HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOC Minutes 2024-03-14 TOWN OF ITHACA CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE (COC)
Meeting of March 14, 2024—5:30 pm
Shirley A. Raffensperger Board Room, Town Hall
Final Minutes
Members present: Rob Rosen, Chair, Eric Levine, Eva Hoffmann, Chris Jung, Bill Arms &
Susie Gutenberger-Fitzpatrick.
Staff Present: C.J. Randall, Director of Planning; Susan Brock, Attorney for the Town; Marty
Moseley, Director of Code Enforcement; David O'Shea, Civil Engineer; Dana Magnuson,
Senior Code Enforcement Officer.
Guests: none
The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m., recorded on Zoom and streamed live on the Town
of Ithaca YouTube channel.
1. Member comments/concerns. Rob announced that the Town Personnel Committee had
been discussing the possibly of adding a per meeting stipend for the COC members,
similar to the Planning, Zoning, and Conservation Boards,respectively.
2. Review minutes from February 8,2024, COC meeting. Rob moved to approve the
February 8, 2024, minutes with changes provided by the Attorney for the Town; Susie
seconded. 6 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 9 §234-17. E. Protection of Agricultural Infrastructure and Significant
Agricultural Lands. This section was discussed in detail and will be re-worded and/or
reference added for the density requirements in §270-35. The soils will need to be defined
or made the same as in the Zoning Code.Add or clarify note that any adverse
environmental impact will be addressed during the environmental review.
§234-17. L Change "lots"to building envelope/buildable area; notation on the plat for
"buildable area" is common. Marty asked how"periodic" flooding is defined or
determined.
§234-17.J. Delete in entirety or make more simple reference that outdoor lighting must
meet all requirements in Chapter 173.
Pg 10 §234-18 Modifications of Final Plat. Delete in entirety, as this is covered in the
new Lot Line Modification section. Note the Planning Director will be the one
empowered to consider these minor plat modifications (currently the Town Engineer is
who must sign and consider the minor lot line modification requests).
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§234-19. Public Hearings. Change from 14 days to 5 days for the posting of the onsite
sign to match the Preliminary Plat change made at prior COC meeting. Change Planning
Board"Secretary"to "Clerk." If this language can be modified to indicate that the same
posting and public hearing requirements apply to preliminary and final stages of review,
then this duplicate language can be deleted, if there is language that indicates that the
same requirements are applicable to all public hearing stages of subdivisions.
§234-20. Environmental Review. Change"his"to "its" for gender neutral refences
throughout the documents. Remove "as its agency" in first sentence.Add language so the
last sentence reads as follows: "The Planning Board will usually act as the lead agency
for the environmental review of subdivisions within the Town of Ithaca, although the
subdivider may also be required to obtain approvals and permits from other agencies,
such as the Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals or Tompkins County Whole Health,
prior to final approval of the project."
Pg 11 §234-21 Fees. Discussion was spent on the agreement that the Fee Schedule is a
separate document that can be changed by Town Board resolution and not imbedded into
the law. The language was vague in terms of when escrow deposits are required, and who
determines the amount. Would need cross reference or more detail, if not on the fee
schedule document.
§234-22 Appeals and waivers. A new law reference related to this section will need to
be cross referenced or pulled into this section - see Attorney comments after §234-3A.
Section B was proposed to be removed, as it implies Zoning Board of Appeals actions. A
set of criteria or a checklist would need to be made if this was a practice of the Planning
Board rather than referral to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Susan recalled waivers only
being granted by the Planning Board when things were not required on the subdivision
checklist for small projects, not waivers related to any Zoning Codes. This item is flagged
for further discussion, as C.J. thinks there could be situations where the Planning Board
should be allowed to waive zoning provisions.
§234-23 Severability. This section can be removed in entirety due to being embedded in
Local Law.
Pg. 12 Article IV. Subdivision Design Standards. §234-25 Preservation of natural
features. General: Review and amend this section's requirements in light of the findings
the Planning Board must make per § 234-17. B. Add"including mitigation of the
introduction of invasive species"to the end of the sentence. Locate the referenced Open
Space Index or re-word to reference the Town Park, Recreation and Open Space Plan
adopted in 1997. C. Add unless the Planning Board finds "based on submitted
information" that a change would be ecologically sound; add"and complies with Town
Code § 270-219.5 (stream setback)" at the end of the sentence. E. remove "occupancy
or". Marty asked about the term "inhabitable" and whether a use will "aggravate an
existing flood hazard" - define or give examples and due to the reference to residential
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uses,he asked about commercial uses, clarify if these same standards apply in this
section.
§234-26 Flag Lots. 3. Add"shown on the Town's Official Map" after existing public or
private street. The committee discussed the intent of flag lots and possibly adding a list of
reasons in the Zoning chapter why they would be not allowed or desired in areas other
than cluster subdivisions.NYS Fire Codes applying to the longer driveways similar to
roads was mentioned as well.
The committee ended at the end§234-26 Flag Lots and will begin with line 529, Pg 12 §234-27
Minimum gross area for clustering at the next meeting.
Rob asked if the timeline should be revised for the review of the document, as it was taking
longer than anticipated. C.J. stated that once the committee finishes Article IV, the overall Scope
of Work could be revisited and updated at that time. The 2024 COC Work Plan may also need to
be revisited and revised as well.
4. Other business: next meeting scheduled for April 11, 2024, at 5:30 p.m.
• Agenda: Continued review of initial draft Subdivision of Land Regulations, section
noted above. Revisit Scope of Work and Work Plan in May.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
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