the surface of the lowest level (floor or crawl space, basement floor, slab, or other floor) even if below the exterior grade in contact with the ground surface to the highest point of the roof, excluding chimneys, antennae, or other similar protuberances ". Chairperson Grigorov asked for further comments. There were none, so this segment of the meeting was closed. PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATION TO THE TOWN BOARD WITH REGARD TO A LOCAL LAW TO AMEND LOCAL LAW NO. 4 -1979 OF THE TOWN OF ITHACA TO CLARIFY MATERIALS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO THE MAINTENANCE OBLIGATIONS OF SUCH LOCAL LAW. Chairperson Grigorov declared the public hearing in the above - noted matter duly opened at 7:45 p.m. and read aloud from the Notice of Public Hearings as posted and published and as noted above. Town Attorney John Barney addressed the Planning Board and stated that Local Law No. 4 -1979 was a law adopted to regulate maintenance of real property in the Town and it requires garbage to be put out of sight. One of the items was related to cars. Andy Frost, Building Inspector/ Zoning Enforcement Officer, had some difficulty determining whether one person's car lacking registration, a license, and an inspection sticker is indeed a piece of junk, or not. What was formally Number 4 in Section 2, has been eliminated in reference to automobiles and motor vehicles and limited that reference to boats, snowmobiles, all- terrain vehicles, or other ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 4 February 23, 1993 Meeting devices; and left the language pretty much as it was with respect to those items and setup a completely new subdivision relating to automobiles, trucks, or other vehicles originally intended to be used on the public highways. Under that circumstance, a presumption was created that these items are not any longer intended to be used on a public highway if they do not have either a current registration from the State of New York or recognized registering jurisdiction; an inspection certificate issued within the last twelve months in accordance with the laws of the State of New York or the laws of any other recognized inspecting jurisdiction. Someone can rebut that presumption if they wish. If the car is indeed an antique, it gives Mr. Frost the ability to determine if the car is a piece of junk and it has to go. Now the owner of the has to come forward and demonstrate why they should not have to do that. There has been provided a variance procedure. It gives somebody the ability to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals and say that the 1945 Packard is indeed an antique, then, if the ZBA feels people can demonstrate that they really do intend to use it as some benefit, than they can try to get a variance to keep that vehicle. ® Mr. Noel Desch asked Attorney Barney if this went through the Codes and Ordinances Committee. Attorney Barney replied, yes, it had gone through Codes and Ordinances with the request that when it left Codes and Ordinances, to put in a variance procedure, which Town Attorney ,john Barney stated he did. Chairperson Grigorov noted again that this was a Public Hearing and asked if' anyone else present wished to speak. No one spoke. Chairperson Grigorov closed the Public Hearing and brought the matter back to the Board for discussion. Planning Board member Candace Cornell stated that she had a question concerning Section 5, Letter e where it says "to benefit to the applicant ", how does one determine what the word benefit means? Attorney Barney stated that what he did was to take the tests for an area variance out of the new law, and that is the test in the Town Law and in the Zoning Ordinance now. For an area variance, to determine whether the benefit to the applicant; if granted, outweighs the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community and it articulates five criteria, those are taken verbatim from the New York State Town Law. There appearing to be no further discussion, Chairperson Grigorov asked if anyone was prepared to offer a motion. 0 MOTION by Candace Cornell, seconded by Virginia Langhans: 0 0 Town of Ithaca Planning Board February 23, 1993 Meeting 5 RESOLVED, that the Planning Board hereby recommends to the Town Board the Adoption of the Proposed Local Law No. 4 for the Year 1993, as proposed and as the same is attached hereto, [Exhibit 1]. There being no further discussion, the Chair called for a vote. Aye - Grigorov, Kenerson, Langhans, Cornell, Finch. Nay - None. The MOTION was declared to be carried unanimously. Chairperson Grigorov declared the matter of Consideration of Recommendation to the Town Board with regard to Local Law to Amend Local Law No. 4 -1979 of the Town of Ithaca to clarify materials that are subject to the maintenance obligations of such Local Law duly closed at 8:00 p.m. AGENDA ITEM: DISCUSSION CONCERNING PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE TOWN OF ITHACA SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS (CONTINUED). Town Attorney John Barney addressed the Planing Board stating that several changes had been made that are of significance and are worthy of consideration and perhaps debate in terms of making a recommendation to the Town Board. One is the posting, the procedures have been lengthened a bit in terms of giving time to the Planning Department to review things. Before, the Subdivision Regulations required documentation to be in 10 days before the public hearing; it has been lengthened to say that there should be 20 days. This gives the Town Engineer, the Town Planner, and their staffs an opportunity to review the documents before a