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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019 Fall Newsletter 2TOWN OF ITHACA QUICK NEWS NEW NEIGHBORHOOD CODE The Town of Ithaca is moving forward with a new approach to zoning that will be the framework for planning and building great new neighborhoods -- places with a wide variety of housing choices, networks of pedestrian friendly streets, parks and gathering areas that honor the surrounding landscape, and main streets with shops and services a short walk away. This project, dubbed the New Neighborhood Code, will help implement the Town’s Comprehensive Plan; specifically, its vision of compact, walkable neighborhoods in emerging growth areas near major employers and activity hubs. The New Neighborhood Code will be an alternative to current development regulations, with tools that are better suited to building new complete neighborhoods. Current zoning and subdivision regulations aren’t going away, and existing zoning won't change when the Town adopts the New Neighborhood Code. The New Neighborhood Code will be easy to use, with step-by-step instructions, plain English, and plentiful graphics that explain how to build a neighborhood, or just put up a fence. Its regulations will be in sync with today’s lifestyle trends and best development practices. It will have a collaborative master planning process that embraces public participation and ensures that new neighborhoods are planned as a unified whole, not piecemeal. However, it uses an incremental approach that lets neighborhoods grow and evolve gradually over time. There’s a lot that’s involved with adopting the New Neighborhood Code, and we want to keep you in the loop. The first informational meeting will be at Town Hall (215 North Tioga Street, downtown Ithaca) on Tuesday, October 22 at 6:30 PM. To learn more about the New Neighborhood Code in the meantime, visit http://www.town.ithaca.ny.us/newcode, send us an email at newcode@town.ithaca.ny.us, or stop by Town Hall. ITHACA ENERGY CODE SUPPLEMENT draft (aka Green Building Policy) The draft Ithaca Energy Code Supplement (aka the Green Building Policy) is available. The City of Ithaca and the Town of Ithaca hosted two public meetings to share information and solicit comments. The City and the Town have been working on a Green Building Policy (GBP) since 2017. In May 2018 the City Common Council and the Town Board adopted the GBP Report, which contained recommendations for code requirements that would substantially reduce carbon emissions in all new buildings, while emphasizing and supporting affordability. Since then, a working group made up of City of Ithaca and Town of Ithaca elected officials, senior staff, and other staff members, in conjunction with consultants Stream Collaborative and Taitem Engineering, have worked to add the necessary details to the GBP report recommendations. The product is the current draft of the Ithaca Energy Code Supplement. This is meant to be an easy‐to‐understand document that includes the content that will be in the final Energy Code Supplement, but is formatted for ease of discussion and editing. The Code will require all new buildings to be constructed to produce 40% fewer GHG emissions than New York State code requires and will ramp down to require net‐zero new construction by 2030. The August 8, 2019 draft Ithaca Energy Code Supplement is now being circulated for public comment. Two public meetings were held where Sustainability Coordinator Nick Goldsmith joined by members of the working group and consultant team to present a summary of the legislation and to field questions and comments from community members Staff and consultants will incorporate public feedback and work with City and Town committees and departments to more formally codify the Code Supplement before bringing it back to the Planning and Economic Development Committee of Common Council and the Town of Ithaca Town Board in the coming months to consider adoption. In its June 5, 2019 resolution to adopt a Green New Deal, the City of Ithaca endorsed adoption of the Green Building Policy in 2019 as one of the actions necessary to reach the goal of achieving carbon‐neutrality city‐wide by 2030. You may download the draft Ithaca Energy Code Supplement and find additional information at www.ithacagreenbuilding.com. GOODBYE AND WELCOME Bruce Bates, Director of Building and Codes will be retiring this December. Bruce has been with the Town for over 11 years. Please join us in wishing him the best in his retirement and enjoying his farm and growing extended family. Grandchildren are one of the best parts of retirement! The Town has promoted Marty Moseley to the position of Director of Building and Codes. Marty has been working for the town for over two years now so many of you may have met him already. Welcome aboard Marty! The Town has also filled a vacant Code Inspector position. Please help us welcome Jessica Hull. Jessica has over 13 years of residential and commercial construction and electrical experience. NEW 2020 NEW YORK