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Home My WebLink AboutAG Minutes 2013-03-26 Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee Meeting March 26, 2013 7:00 PM Final Minutes Members Present: Jamie Baker (Sweyolaken Farm), Clare Forest (Forest Family Farm), Russ & Paula Wedemeyer (Ithaca Equestrian Farm), Devon Noble, Sharon Tregaskis and Dean Koyanagi (Tree Gate Farm), Christianne White (Steep Hollow Farm), Lisa Ferguson (Laughing Goat Farm) Others Present: Mike Smith (Town Planning Department), Bill Goodman (Town Board), Rod Howe (Town Board) 1. Persons to be heard: none 2. Member Announcements / Concerns: none 3. Chair and Coordinator Reports / Updates: We have the opportunity for something in the April Town of Ithaca newsletter. Topic to cover ‘Support your local Farmer’ by Sharon. Mike asks by which method we would prefer to receive materials. We all like the reminder postcard, so that’s a good thing to send to all farmers. Sharon emails all farmers. Some discussion of visibility of cc or bcc in the emails. 4. Ithaca Town Board Report / Update: Bill updates us on Smart Climate workshop of relevance to farmers, to take place in 2 weeks. The other main topic of relevance is the Comprehensive Plan. 5. Approval of Minutes: Minutes from January 29, 2013 meeting considered, Clare Forest moved to accept, seconded by Dean T., passed unanimously. February 26, 2013 minutes are considered. Clare has a question and suggests deleting the first 2 bullets, and then expresses difference of opinion as to whether Town has been open to dialogue with farmers, and has done anything but ignore input from farmers. Clare wished to see it recorded that the Ag Committee submitted written comments to the Comprehensive Plan Committee and they were th ignored. (changes to 4 bullet) Clare moved to accept language as revised, Jamie Baker seconded, passed unanimously. 6. Update and status of the Town of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan: Bill updated the Committee on aspects of the proposed Comprehensive plan. The Town Board will hold nd a public hearing on April 22. Watch for Town Board study sessions. Will invite comments on draft ‘scoping’ document. Scoping areas of impact: traffic, scenic views, part of the EIS will be mitigations to the impacts of these factors. Staff will draft EIS, then review, then public comments, then possible revisions, then go back to finalize Comprehensive Plan. Once Comprehensive Plan is passed then zoning changes will be proposed. The last Comprehensive Plan was passed in ’93 and new zooming went into place in 2004. Form based zoning is the new effort to get away from traditional zoning. It will affect residential and commercial zoning more than agricultural areas. Euclidean zoning uses divisions and separations. Form-based zoning doesn’t care as much about uses, but is more about appearances and the physical form. Mixed uses of office and residential are fine as long as consistent appearance. Usually includes issues of walkability. There are a range of building types allowed in the new urbanism system. Definitions of space like urban core/fringe/open space/wilderness. Definition of ag zone, in that transect there will be specified uses, ag plus other related uses to support agritourism, bed and breakfasts, etc. Neighborhood Centers, (in red) might allow greater density and more stories. There is already some commercial activity in the red areas. Clare feels that her farm is next to commercial development and is acutely sensitive to the increased lighting and noise. What drives the impetus to form based planning? To get away from sprawl? In form based, mixed use walkable neighborhoods are OK. We should review ag section of the Comprehensive Plan…what do the other colors mean? Red neighborhood center is a new concept…not the old ‘commercial’ designation. Town Board members are going over this page by page. Now is the time for us to dig in and learn what it means. Lots of constituents want open space. They say, no sprawl; keep open space. It would be interesting to hear why they want open space, is it for specific purposes or just for aesthetics? Where does population growth go? How does farmland get protected? Mike adds that the map is showing the growth expected during next maybe 100 years. Not something that will happen immediately. Dean and Paula sent letters to owners of 10 small parcels about the proposed changes to density/subdivision in ag zoning (7 acres to 15 acres). By our next meeting on July 30 the EIS draft will be underway and well into discussion. 7. Grant opportunities Forest Management Plan, NRCS, Pat Berry. Nov 2012 ended one fiscal year, perhaps there will be another year of support for creation of Conservation Activity Plan and Forest Stewardship Plan, a DEC forester can write plans or review plans written by other foresters. Town purchase of Development rights: Indian Creek is getting a conservation easement. Talk to Mike about easement options. Are the costs of drafting the proposal and the appraisal covered by any program? 75 state/25 town. Town has been setting aside +/- $75,000 a year and it has been building up. Fergusons at Laughing Goat fiber have 40 acres under a Town easement, with 30 open protected acres. 8. Health insurance Sharon provided an overview on the new health insurance and what it could mean for farms. Jean McPheeter has been to many trainings, SBA administration, affordable health care act. On October 1 the NYS exchanges must be ready for people to purchase health insurance. By January 1 you must have insurance that has been purchased thru an exchange. SBA tax care credit, might retroactively apply, 10+ employees. There will be a longer enrollment period this first time. In subsequent years will be October 1-December 31. There will be call centers and walk in places for advice. There will be patient navigator people to help you. Tax credits will be available if you qualify. 9. Farmland valuation and Ag Assessment: Sharon, Dean and Mike attended recent local Ag Summit. Jay Franklin from the county assessor’s office was there. All ag parcels were reassessed. Atmosphere was very tense. There has been a ceiling set by Ag and Markets; you can’t be taxed at more than $999/acre, no matter what. NYS does not protect us well. Debbie Teeter urges us to join Farm Bureau to get advice and protections. Woodlots can be claimed under ag assessment if using for maple syrup or ag production rather than woodlot. One benefit of high assessment, if you have to borrow against the value of the land it is valued more highly. Lansing area selling prices have influenced our valuations. The Ferguson’s assessment tripled. The NYS Dept of Taxation and Finance web site, Ag Assessment overview and value of Ag Assessment is a resource. 10. Other Business: Jamie Baker at Sweyolaken Farm has over 2000 visitors a year. He has had trouble getting dollars for grants that were awarded. Soil and Water not opening up with dollars. He may be applying for a CAFO. He has a site in Trumansburg too. He has built a new barn every year for some time. He has a good relationship with code enforcement. NYSERDA has grants for wind generators. Matt Leroux, Farmer to Farmer, runs a program. Need to get a variance for height? Some discussion of whether farmers and code enforcement always agree about what is a farm building and what is not. Section 305 of the Ag and Markets law is pretty detailed, and they have never lost when going against a municipality. 11. Adjourn: Adjourned at 8:50 PM Notes prepared by Christianne White