public hearing is set. At the top of Page 6, Item 4 is new. There have been a number of situations where people have come in, obtained subdivision approval, then for reasons probably related to economics, have now elected to pursue the subdivision and then have gone to the tax authorities and then stated they are not going to subdivide for the time being, but, for tax purposes, want to have these lots reconsolidated into one piece. The Planning Board has now taken the position that they cannot further subdivide without coming back before the Planning Board for a new subdivision approval. Item 4 states that if an approved subdivision has later been consolidated for real estate tax purposes or any other reason, you basically surrender your subdivision rights. The rationale for this is that if somebody gets a subdivision approved, but they do not want to pay the taxes on the individual lots, they should not be allowed to keep that in a limbo land. The thought was that if you get a ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 6 February 23, 1993 Meeting subdivision and then put it back together again, when it comes time and you want to sell one of those lots, it ought to meet the requirements of the subdivision regulations as in effect at that time, rather than the previous time. Planning Board Member Robert Kenerson asked Attorney Barney what makes a subdivision; individual lots put together or is it the tax notice that is consolidated? Attorney Barney replied by stating you can tell by a number of ways. The most frequently used one is through the Assessment Office. The Assessment Office assigns individual tax numbers to each of the lots and from that point on, for real estate tax purposes one is taxed on each lot as a saleable lot. Landowners file the map then go in and say reconsolidate me for tax purposes, so, they get a tax bill on one lot which is usually a smaller tax bill than the tax bills on all of the lots. Planning Board member Virginia Langhans asked Attorney Barney if he had thought of putting a time limit on subdivision approval. Attorney Barney replied that 60 days is already allowed. ® Attorney Barney stated that the next change was on Page 10, Article II, Section 14. Here. the sketch plat has been an option with the developer whether or not he /she wants to submit a sketch plat. What is being stated now is that under some circumstances the Planning Board, or the Town Planner, can demand a sketch plat. Town Planner Floyd Forman stated that the developer usually brings the sketch plat to the Planning Department to make sure the project is worth while before submitting the sketch plat to the Planning Board, Attorney Barney stated the next change was on Page 14, concerning the building height. The next change was on Page 21, number 13. Attorney Barney stated this issue has not been in the subdivision regulations before, but this statement makes it clear that the grades of the roads shall comply with the Town's highway specifications. Attorney Barney stated that the next most significant single change is in Section 32, Page 24. Town Planner Floyd Forman stated that there was an interesting discussion at the Town Board Meeting on the above section. The Town requires someone to come in with a conventional plat, the ® Planning Department takes a look at the plat to make sure the conventional plat can be built before someone comes in with a cluster subdivision. One cannot get 3 and 1/2 units in an R -30 Zone. A person cannot actually obtain what is needed to do a ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 7 February 23, 1993 Meeting cluster subdivision; even if you double up the density, after the roads go in, after you take away the park way, one simply cannot get that kind of acreage in an R -30 Zone. What is actually being stated in this Section is that 10% is required for a park and open space and approximately 15% of the area turns out to be roads, and when you come up to what is left, the figures of 1.5 in an R -30 and 3.0 in an R -15 Zone actually gives a bit of a bonus. What the Planning Board needs to think about for the future is what they would like to see in a cluster subdivision; do they want to be able to give density bonuses, what kind of bonuses do they want to give. At some point this should be discussed at the Codes and Ordinances Committee as well. Town Engineer Dan Walker addressed the Planning Board and stated that the 3.5 units were put in, not necessarily numerically correct by the original Zoning Ordinance, but it would allow them more units if they felt they could put that many in a conventional subdivision. Mr. Walker speculated that 3.5 unit figure is more of a top limit to the State when they enacted the original cluster regulations by saying, we do not really want somebody to put more than this number of units onto it. Mr. Forman replied that he had heard that this number was a compromise. Attorney Barney stated that he thi An acre is roughly 40,000 square feet, for roads and utilities and 10% for a 30,000 square feet, which in essence is with a flat density you could have building height maximum is now 34 feet nks in terms of square feet. 25% of it is typically used park . You are now down to one building lot. If you go 2 units on this lot. The as opposed to•30 feet. Town Planner Floyd Forman addressed the Board and stated to Chairperson Grigorov that there will be a public hearing at the next Planning Board Meeting on revisions to the Subdivision Regulations. The items that Board Members should consider include; the allowable density in an R -15 Zone and an R -30 Zone, possibly adding a date for people to unconsolidated property; and anything else that the Planning Board wants to change. Chairperson Grigorov asked if there were any more comments from the Board. There appeared to be no more comments and Chairperson Grigorov closed this portion of the meeting at 8:19 p.m. AGENDA ITEM: WORKING SESSION, DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. Chairperson Grigorov stated that this is a working session and the public is welcome to listen. The public hearing for the public to speak will be at the three neighborhood meetings and then at least another public hearing for the whole Town. ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 8 February 23, 1993 Meeting Chairperson Gri.gorov further stated that the Planning Board had never discussed the Comprehensive Plan since they had gotten it, but would be discussing it. Also in attendance were several members of the Comprehensive Planning Committee who would help explain things or discuss things. Mr. Richard Wallace of 200 East Buffalo Street addressed the Planning Board asking when and where the neighborhood meetings for the Comprehensive Plan would be. Town Planner Floyd Forman answered Mr. Wallace's question by stating that tentatively, on March 9th on East Hill, possibly at the Ellis Hollow Elderly Housing; March 23rd on South Hill, possibly at the NCR Cafeteria; and March 31st on West Hill, possibly at the Biggs Building. At 8:25 p.m. David Klein, Chairman of the Comprehensive Planning Committee addressed the Planning Board and stated that it had been approximately a month since he had passed the ® Comprehensive Plan to the Planning Board and did not know if all the members had a chance to read all of the 100+ pages, but would briefly go over a synopsis of the Executive Summary, The Planning Board requested that the Town Board appoint a Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC) in the fall of 1989 and the Comprehensive Planning Committee came into existence in 1990. The CPC spent 1990, 1991, and 1992 working on the Plan. The Plan is trying to accommodate the Town'S projected population in housing needs for the next 20 years. The Plan is basically focusing growth toward areas that already have existing infrastructure and away from environmentally sensitive areas. Since we are looking at growth within the areas of existing infrastructure, that the infrastructure would be improved within that area, rather than extending it. The Plan as transmitted to the Planning Board is obviously a consensus of the Committee. It will become the Planning Board's Plan and become modified through their comments and further public input, and obviously there are different elements of the Plan that are not going to be appreciated by all segments of the population, but it tries to strike a balance. The CPC had been through a couple of different organizations with the Plan and finally arrived at six chapters. The Introduction, which basically gives the background of the formation of the committee; the Inventory, which describes existing conditions within the Plans Chapter 3, the Goals, Objectives and Recommended Actions; then the CPC discussed what the Plan would be. The committee looked at a ® constraints and opportunities map in which the committee overlaid a lot of the different physical characteristics of the Town, steep area, location of water and sewer, existing housing, soil characteristics, open space, developed area, and that started to ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 9 February 23, 1993 Meeting shape the future land use patterns map. The committee did look and discuss a number of alternatives. The future land use patterns map essentially tries to describe where the committee thought the land use would be within the next 20 years. The committee also worked with a consultant and the population projections from New York State identified that there would be a need for about 1,230 housing units in the Town over the next 20 years; that translated into a certain amount of acreage. Again, the areas that are already served by the infrastructure have more than adequate land to accommodate most of that growth. The last two chapters deal with the methods of implementation of the Plan, and adoption and maintenance. The Planning Board will review the Plan, update and modify it as necessary. The committee talked about a number of actions by the Planning Board and Town Board that they thought should follow from the Comprehensive Plan, such as working on the Zoning Ordinance, creating a long -range Capital Improvements Plan, Conservation Board and Transportation Planning. The committee did not deal with transportation planning to the extent that some would have liked; that is a very complex issue. There is now a Metropolitan Planning Organization that was started this past year and obviously ® transportation planning goes way beyond the Town of Ithaca. Comprehensive Planning Committee members John Whitcomb, Jerry Weisburd and Bruce Brittain were present to participate. Town Planner Floyd Forman addressed Chairperson Grigorov and stated that when they were talking about the need to accommodate the amount of growth that had been projected and the housing units needed, one of the things the Planning Board needed, had already received final subdivision approval. To meet the population need, the Planning Board does not need 1,230.housing units to come before the Board for subdivision approval. Many of the units could be built now. Mr. Forman stated the Planning Department had looked at fairly recent projects; such as John Novarr's project on South Hill, College Circle, and the Frandsen subdivision off Slaterville Road. If the Planning Department went back to some of the older subdivisions that may be 40 to 50 years old, the number of approved units might even be higher than 400. Two -lot subdivisions with final subdivision approval were included. Chairperson Grigorov asked how the members of the Planning Board wanted to discuss the Comprehensive Plan; by chapter or make overall comments or any basic questions. Planning Board Member ® the Plan through three times work with the County and the Herbert Finch stated that he had read and studied it. The Town would have to City. ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 10 February 23, 1993 Meeting Mr. Klein of the! CPC addressed Mr. Finch' s concerns by stating that the consultant did say that, as part of the fact, that it is a Comprehensive Plan, its inclusion as discussion should be in the Plan, it is not a major emphasis of the Plan, but the CPC should at least touch upon it almost as a checklist. Bruce Brittain of the CPC stated that to a certain extent the CPC wanted a complete description so that when the Planning Board looked at the Goals and Objectives, a goal for the Town of Ithaca would be, say, adequate police coverage and then how to go about doing that now with County coverage, which is sufficient, but it is still a goal that the Town have adequate fire and police protection, and adequate health facilities available. The CPC wanted to get this information in the Plan because it is part of making the Town of Ithaca a livable place, but it was not in there because the CPC could not do anything about it today, perhaps 10 or 20 years from now. Mr. Finch stated that it was pertinent to him that he live in a place where there is a police force, but being in the Town of is Ithaca is not what is going to get him that police force. On whatever basis, this is what the Planning Board expects the County and the State to provide. Health planning is something that is handled outside of the County. Mr. Forman replied to Mr. Finch that the hospital for the area is in the Town of Ithaca, so if the hospital wanted to expand, they would be dealing with the Town, such as the Town's Engineering, Zoning, and Planning Departments. Mr. Finch stated that the Plan should say that the goal is to observe land use. Jerry Weisburd of the CPC responded to Mr. Finch's statement by saying that all of the items that are in the Comprehensive Plan should be in a regional basis. The CPC discussed mechanisms for providing open space, affordable housing, incentive zoning, transferable development rights, which are hampered greatly by the fact that we are only a Town, so all the issues would work better if there was a regional empowerment. This represents a set of goals and hopefully, some of these things could become more regional. Mr. Finch stated that he felt there were a lot of things that were not going to be dealt with, and that the Planning Board's energies might be better directed toward a format that would ® accomplish that rather than just the Town. ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 11 February 23, 1993 Meeting Mr. Forman stated that intermunicipal cooperation in our situation happens all the time with the sewer plant and the water plant. John Whitcomb of the CPC addressed the Planning board and stated that in Chapter 5 -III, there is a list of priority implementation actions. The Plan does not say we are going to rush out and assess all these things, these are to serve the Town for at least the next 20 years. Mr. Finch stated that Chapter 3 was a very problematical chapter, but Chapter 5 explained things better by listing priorities. Planning Board Member Virginia Langhans Space Plan for subdivisions and the provision for dedication. Ms. Langhans thought the Planning one occasion. Chairperson Grigorov stated that about this, but the point was made that the pez Planning Board could not demand money. mentioned the Park and Open collecting money in lieu of land Board had talked about this on the Planning Board had talked bson had to volunteer this, the ® Mr. Finch stated that he would like to hear some more about the philosophical basis of the difference between a payment in lieu of, and using that as a support as opposed to a tax. Mr. Finch said that this seems to be a much more straight forward and beneficial thing to the Town rather than a one- time payment in lieu of, and thereafter is committed to a situation that is going to continue for the next 50 years. Mr. Finch stated that a one -time payment in lieu of land dedication is an easy out and may not benefit the Town in the long run. Town Attorney John Barney stated that this is really a choice of land vs. dollar. Town Engineer Daniel Walker further stated that the long -term expense is already there. The highways, water and sewer are the most expensive operations. Every time a house goes up there is an increase in the value of that property and the Town also gains benefit assessment against those properties. So, if someone puts in a subdivision and they have 50 acres and they put in 60 lots, the Town gains 60 benefit units which is an annual assessment. They also gain additional assessed value which is the general tax. The key is to balance, because the other thing the developers are being asked to provide in a major subdivision, is building the infrastructure for the road, the sewer and the water; and the Town will not have major maintenance to do on them for at least 10 years, if built correctly. Ms. Langhans stated that her next concern was under Page 3 -XII, Letter (1), which reads: "Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance such that accessory apartments would require special approval. Accessory apartments should provide ® either