STATE UNIFORM BUILDING CODE COLLECTION The Department of State, Building Standards and Codes, anticipates adopting a new State Uniform Building Code (Code) collection on January 1, 2020 (tentative) for a transitional period of two months and take full effect on March 1, 2020. Please keep in mind that these dates are subject to change, as determined by the State. The new Code will once again be based on the 2018 International Codes. After the adoption date, tentatively set for March 1, 2020, any new building, remodeling of an existing building, addition to an existing structure, or installation or replacement of a heating source, etc., will have to follow the 2020 Code. As always, please reach out to our Codes Department with any questions. The following link is for the proposed 2020 NYS Draft Codes https://www.dos.ny.gov/dcea/noticadopt.html WATER/SEWER BILLS – will be relevied to your Town Tax Bill The Town of Ithaca re-levies any unpaid water and sewer bills to your Town tax bill on October 15th. This allows accounts to be zeroed out for the new year. Payments will be accepted up until October 14th and can be made in person, dropped in the drop box located on Buffalo Street entrance, or online with the credit card service provider. There is a charge by that service provider, and it is not always available 24-48 hours prior to the deadline. A check mailed and post marked by the 15th is considered paid and the amount will not be re-levied. Dedication – Rich Schoch Pavilion at Tutelo Park Rich retired back in May and the Town dedicated the pavilion at Tutelo Park in honor of his tremendous contributions to the parks and trails we have. He tells us he is thoroughly enjoying retirement! TOWN OF ITHACA CONSERVATION BOARD HONORED THE NEW YORK STATE HEMLOCK INITIATIVE The New York State Hemlock Initiative was the recipient of the 16th annual Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award (www.town.ithaca.ny.us/richard-fischer-award). The award was established in 2003 by the Town of Ithaca Conservation Board to honor Dr. Fischer for his significant efforts to preserve important environmental resources in the Town. Members of the Conservation Board and Town Supervisor William Goodman presented the award to representatives of the New York State Hemlock Initiative at a tree planting ceremony on May 28th at the Town of Ithaca’s Forest Home Park. The New York State Hemlock Initiative (https://blogs.cornell.edu/nyshemlockinitiative/) was honored for their persistence, dedication, and foresighted strategies for preserving the crucial place eastern hemlocks hold in our natural areas as they are attacked by the invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). For the past decade, Cornell forest entomologist Mark Whitmore has been working to implement effective biological controls throughout New York to manage HWA populations. Now a team of thirteen, the New York State Hemlock Initiative is working to improve lab rearing techniques for HWA predator insects, develop field protocols for successful biocontrol establishment outside of the lab, and spread the word about hemlock conservation. REMINDER Fall Brush Collection The Public Works Department will be picking up brush, limbs, and branches starting Monday, October 21st, and will continue throughout the Town until finished. All yard waste must be at the roadside by 7 a.m. on the first day of collection. There will be no second collection and no callbacks. The intention of roadside collection service is for residents of the Town of Ithaca outside the Village of Cayuga Heights to put a reasonable amount of yard waste, approximately a standard pickup truck load or what is basically generated during a normal year, out at the roadside for collection by the Town’s crews. Clearing of building lots and hedgerows is beyond a normal amount of material. Roadside collection crews reserve the right to not pick up excessively large volumes of brush and improperly piled materials. Brush you collect before the first day of the pickup needs to remain out of the rights-of-way until a couple of days before the pickup; this will assure your safety and that of your neighbors. WHAT TO DO WHAT NOT TO DO • Pile brush in neat bundles parallel to the road along Do not tie bundles of brush road shoulder or at end of driveway if no shoulder exists. Do not place materials in a ditch • Put out limbs no larger than 8 inches in diameter Do not put out metal, rocks, glass, • Limit brush piles to the size of a pickup load roots, stumps, or lumber scraps • Do not put brush out until a few days before collection FALL LEAF COLLECTION Leaf collection will begin at 7 a.m. on Monday, November 4th and will continue throughout the week until finished. Leaves should be at the curb by 7:00 a.m. on the first day of collection. Leaves may be raked to the shoulder of the road or bagged in biodegradable paper leaf bags (30-gallon bags are available at many stores in the area). Other debris such as pine needles, dead flowers, garden waste, grass clippings, etc., cannot be vacuumed and