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Home My WebLink AboutPC Packet 2024-05-16 TOWN OF ITHACA „ n NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING 215 N. Tioga St 14850 607.273.1747 www.town ith acany.gov TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING COMMITTEE THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2024 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 April meeting minutes. 4. Discuss Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and potential modifications to Town Code 270 (Zoning). 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. Town of Ithaca Planning Committee Thursday,April 18,2024 (3:00 PM Aurora Conference Room and on Zoom) Draft Minutes Committee members present: Rich DePaolo, Chair; Rod Howe. Margaret Johnson was excused. Board/Staff members: Director of Planning C.J. Randall; Senior Planner Mike Smith; Senior Code Enforcement Officer Dana Magnuson; Director of Codes Marty Moseley. Guests: None 1. Persons to be heard: None. 2. Committee announcements and concerns: None 3.Approval of March meeting minutes: Rich moved, Rod seconded. The March 21, 2024, minutes were approved as presented. 2-ate 4. Continued review and consideration of appraisals for two potential conservation easements and recommendation to the Town Board. Senior Planner Mike Smith reported on discussions he had recently with the two property owners considering the sale of the land's development rights. Both landowners are interested in proceeding and the initial proposal to donate some of the value (no specific dollar amounts yet) to the town is still the intent for both properties. The owner of the Hayts Road smaller parcel noted an intention to donate a large portion of the proceeds from the potential sale to another charitable organization within a year, meaning the intention to sell is firm. The other property owner on Sheffield Rd. is in the process of selling off the unused farm lots and has a potential buyer for the property in question with the intent of the conservation easement being already in place. The Planning Committee was in favor of a recommendation to the Town Board to continue forward with the process for potential purchase of development rights for the parcels appraised. Mike noted the Attorney for the Town can put together the purchase offer language for both properties and the survey process can begin once the Town Board has made their decision on formally moving forward or not. An informal summary of the committee recommendation can be made at the upcoming Town Board meeting to gauge the board's interest engaging counsel to prepare documentation (which will indicate the value of any potential donations). 5. Continued discussion of potential historic preservation program implementation. The committee reviewed and discussed the summary and next steps related to finalizing the framework for a joint City/Town Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission. Step 1 is public outreach and education for the new/revised law, along with concurrent parallel review by the Town Board and Planning Committee. Appointment of the Town commission members would follow and then the ordinance would need to be reviewed by NY SHPO.This work is anticipated to be complete in the Yd Qtr. of 2024. Step 2 will be the Town applying to be a Certified Local Government(CLG); this is anticipated in the 4th Qtr. Of 2024. In addition to the new chapter to the Town of Ithaca Code titled"Landmarks Preservation," Marty and Dana recommended a few additional changes to town code chapters as follows: 1 Chapter 125: Building Construction and Fire Prevention Add definitions from the (draft)proposed Landmarks Law to § 125-3: Definitions. Amend § 125-5A to add: "A building permit is required for any exterior work on a building or structure designated as a landmark structure or on a building or structure located within an historic district." Chapter 270: Zoning Add definitions from the (draft)proposed Landmarks Law to § 270-5: Definitions. Add new § 270-2 16: Landmarks. (replacing section currently marked `Reserved'): Integrate new process for officially designated landmarks or landmark districts to § 270-233: Permit to build. The committee had a few minor questions on how and to whom the public outreach would be done along with the timing of both the amendments to the existing zoning chapters and adoption of the new law. C.J. and Rod replied that the 2021 webinar presented by the City of Ithaca Historic Preservation Planner was informative and can likely be the starting point of the broad public reintroduction with highlights on the changes made to the current proposed language. The city has methods for target areas that will have direct notification by mail as well,possibly a media release. Marty stated the zoning code changes would be after the local law and a possible buffer in timing may be needed to allow for the changes to coincide. 6. Staff updates and reports. C.J. updated that the Maplewood II project is still in the financing process with Cornell; the project is anticipated to appear before the Planning Committee in June. No new progress on South Hill TND. Tompkins County has an RFP out for the possibility of providing EV charging stations as a service around the county. If there is one to be potentially located in the Town of Ithaca, a code change will be needed to clarify vehicle fueling station" as they would not be related to the Town's vehicle fleet. Holochuck property on West Hill,working with NYS Parks for a potential conservation/consolidation of a portion of the property; no formal plans for remaining property yet. Town Capital Improvement Plan is anticipated to come to the Planning Committee in June for input on the Parks, Recreation, Open Space, and trails areas. No new Cannabis applications or news on the ones. Properties still on the market for sale: Strawberry Hill and RaNic Golf Course (Country Club of Ithaca).No new information on the SouthWorks property development. Informal meeting with Conifer for the 50-acre parcel north of their current housing development; discussions include affordable housing, single family, town homes, senior living concept. 