affordable housing; or some other social benefit such as elderly housing." Ms. Langhans stated that she did not know if the CPC really needed to be that constrictive on the accessory apartments. Town of Ithaca Planning Board 12 February 23, 1993 Meeting Town Planner Floyd Forman replied to Ms. Langhans that it may not be. When the Planning Board starts amending the Zoning Ordinances they may find that it is a bad idea. Mr. Forman further stated that he thought this was one of his ideas. It is a way to take a look at additional affordable housing in the Town of Ithaca. Potentially, the Planning Board may want to look to see if it has some social benefit. For example, you bring in your parent so that you are taking care of an elderly person, some sort of social benefit. Now you want an extra unit, it is a given under the Zoning Ordinance. The benefit such as elderly housing or affordable housing. Mr. Forman also stated that for someone to come in and build affordable housing and for others to get a windfall from that, what has one gained in terms of affordable housing? One of the things the Board would be trying -to do is see if the Board can get some grant money to get affordable housing in the Town. If the Town gets some grant money that subsidizes certain units and those units are sold below market value, and then someone walks away after getting an affordable unit, selling it at some point when they feel it is time to move on and literally getting a windfall, not just the affordability level., up to whatever the present market value is, the Town has lost an affordable unit. This issue is something that the Planning Board needs to talk with the Better Housing of Tompkins County on and the Ithaca Neighborhood Housing to see potential ways of taking a look at it. ® Board member Herbert Finch stated that another problem he had with the Comprehensive Plan was the housing information in Chapter II, Page 12. There was no information at all about how much affordable housing there may be in the Town of Ithaca now or how much there needed to be in the future. The connection was not made with population studies and housing information that tells why this affordable housing is needed. There are a couple of other places that talk about some of the things that would be food to have, but the .information section, Chapter II, has nothing there that justifies affordable housing. Mr. Finch further stated that there is a section on Historic Structures included in the Comprehensive Plan, but there is no goal for it. Board member Virginia Langhans spoke about Chapter 3, Page 23, Number 5; Future development designed so as to minimize adverse impacts on roadway efficiency and safety. Ms. Langhans felt that the Town does not really have this transportation network set up, so some of these things might be difficult to do, especially limiting the scale and concentration of development to what can be supported by the transportation system. Bruce Brittain of the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC) stated that for now, the road networks, which are really out transportation systems are a constraint to further development in some areas and in some parts of the Town. If there were major development, there would be a significant impact because of where those people would live and where they would work. There is no easy way to get from one to the other. The transportation system has to be ® upgraded or limit the development in any spot until the transportation system can handle it. ® Town of Ithaca Planning Board 13 February 23, 1993 Meeting Town Engineer Daniel Walker stated that the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) was created because urban population exceeded 50,000, so as growth happens, there has to be plans and improvements put into the transportation system. 'The Town has control over the local roads, the County has control over most of the connections and transmission of vehicles from one area to another, and the State has the broadest control of all. It is important to have the Town set the policy for transportation. Transportation is critical and needs to be looked at closely. Town Planner Floyd Forman stated that by December of 1994, the MPO is required to submit of a transportation plan for this area. Board Member Virginia Langhans referred to Chapter 4, Page 15 under Rural Residential, the last sentence read "One new Urban Residential area is indicated, presently in industrial use. ". Ms. Langhans stated that this referred to South Hill, Danby Road; and asked why the change. Mr. Forman replied that the part of the R -15 that is running along Danby Road may not be a part of the industrial area. ® Ms. Langhans also questioned Chapter 3, page 11, under recommended action for a variety of housing styles and patterns. The Comprehensive Plan stated "to prepare a housing plan." What does that statement really mean? J Mr. Forman responded that it it means that he Town of Ithaca needs to take a look at what type of housing we have now and what kind of housing potentially will be needed for the future. One of the things we would be looking at is affordable housing. Ms. Langhans also asked what is meant by establishing a Conservation Board? What would they do? Why do they need a board rather than a committee? John Whitcomb of the Comprehensive Planning Committee answered Ms. Langhan's questions by explaining that the difference between a Conservation Board and a Conservation Advisory Council (a committee of members) . A board would review and advise the other Boards of the Town as to what they recommend for specific sites such as, open space areas, and wetlands, instead of an less