should be placed in bags. Please fill the bags and place them on the road shoulder, folding over the openings of the bags to close. Do not staple or tape openings. No plastic bags will be picked up. The Town’s crews will go around the entire Town once with the leaf vacuum. For the rest of the month of November, the crews will begin picking up paper-bagged leaves each Monday, which could extend through early week to encompass the entire Town. Please note that we may send out leaf crews earlier than November 4th to test our equipment and to pick up paper-bagged leaves before they get wet. You may drop your own yard waste and leaves off at the Public Works Facility at 114 Seven Mile Drive, Monday through Friday, from 7:00 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. year-round. If you have questions, call (607) 273-1656 between 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. or send an email to publicworks@town.ithaca.ny.us. We do recognize that not all the leaves will be off the trees by the first week in November and in fact we tried pushing the date later last year and it snowed 4 times! Since we use much of the same equipment for leaf pick-up as snow removal/salting, this caused major issues with getting the machinery ready for snow removal and then the leaves froze to the ground which made trying to remove them very cumbersome. Bagged leaves will be picked up as stated above to try and assist residents, but we simply cannot push the date later than the first week in November. BOARD VACANCIES PLANNING BOARD, ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS AND CONSERVATION BOARD The Planning Board consists of seven regular members with two alternates. The Planning Board is charged with reviewing land use and development issues and approving subdivisions, site plans and special permit requests. Planning Board meetings are generally held at 7 pm on the first and third Tuesday of the month. Zoning Board of Appeals consists of 5 regular and 2 alternate members who are appointed by the Town Board. The Zoning Board is a quasi-judicial board that is charged with ensuring that the zoning ordinances are complied with or that variances and/or special approvals are granted when certain criteria are met. Zoning Board meetings are generally held at 6 pm on the second Tuesday of the month. Some knowledge of the application of municipal law or other rules and regulations is helpful but not required. Both Boards have a residency requirement for members to live in the Town of Ithaca and both Boards’ members receive a small stipend. Members are appointed by the Town Board with Regular member appointments having a 7 and 5-year terms respectively and Alternate membership appointments having a 1-year term; a great way to try it out and see if regular membership is something you could commit to. Ethics Board consists of five members with a residency requirement of living in Tompkins County. There are some limits to the number of members from each political party, but we have a vacancy now and the new member could be any party. The Ethics Board meets once a year to review Ethics Disclosure forms submitted by Town Officials and upon demand if an inquiry is brought to them by the public or staff. Meetings generally occur at lunch time and last no more than 45 minutes to an hour. Conservation Board How do you share your passion for the environment? What do you do to make our community a better place to live? The Town of Ithaca Conservation Board engages both the Town Board and the Planning Board to make sure our community's environmental concerns are heard. If you are interested in land conservation, proposed development projects, water and energy consumption or invasive species control, come to one of our meetings, held on the first Thursday of each month from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Ithaca Town Hall. If you enjoy the meeting, please apply for membership to the Town Conservation Board. Applicants must be Town residents and be interested in playing an active role in the Town’s planning and advisory process, as it relates to environmental concerns. Specialized knowledge is helpful, but not required. For more information about the Conservation Board and their current activities, please visit the Board’s website at www.town.ithaca.ny.us/conservation-board, find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IthacaConservationBoard, or join them for any upcoming meeting (all meetings are open to the public). Please contact the Town Clerk at 273-1721 or via email at prosa@town.ithaca.ny.us or visit our website at www.town.ithaca.ny.us for an application. COMING SOON When there is a draft ready for the public, I will be sending out information regarding some significant legislation going through committees right now including: o Un-hosted Short Term Rental Regulations o Town of Ithaca’s Green Deal Contact Please feel free to contact me with any questions on any of the above. Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk prosa@town.ithaca.ny.us or 607-273-1721