7.Next meeting date and upcoming agenda items: May 16, 2024, 3:00 p.m. Agenda: (June: CIP and Maplewood II PDZ) The Town of Ithaca Planning Committee meeting concluded at 3:30 p.m. 2 TOWN OF ITHACA IB ?I NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING 215 N. Tioga St 14850 607.273.1747 www.townithaca ny.gov TO: PLANNING COMMITTEE MEMBERS FROM: C.J. RANDALL, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING DATE: MAY 9, 2024 RE: ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS (PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE) Issues • Publicly accessible Electric Vehicle Charging Stations as commercial enterprises; and • Publicly accessible Electric Vehicle Charging Stations as a municipal program. Basics of Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations'for public charging of EVs EV charging stations provide various power levels to charge an electric vehicle at different rates. • Level 1 -- provides charging through a common residential 120-volt (120V) AC outlet, resulting in 2-5 miles of driving range per hour of charging. Ideal for locations where EV car owners can charge all day or all night. • Level 2 -- AC Level 2 stations use 240V to provide up to 19.2 kW, resulting in 10-20 miles of driving range per hour of charging. Ideal for topping off at locations where patrons will be parked for a while. • Level 3 — Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC), also known as a 'supercharger' — uses 500V to provide 50-400kW of power resulting in more than 100 miles of range per hour (up to 3-20 miles of range per minute). Closer to a conventional vehicle fuel station, this works best as a stopover on longer road trips when EV car drivers need to charge on the go. The two biggest factors affecting a basic Level 2 EV charging station's cost are speed and network capability. A Level 2 unit's maximum charging speed can vary widely, anywhere from 3.8 kW to 19.2 kW depending on the unit and the capacity of the vehicle it is attached to. 1 Also referred to as EVSE (Electric Vehicle Service Equipment). Level and 3 stations are typically networked, which means the station communicates via cellular network to connect with a service provider that provides information and features to the host and driver. The pedestal AC Level 2 station typically also has a retractable charging cord (to keep it off the ground) and an electronic display for messages and collecting payment. Publicly accessible Electric Vehicle Charging Stations as commercial enterprises The Town's interpretation of commercial EV charging stations is through the lens of the purpose articulated within Article XVII: Vehicle Fueling and Repair Commercial Zones: The purpose of the Vehicle Fueling and Repair Commercial Zone is to provide areas where retail sales of automotive gasoline and related products might occur as well as the sale and repair of automobiles, all in an environment that minimizes the impact of such activities on residential and Neighborhood Commercial Zones. EV charging stations are not a use currently permitted in any zone of the Town (defined in Chapter 144: IECS— https://ecode360.com/40470645#40470645 —though not defined in Chapter 270: Zoning). To encourage broad deployment of EV Charging Stations on private property, the Town may consider defining EV charging as a use in Zoning and allowing Level 1 and Level 2 charging stations as an accessory use in all Zoning districts. Staff recommends that Level 3 charging stations also be allowed as an accessory use in all Zoning districts, but with review by the Code Enforcement, Engineering, and Planning Departments as these 'superchargers' require coordination with the electric utility (NYSEG) and potentially the Town's DER (Distributed Energy Resource) program administrator. Publicly accessible Electric Vehicle Charging Stations as a municipal program Leisure destinations —such as parks—offer good opportunities for top-off charging. Tompkins County Department of Planning & Sustainability has a new partnership initiative to consider locations for more public Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers on municipal property around the County. The Town's Sustainability Planner Hilary Swartwood coordinated with the Town's Engineering and Public Works Departments earlier this year to review potential locations in the Town to locate publicly accessible EV Charging Stations. It is anticipated that the Town's Public Works Department will be responsible for limited operations and maintenance; it is assumed that a maintenance contract with an EV contractor would cover most of the support for both hardware and software services including payment management, customer support, station status, data reporting, and access to a network dashboard. All EV Charging Stations require the owner (in this case, the Town) to purchase electricity. This includes both the per-kWh charge for electricity directly used by the charger and potential demand charges if the charger increases the peak demand of any location. It's important to note that DCFC stations create a large EV charging load, so it is important to understand any site's load capacity as this can dramatically affect costs. NYSEG's load capacity mapping system can help determine if a site can support new EV charging load. 2 As of the most recent NYSERDA Charge Ready NY 2.0 (2023) solicitation, NYSEG indicated that meter costs are $20/ month per station regardless of usage. The Town would pay for electricity under its existing NYSEG accounts and in turn, can generate revenue from the stations by charging users a fee to use the station to charge an EV. The Town can generate revenue from the EV charging station, however, that is limited to a few options: based on the amount of energy charged (similar to a utility bill), the time spent using the charger (similar to a parking meter), or as a flat per-charging-session fee. A flat per-session fee will benefit those who can use the most energy per charge session. Time-based fees benefit those who charge at a fast rate. Service networks may also support custom pricing strategies, such as including a time-based 'parking meter' rate in addition to the charging fees to encourage people to move their vehicles once charging is complete (especially important in a popular leisure destination like East Shore Park, which is generally overparked in the peak summer season). Consultation with the Town Finance Officer can assist in selecting a finance mechanism to structure the program. For example, an enterprise fund may recoup user fees in operations, which are calculated to recover the entire cost of operations, including indirect costs, debt service, and overhead costs. Further Reading EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Tompkins County Plug-in Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan Plug-in Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan in Tompkins County: Charging Station Installation Analysis NYSERDA's Electric Vehicle Charging Station infographic Please contact me with any questions or concerns at cirandall@townithacany.gov or 607-882- 2474. 3