knowledgeable Board assuming the importance of those things mentioned . David Klein of the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC) felt that the decisions of what to keep and what not to keep in the Comprehensive Plan should really be done by the Planning Board rather than the CPC. Town of Ithaca Planning Board 14 February 23, 1993 Meeting Board Member Herbert Finch stated that he would like to have more information concerning Cayuga Lake and how much obligation the Town has there because he understood that the lake was controlled by the New York State Barge Canal. Mr Finch also stated that it should be stated within the Comprehensive Plan that the Town plans to continue to pay the City of Ithaca for the use of park areas. Town Engineer Daniel Walker replied that it is controlled by the Corps of Engineers and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Board Member Robert Kenerson stated that there were a couple of things that concerned him. One was just how the Planning Board intends to handle and interface with the public about the Comprehensive Plan, Mr. Kenerson felt that the Plan is a very complicated document, particularly from the public's standpoint. The Planning; Board has had problems absorbing and coming up with things that really relate to the Town and its future. Mr. Kenerson felt it was "necessary to pay particular attention to how the Public Hearings will be conducted, how many there will be and that he did not think that three meetings would be enough ". Mr. Kenerson further stated that he was "concerned that the Planning Board would not be able to present this Plan to the public in such ® a way that it would be understandable. This is a very important issue for the Town and it has to be purchased by the people within the Town and neighboring areas. In order for the people to purchase the Plan they have to be able to understand it, therefore, the Board cannot rush through the Plan". Town Planner Floyd Forman stated that there will be a presentation for the public. The Planning Board will put on a slide show presentation to let the public know what is in the document. Town Attorney John Barney stated that he felt it was important to have a 10 or 15 minute outline at the beginning of the presentation so that people knew there is a Chapter 5 that follows Chapters 1 and 2 why it was organized the way it was and what is in each chapter. Chairperson Grigorov stated that the Planning Board would have to go through the Comprehensive Plan carefully from beginning to end. Town Planner Floyd Forman stated that there would be three neighborhood sessions dealing with the Comprehensive Plan. The meetings will be March 9, 1993 at the Ellis Hollow Residential Apartments, March 23, 1993 at NCR; and March 30, 1993 which may be at the Biggs Building. All meetings will start at 7:30 p.m. 0 • 0 0 Town of Ithaca Planning Board February 23, 1993 Meeting OTHER BUSINESS 15 Chairperson Grigorov stated that there was no other business to come before the Board, and closed this part of the meeting. ADJOURNMENT Upon the Motion, Chairperson Grigorov declared the February 23, 1993 meeting of the Town of Ithaca Planning Board duly closed at 10:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, *06 StarrRae Ha s, Recording Secretary Town of Ithaca Planning Board • TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING BOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1993 By direction of the Chairman of the Planning Board, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Public Hearings will be held by the Planning Board of the Town of Ithaca on Tuesday, February 23, 1993, in Town Hall, 126 East Seneca Street, Ithaca, N.Y., at the following times and on the following matters: 7:35 P.M. Consideration of Recommendation to the Town Board with regard to a Local Law to Amend the Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Ithaca to permit modification of single family homes on subsize lots without obtaining Board of Appeals approval 7:45 P.M. Consideration of Recommendation to the Town Board with regard to a Local Law to Amend Local Law No. 4 -1979 of the Town of Ithaca to clarify materials that are subject to the maintenance obligations of such Local Law. Said Planning Board will at said times and said place hear all persons in support of such matters or objections thereto. Persons may appear by agent or in person. Dated: Tuesday, February 16, 1993 Publish: Thursday, February 18, 1993 (DEVREVS\12- 23 -93TH) Joan L. Hamilton Town Clerk 273 -1721 The Ithaca Journal Thursday, February 18, 1993 TOWN-OF ITHACA PLANNING BOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TUESDAY, FEB. 23 1993 By direction of the CAairman of the Planning Board, NO- TICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Public Hearings will be held by the Planning Board of the Town of Ithaca on Tuesday, February 23, 1993, in Town Hall, 126 East Seneca Street, Ithaca, NY, at the following times and on the following matters: 7:35 P.M. Consideration of Recommendation to the Town Board with regard to a Local Law to Amend the Zoningg Ordinance of the Town of Ithaca to permit modification Of single family homes on subsize lots without obtaining Board of Appeals approval. , 7:45 P.M. Consideration of Recommendation to the Town Board with redg l Ord to a Local Law No. Law to 4-1979 f the Town of Ithaca to clarify materials that are subject to the maintenance obligations of such Local Law. Said Planning Board will at said times and said place hear all persons in support of such matters or objections i thereto. Persons may appear by agent or in person. Joan L. Hamilton Town Clerk February 18, 199373 -1721 • •