HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes 2023-11-16 Town of Ithaca Planning Committee
Thursday,November 16, 2023
(3:00 PM Aurora Conference Room and on Zoom)
Minutes
Committee members: Rich DePaolo, Chair; Rod Howe & Margaret Johnson
Board/Staff members: Director of Planning C.J. Randall &Director of Codes Marty Moseley.
Guests: none
1. Persons to be heard: None
2. Committee announcements and concerns: None
3.Approval of September meeting minutes: Rich moved; Margaret seconded. The September 21, 2023,
minutes were approved as presented.
4. The committee discussed the potential historic preservation program, and reviewed the proposed draft
City/Town of Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Law/Ordinance and proposed draft Intermunicipal
Agreement. C.J. shared the Town of Ithaca Historic Building Survey (conducted 1997-2000) map and
referenced a recent webinar presented by the City's Historic Preservation Planner. It was noted that this the
Law/Ordinance would be reviewed every two years after implementation; this was requested to be added if not
already included in the language. Committee discussion focused on the following sections in the draft
ordinance:
§228-4: Membership,Appointment and Compensation. Rod explained he compared the previous version of
the draft and the current version of the draft, noting nine(9)members were originally proposed and now seven
(7), with five (5) appointed by the city and two (2)by the Town. Under(13)(3) add: "and Town" in the second
sentence, after"the Mayor..."Rich noted that the members being required to possess specific professional
qualifications could be limiting and wanted to make sure the town would be well represented; Rod concurred
and suggested adding in the proposed change above on the three required to possess the qualification.
§228-12: Designation of Individual Landmarks and Historic Districts. It was noted that the prior draft
version included"thematic grouping" in this section and that is now removed. An example given was that"all
carriage houses" or another grouping of similar locations would fall into the same guidelines.
§228-16: Criteria for Approval of a Certificate of Appropriateness. (13)(2)was discussed and was viewed as
subjective. The initial determination would be made by the City Historic Preservation Planner Bryan
McCracken and then would move onto the Commission. (D)relative to paint color was discussed. The
committee suggested that the vast palette of paint colors imaginable could detract from the historic character; as
such, this clause may need further discussion.
§228-17: Certificate of Appropriateness Application Procedure. (C) Committee asked whether delegation to
the secretary was done annually or per project, and would that delegation continue unless rescinded? It was
determined that"the secretary" in this case would be Bryan/City Historic Preservation Planner which could lead
to the town being overruled in certain areas. There were no changes proposed to this section.
§228-22: [City-/Town-] owned Improvements. (B) The wording and 20% threshold was discussed. The Town
Hall would be the property affected. No changes were proposed.
§228-23: Exceptions for Reasons of Public Health and Public Safety. (C) and §228-25: Enforcement;
violations; penalties for offenses. (B) The committee discussed potential complications with these respective
subsections. What would happen if there were no funds/resources available to achieve the reasonable solution,
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who would incur the cost of the remedy?Marty replied that the action would go before the judge and be decided
in court. It was also questioned: If there were a liability placed on the property,would that transfer to the new
owner if sold?
Upon review of the draft Intermunicipal Agreement, the compensation section was discussed. The hourly rate
used for the draft has increased from $48 to $50+/hr. In item#4. The committee recommended the calculation
should be mutually agreed upon by the City and Town, this language should be added. It was discussed that the
initial $25,000 installment should be justified by showing the work completed and subsequent payments may be
made based and billed on actual time/hours spent.
The Anticipated Next Steps timeline shared was noted to need updates to show the items completed already,
adjust to two-year time frame and the remaining estimates re-evaluated such as the 2-4 hours per week of town
only designated design review of designated historic resources in the town-this may be a high estimate based on
the existing inventory.
Margaret mentioned deconstruction verses demolition and was in favor of the town preparing an ordinance to
promote deconstruction. Rod concurred and mentioned the Susan Christopherson Center has resources and
information to help the deconstruction efforts.
Rod concluded that he has a meeting the upcoming week to discuss the proposed draft documents with the
attorney for the town and will clarify the items raised by the committee. It may be helpful to include the city
historic preservation planner as well.
5. Update: East Shore Drive Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Corridor Project public information session.
C.J. summarized the well-attended session held the prior evening that was led by Barton&Loguidice, consulting
engineers. The major stakeholders who were unable to attend submitted comments and additional comment cards
were received at the event from the public. The next steps are obtaining all the comments and then revising the
cost estimates for a pre-application. The town would then apply for a TAP application with a consultant. Margaret
added that the next leg/section from the trailhead to the next park has a lot of interest from the public to connect
pedestrian access points as well.
6. Staff updates and reports.
C.J. updated the committee on the following items:
*Safe Streets for All has a signed contract between the City and Cambridge Systematics. DOT has a
separate contract. The kickoff meeting is tentatively 11/28/23.
*Buttermilk B&B LHCOD interest is still in progress, owner will be directed to Ithaca Area
Economic Development for a resource. C.J will keep in touch quarterly.
*The Town Agriculture Committee meets 11/28/23 and guests include Crystal Buck from Cornell
Cooperative Extension and Codes Director Marry Moseley. It will be the last meeting for Town Board
Member representative Bill Goodman.
*Two applications from the NYS Office of Cannabis Management have been filed for retail
dispensary licenses in the town. This will carry to December's agenda for further discussion.
7.Next meeting date and upcoming agenda items: December 21, 2023 3:00 p.m.
Agenda: PDR program updated appraisals for two Ag parcels; Cannabis retail and cultivation
The Town of Ithaca Planning Committee meeting concluded at 3:53 pm.
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