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Home My WebLink AboutPC Packet 2022-11-17 DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING 215 N. Tioga St 14850 607.273.1747 www.town.ithaca.ny.us TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING COMMITTEE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2022 at 3:00 P.M. Meeting Location: Ithaca Town Hall, 215 N. Tioga Street, Aurora Conference Room (Enter from the rear entrance of Town Hall, adjacent employee parking lot.) Members of the public may also join the meeting virtually via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6750593272. AGENDA 1. Persons to be heard. 2. Committee announcements and concerns. 3. Consider approval of October meeting minutes. 4. Continue consideration of proposed Solar Law amendments. 5. Staff updates and reports. 6. Discuss next meeting date and upcoming agenda items. A quorum of the Ithaca Town Board may be present, however, no official Board business will be conducted. 1 Town of Ithaca Planning Committee Thursday, October 20, 2022 (3:00 PM via Zoom) Draft Minutes Committee members: Rich DePaolo, Chair; Rod Howe & Margaret Johnson (3:45 PM) Board/Staff members: Director of Planning, Susan Ritter; Director of Code Enforcement, Marty Mosely, Dan Tasman, Planner. Guests on Zoom: Bruce Brittain, Sean Whittaker, Leslie Strebel, Noah Demarest, Adam Fishel & Andrew Henry. 1. Persons to be heard: Bruce Brittain spoke in support of preserving the historic barn on 340 Warren Road owned by RaNic and offered a detailed history of the structure if any committee members or staff were interested. Leslie Strebel also spoke in support of preserving the barn although noted concern for the proposed use as an event center. After the RaNic PDZ discussion, a typed comment regarding the weekend event hours, potential parking and noise, lighting, and buffering related considerations for the proposed Barn Venue zone was submitted to the committee. 2. Committee announcements and concerns: None 3. Approval of September meeting minutes: Rod moved; Rich seconded. The September 15, 2022, minutes were approved with one minor correction. 4. Revised draft RaNic Golf Club Planned Development Zone: Noah Demerest of STREAM Collaborative presented the few brief changes to the previously proposed Planned Development Zone language for the RaNic Golf Club. The original proposal had two internal zones, PD-17-M with attached housing and the golf clubhouse with complementary uses, and the remaining land being PD-17-G for the golf/open space. A third zone, PD-17-B, was recently added to identify and permit a Stay and Play area for reuse of an existing agricultural structure as a venue for private parties, small weddings and similar invitation-only gatherings, as well as a limited number of overnight guest rooms. PD-17-B would cover the existing Warren Road barn and farmhouse as well as the land across Warren Road owned by RaNic. No changes to the previously submitted overall sketch plan were noted, and the larger boutique hotel is still proposed to be on the Cayuga Heights side of the project. Sean Whittaker, owner of the property, added that keeping the barn and farmhouse is an integral part of the golf club and its integration and use is important and a key piece. Noah Demarest explained that the term “barn venue” was more suitable for the location than the original “event center”. The definition was added into the draft PDZ along with 14 conditions such as capacity requirements per NYS Building Code (calculated by dividing the size of the assembly space (TBD) by 40-50 to get a range) and constraints on events having more than 20 persons, such as being restricted to twice a week with limits on hours of operation. Restroom (no portable restrooms) and all other required facilities meeting NYS Building Code and Ithaca Town Code (noise, signs, etc). The existing dwelling 2 unit in the new zone was added/identified and the “8 or less hotel room” allowance was moved out of the PD-17-M zone to the new more appropriate PD-17-B zone. No hotel rooms are proposed for PD-17- M. The intent of the 8 units is to not all be in the same building, but instead scattered within the PD-17- B zone such as a possible carriage house, barn unit, duplex, not to exceed 8 total. There was discussion about the proposed lodging and the rental oversight. Noah stated that the Town’s Short Term Rental Law would be followed for the townhomes, and no alternate language related to short term rental is currently proposed for the PDZ. The townhomes in the PD-17-M zone would have a homeowners association and if the intent of the owners is to exceed the law’s requirements, then perhaps an amendment to the PDZ could be explored at that time. The term “hotel” and the definition in the existing zoning law was also discussed and noted as needing additional clarification to meet the intent of the projects potential stand-alone or combined hotel room units. Marty explained that if a kitchen, bed and bath were added to the barn, for example, it would become a dwelling unit and short-term rental regulations would apply verses hotel/motel. A solution could be an alternative term, such as “stay and play housing” within the PDZ. It was agreed that this issue would be clarified by staff before sending the document for counsel review. 5. Revised final draft of the Inlet Valley Overlay District: The final draft document was reviewed and discussed. The Retail and Service General section was clarified. Staff explained that the list of exclusions to prevent mechanical commercial uses was intended to be exhaustive and that the category does not exclude small scale commercial. Sue proposed changing the size of the gross floor area from 5000 ft2 maximum to 1500 ft2 maximum, in the LDR/IV-C overlay or eliminate it entirely from LDR IV-C. The committee agreed to the maximum of 1500 ft2 gross floor area Dan Tasman noted the sign dimensions and types are slightly different in the proposed IV Overlay compared to the existing Town Sign Law. The Sign Law could/should be amended to add the IV Overlay provisions. Sue recommended putting the final proposed version on the town website to direct stakeholders to review it prior to sending it on to the town board due to the significant changes made since the last stakeholder meeting. Another option would be to email the document and map directly to the stakeholders The committee was agreeable to both approaches. 7. LHC zone: Sue distributed an email with a proposed addition to the Limited Historic Commercial Overlay District which the committee had approved and moved forward at the September meeting. She suggested adding a new use called “Mixed used commercial and residential” and modifying the existing “Residential principal uses” lowering the 1 principal dwelling unit size from 1,000 sq ft. to 600 sq. ft. Revised sections were provided for review and consideration. Committee members agreed to these changes, minor addition was to spell out GLA as gross leasable area. 7. Consider Solar Law draft amendments: Sue noted additional changes to the proposed amendments to the Solar Law since the review in September. Major changes agreed by the committee included: G.