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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOC Minutes 2024-02-08 TOWN OF ITHACA CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE (COC) Meeting of February 8, 2024—5:30 pm Shirley A. Raffensperger Board Room, Town Hall Minutes Members present: Rob Rosen, Chair, Chris Jung, Bill Arms & Susie Gutenberger-Fitzpatrick. Member excused: Eric Levine. Eva Hoffmann not present. Staff Present: C.J. Randall, Director of Planning; Chris Balestra, Senior Planner; Susan Brock, Attorney for the Town; Marty Moseley, Director of Code Enforcement; Daniel Thaete, Director of Engineering; Dana Magnuson, Senior Code Enforcement Officer. Guests: none The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. I. Member comments/concerns. Rob welcomed Dana to the meeting, she is the Town of Ithaca Senior Code Enforcement Officer. 2. Review minutes from January 11, 2024, COC meeting. Rob moved to approve the January 11, 2024, minutes with minor changes provided by the Attorney for the Town; Susie seconded. 4 Ayes. Approved. 3. Continued review of initial draft of Subdivision of Land Regulations. C.J. led the continued review of the draft, changes, and/or highlights starting with: Pg.6,Article II, §234-12.A. Single-Stage Review Add criteria for when no preliminary plat is required(in addition to the reference to the NYS Town Law in "C"). What standards make this a single-stage review?Also, make sure to cross- reference the correct Code sections listed. Pg.6-7, §234-13.A. Complete Subdivision Application Susan Brock asked if this section would apply to all subdivisions except exempt subdivisions and lot line adjustments. Staff responded"the checklists will apply to all subdivisions." The committee discussed the preliminary and final subdivision submission requirement checklists that are imbedded into the current law. C.J. notes that the staff recommendation is to pull the actual checklists out of the law and instead refer to them in the law. We would make the checklists stand-alone documents that are more easily amendable by Town Board resolution as needed(similar to what was done with the site plan checklists). The checklists are in need of updating already and the staff will work with Engineering and Codes to propose a new checklist to be adopted that will include all required submission elements for 1 a subdivision proposal. This checklist would pair with the proposed design manual that is being developed.All seemed to agree with this. Bill Arms emailed a suggestion at the end of A. His comment: "The ordinance needs to be clear whether or not the Planning Board can add extra conditions after the preliminary review. At the end of Section 234-13 A (line 263), 1 suggest: The Planning Board may approve, approve with conditions, or reject the application. " [Staff note: this is further discussed under 234-16 below] Pg. 7 §234-14. B. Complete Subdivision Application Code staff suggested that the law better define "subsequent development thereof." Committee first decided to strike "B" in its entirety instead, as it did not seem necessary. Committee ultimately decided to keep `B,"but strike the words "as well as subsequent development thereof' in the first line. §234-15. B. Preliminary Plat Subdivision Review The next version of the law will have updated titles for the various staff listed. This section will also cross- reference the new checklists that were mentioned above. §234-15. C. Preliminary Plat Subdivision Review The timeframe in which the applicant must post the sign for the public notice of proposed action was discussed in detail. Existing law language says that the notice must be posted at least 14 days and no more than 30 days prior to the public hearing. However, it is not possible to meet that requirement with two Planning Board meetings per month. Staff recommended reducing the number of days to 5 days to match and be consistent with NYS Town Law public notice posting for legal/hearing notices. This is also more realistically how it has been done in the past. The physical signage required is a Town of Ithaca Code requirement, not a New York State Town Law requirement. Therefore, it could be amended if agreeable by the committee. Chris B mentioned that the adjacent property owners receive mailed notices about a week ahead as a courtesy as well. The committee agreed to reduce the number to 5 days. Marty noted that the Zoning Code would need to be changed to reflect this. §234-15. D. Preliminary Plat Subdivision Review The revocable part of this section may need clarification. If it is in Town Law already, possibly leave as is, otherwise spell out the process of revocation of the action and list findings. §234-15. E. Preliminary Plat Subdivision Review Note the Secretary of the Planning Board is the Town Clerk in the Town of Ithaca and add within"5" business days in the first sentence. Certification of the resolution was discussed as well. 2 Pg.8, §234-16. C. Final Plat Subdivision Review Bill asked about the intent here, and wondered if language should be added to note that no new conditions of approval can be added at the final stage of review that were not already included as conditions at the preliminary stage of review. Susan stated that the existing language is per Town Law, the carryover of conditions is common between the stages. The Planning Board carries over"final"conditions from a preliminary resolution. The wording in this section was a little confusing, so the committee decided to replace the language in C with the language found in NYS Town Law Section 276. Susan also recommended town planning and engineering staff review the language in C (1)before final draft, to include process and timing, etc. Staff should look at or cross reference NYS Town Law here as well. In C (2), reference to the county health department should reflect the new name of Tompkins County Whole Health"or its successor."Also related to C (2), revise the first sentence to replace the term"a letter"with"approval." §234-16. E. Final Plat Subdivision Review C.J. noted the"5" days would be added in the beginning and noted the term"Secretary" of the Planning Board would be clarified to mean the clerk of the board. §234-17. Planning Board Findings. The Committee asked that the sentences be rearranged for the section to begin with the part that reads "The Planning Board will be guided in its consideration...."The section should now start with: "The Planning Board will be guided in its consideration of an application for the subdivision of land by the following general requirements. Land shall be suited to the purposes for which it will be subdivided..." (and so on as written). One other change in this section includes deleting the word"building" on line 336 of the printed pdf. Question in the last sentence (line 341 of the printed pdf), does "shall"mean that they must all be considered?Please clarify. §234-17. B. Physical Characteristics Delete the first line entirely("Land must be buildable and free of hazard"), as it is vague and confusing. The Town Comprehensive Plan was discussed in detail and how it relates to future development and how it is used for each project.Attorney comments will be added here to clarify— Susan suggested showing buildable area and not building envelopes. Pg. 9 §234-17. C. Natural and Historic Features This section needs to be reworked. The next iteration will have a few more details added from the Attorney comments. For example, there should be standards set for trees of significant DBH, and staff should discuss what is meant by"undeveloped natural areas."Bill 3 said this section could have more attention overall,based on the Planning Board at the time, it may need to have more detail or clarity. C.J. will revise. §234-17. D. Parks and Open Space This section also needs expansion and reworking. There should be standards—what are"proper cases?"May need to use wording from NYS Town Law verbatim. The committee ended at the end of D and will begin with line 376, Pg 9 §234-17. E. at the next meeting. 4. Other business: next meeting will be March 14, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. • Agenda: Continued review of initial draft Subdivision of Land Regulations, section noted above. The meeting adjourned at 6:54 p.m. 4