HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOC Minutes 2024-05-09 TOWN OF ITHACA CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE (COCA
Meetingof 9, 2024—5:30 pm
Shirley A. Raffensperger Board Room, Town Hall
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; Chris Balestra, Senior Planner; Marty
Moseley, Director of Code Enforcement; Susan Brock,Attorney for the Town via Zoom.
Guests: none
The meeting began at 5:35 p.m., recorded on Zoom and streamed live on the Town of Ithaca
YouTube channel.
1. Member comments/concerns. None
2. Review minutes from April 11,2024, COC meeting. The draft minutes, with changes
proposed by Susan Brock, were shared on screen, reviewed, and discussed by the
committee. The committee engaged in a detailed discussion of density and how it is
calculated. There were references to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map and
the density limits within the special character areas where cluster and higher density
housing developments are more likely to occur. Additional minor changes were made to
the draft minutes. Rob moved to approve the draft minutes with changes, Eric seconded.
6 Ayes. Approved.
3. Review memorandum and potential recommendation relative to Modification to
Accessory Dwelling Unit regulations. Rob provided some background on this topic.
Marty submitted a memo to the committee with a proposed recommendation to modify
the Town Code to allow an existing second kitchen inside of a single-family home to
remain without considering the home a two-family home (single-family with an
accessory dwelling unit(ADU)). Two-family homes require fire separation, legal means
of egress, operating permit for ADU rental, and other requirements.
The Town Code currently defines a"dwelling unit" as having complete living facilities
for one family (e.g.,kitchen, bath, sleeping area). A single-family home with a basement
that contains a second kitchen would technically be considered a two-family home, with
the basement considered a second dwelling unit.
The cost of adding the fire separation to make a legal two-unit home and the cost of
removing a kitchen were among the items factored into the consideration of allowing a
second kitchen in a single-family home. Rather than require single-family homeowners to
remove their second kitchens or seek variances to have the home classified as a two-
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family just for the sake of keeping a second kitchen (thus requiring the homeowner to
install legal fire separation and comply with other NYS Building Code requirements), the
proposal includes a solution to insert the term "or sleeping area" into Town Code 270-
219.E B. (4). This section of the Code lists the items that are required to be removed from
a home to consider it a single-family home. Adding"or sleeping area" in this section
would allow one to have a second kitchen and bathroom in a basement, but no sleeping
area, so the home would still be considered a single-family home.
The consensus of the committee was that the proposed amendment was reasonable and
the least intrusive way to achieve the goal. It was noted that a building permit would be
required to remove the sleeping area, kitchen, or bath to revert the classification from a
two-family to single-family classification. Marry will revise the proposal accordingly.
Rob made a motion, seconded by Eric, to make a favorable recommendation to the Town
Board for the proposed changes to Town Code 270-219.6 B. (4), with the addition of
requiring a building permit. 6 Ayes, approved.
4. Review 2024 Codes and Ordinances Committee Work Plan. The 2024 Work Plan was
discussed, with C.J. stating that the Subdivision Regulation revisions was the highest
priority (and currently in process). The next list of three high priority areas to consider
amendments were discussed -the amendments to the Accessory Dwelling Unit
Regulations—was just completed (item 93 above). C.J. briefly explained the remaining
two items. The committee will focus next on Town Code 270-239 Zoning Violations and
penalties section before developing Institutional Zoning per the Town Comprehensive
Plan. C.J. did not have a lot of information about the amendments needed to Zoning
Violations section and referred to an e-mail sent by the Attorney for the Town in May of
2023 to herself and Marty. In summary,it has to do with revocation of Planning and
Zoning Board approvals. She will follow up with the committee with a more detailed
overview at the next meeting.
The regulations in process via the Town Planning Committee were listed on the COC
Work plan along with the regulations completed in 2023.
5. Continued review of initial draft of Subdivision of Land Regulations. C.J. led the
continued review of the draft regulations, changes, and highlights starting with:
Page 17 of PDF, §234-29 Number of Dwelling Units permitted - Remove old A in its
entirety and replace with (E), on line 689 of the PDF, the proposed method to calculate
the number of dwelling units permitted in a clustered subdivision.
Page 18, (5) Bonus Density section - Susan Brock stated that this section needed to be re-
worded. Rob asked what one would need to do to get the 15%bonus. C.J. explained that
the Town Code would need an amendment by the Town Board to note where and when
these bonuses could be given. Susan mentioned that she will need to research the Town's
ability to require public access to the protected open space. She will look more carefully
at NYS Town Law §261-b and will collaborate with staff to reword the relevant areas.
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The committee then went into a long discussion about density bonuses. Chris showed the
committee the Town Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map, and explained the
character area locations in the town where the density bonuses would be likely. The
density bonuses would be generally located in areas listed on the Map as "Traditional
Neighborhood Development/TND,"which are areas close to employment centers,with
potential for multi-modal transportation connections, with existing public water/sewer
utilities and other infrastructure, etc.
The committee had difficulty visualizing what a 15% density bonus would look like in a
practical application, so they asked for a visual representation of the 15% and other
density bonus options. The committee wanted to ensure that the bonus would be
motivating enough for developers to utilize and substantiate the number chosen. Staff
will prepare a few GIS maps to illustrate this concept for a future meeting.
Susan explained that the Town Board is the entity required to change the zoning density
and would not be looking at the bonuses case by case, only as an overall zoning
amendment.
C.J. asked the committee to consider what might make a good incentive to developers to
encourage a balanced blend of high-quality housing opportunities to meet one of the
major goals in the Comprehensive Plan (Goal HN-2). She asked the committee to think
whether blending the density bonus into the subdivision regulations is the best place to
implement the goal.
Eva noted the importance of keeping wildlife corridor connectivity in consideration when
looking at open space requirements.
Page 18, §234-29 existing E&F—This section restricts the number of dwelling units per
structure in a clustered development (maximum six semi-detached, attached, or
multistory dwelling units per structure). Rob asked why the limit is six dwelling units and
not some other number? C.J. explained this was one of the areas amended in the 2013
revisions and the legislative history and reasoning can be looked into and shared with the
committee. Chris stated the reasoning was likely design related. More discussion is
needed on whether to keep these provisions or remove them.
The committee will continue with Page 18, §234-29 new "F"next time.
Other business: next meeting scheduled for June 13, 2024, at 5:30 p.m.
• Agenda:
- Continued review of initial draft Subdivision of Land Regulations, Page 18,
§234-29 new F. Development Standards
- Discussion of amendments to Town Code §270-239-Violations/Penalties
The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
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