(2)(c) Large-scale - only allow large scale photovoltaics in PDZs as a principal use if the PDZ language specifically allows it. 3 G.(2)(c)[5] Full-scale - the committee discussed the question in (d) about adding into the law more robust ag protection measures, rather than just referring to the NYS Ag & Markets document. Staff provided a 4-page example of how the measures could be pulled from the document and tailored for the Town. The question is whether to add these or just refer to the Ag & Markets guidelines. No decision was made. G.(2)(c)[5](d) Full-scale – ag soils and restrictions that no more than “50% of the parcel area” with Prime Farmland or Farmland of Statewide Importance soils was discussed. To further the discussion, the committee requested a map with the soil types and zoning districts shown. G.(2)(c )[5](h) Revise as follows: “Noise generating inverters “must be” as far away from neighboring property as possible.” It was noted that the fence law would need to be amended at the same time as the solar law, as well as the zoning chapter, §270-5, definitions. Potentially/likely three concurrent local law amendments. Sue noted past and upcoming solar webinars and how the recent webinar describing municipal shared experiences was particularly helpful for crafting language ideas. Marty and Sue presented language amending the definition in §270-5 for “Solar Facility Footprint”. They explained that this will help to avoid situations with small-scale facilities where an installation gets stretched out in one row to avoid a planning board review. The proposed new language: “The maximum occupied surface area taken up by the rows of solar panels and the space between the rows, except the maximum occupied surface area for a Small-Scale Solar Facility does not include the rows between the solar panels.” Committee approved the change. 8. Continued discussion of pedestrian needs/priorities: time not permitted 9. Staff updates and reports: Sue reported that she met with the property owner of the approved Holochuck Subdivision (100+ townhomes) off Trumansburg Road. The initial project has expired. A new plan for a small-scale seasonal recreation/tiny home community may be forthcoming. A PDZ would be needed, and it was noted that the Ithaca Energy Code Supplement may apply. Sue and Rod also noted a meeting with Ithaca Area Economic Development regarding a financial assistance program related to tax or some similar financial incentive for multi-unit rental housing. This program exists in the City of Ithaca and the group is open to expansion to new town projects for multi- unit rental housing if the town was interested. Discussions will continue and updates will be given. *Additionally, as a side note, during the meeting an issue was raised regarding committee member’s in- person attendance and access to meeting materials. A paper copy of the materials can be provided upon request, the town board room computers could be used to access the materials electronically or a personal laptop can be bought to assist committee members. A staff laptop could be borrowed as an option as well. 10. Next meeting date and upcoming agenda items: November 17th, 2022. Continued review of draft Solar Law amendments/soils map, pedestrian needs/priorities, LHC if necessary. The Planning Committee meeting concluded at 5:02 pm. PLANNING DEPARTMENT MEMO To: Planning Committee Members From: Susan Ritter, Director of Planning Date: November 10, 2022 RE: Outstanding issues needing to be addressed with the solar law amendments: 1) Reconsider changing the large-scale solar installation threshold from 10 acres to 5 acres. Currently large-scale solar, with its 10-acre size threshold, allows installations as principal and accessory use in the Agricultural, Low Density Residential, Office Park Commercial, Light Industrial, and Industrial zones. The current draft amendment proposes lowering this threshold to 5-acres. Staff suggestion is to not lower this to 5-acres, but to instead, at a minimum, keep it at 10-acres. 2) Resolve whether to keep the New York State Ag and Market’s document “Guidelines for Solar Energy Project – Construction Mitigation for Ag Lands (2019)” as a reference in the Solar Law, or optionally, extract specific requirements and add them as town provisions tailored for town purposes. The proposed new “Full-scale” solar installation category with a 35-acre threshold is permitted only in the town’s Agricultural Zone. To address protection of ag lands (particularly soils), the amended draft references the NYS Ag and Markets Guidelines for Solar Energy Projects. For the September meeting, committee members were provided with the Ag & Markets document along with a four-page document of tailored provisions that could instead be added to the town’s Solar Law. The question for the committee is whether to pull out relevant provisions from the Ag and Markets guidelines and insert them as requirements in the town’s Solar Law. This is the strategy taken by the Town of Victor. They copied provisions, but then tailored some for their purposes. For instance, Ag & Markets requires projects involving 50 acres or more to have an environmental monitor (EM) on site whenever construction or restoration work is required involving ground disturbance. An EM is hired by the solar company for the purpose of overseeing the construction and conduct follow-up monitoring. For projects that are less than 50 acres, Ag and Markets only requires the EM “to be available for consultation and/or onsite whenever construction or restoration work that causes ground disturbance is occurring on the ag lands.” The Town of Victor modified this requirement and requires the EM on site whenever construction is occurring. Staff can discuss further examples at the meeting. 3) Consider whether to keep provision G.(2)(d)[5] restricting solar installations to no more than “50% of the parcel area” in areas containing Prime Farmland or Farmland of Statewide Importance. Incorporating and tailoring NYS Ag & Markets construction mitigation measures may safeguard soils adequately such that this restriction is not necessary. Map of soils and zoning has been provided for the meeting. 4) Any other concerns or questions that committee members may have. ´ 0 10.5 Miles November 10, 2022Town of Ithaca Zoning & NY Important SoilsNew York Important Soils All Areas Prime Farmland Farmland of Statewide Importance Prime Farmland if Drained Zoning Districts LR LDR MDR HDR MHP MR VFR OPC NC CC LC AG C P LI I