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Home My WebLink About11-14-2024 COC meeting packet-MEETING CANCELLED PLANNING DEPARTMENT 215 N. Tioga St 14850 607.273.1747 www.townithacany.gov 11/5/2024 TO: Codes and Ordinances Committee: Rob Rosen, Chair Susie Gutenberger-Fitzpatrick Eric Levine Eva Hoffmann Chris Jung Bill Arms FROM: Christine Balestra, Senior Planner RE: Next Codes and Ordinances Committee Meeting November 14, 2024 The next meeting of the Codes and Ordinances Committee is scheduled for Thursday, November 14, 2024, at 5:30 pm in the Town Board Room, located in Town Hall at 215 North Tioga Street. A quorum of the Town of Ithaca Town Board may be present at this meeting. However, no official Town Board business will be conducted. The following items are attached: 1. Draft minutes from the October 10, 2024, COC meeting. If you cannot attend this meeting, please notify Abby Homer as soon as possible at (607) 273 - 1747, or ahomer@townithacany.gov. cc: Susan H. Brock, Attorney for the Town C.J. Randall, Director of Planning Marty Moseley, Director of Code Enforcement Abby Homer, Administrative Assistant Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk (email) Town Administrative staff (email) Town Code Enforcement staff (email) Town Planning staff (email) Town Public Works staff (email) Media TOWN OF ITHACA CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE 215 North Tioga Street Ithaca, New York 14850 (607) 273-1747 PLEASE NOTE: This meeting will be held in person in the Town Board Room at Town Hall, 215 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY, on November 14, 2024, at 5:30pm. Members of the public may join the meeting via Zoom: • Join Zoom meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87531393743 • Zoom meeting ID: 875 3139 3743 • Dial in phone: 929-436-2866 Meeting of November 14, 2024 – 5:30 P.M. AGENDA 1. Member comments/concerns. 2. Review draft minutes from the October 10, 2024, COC meeting. 3. Continue review of Initial Draft Subdivision of Land regulations (existing regulations: https://ecode360.com/8660770), Article IV. 4. Other business: • Next meeting agenda. Town of Ithaca Planning Department November 5, 2024 TOWN OF ITHACA CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE (COC) Meeting of October 10, 2024—5:30 pm Shirley A. Raffensperger Board Room, Town Hall Draft Minutes Members present: Rob Rosen, Chair, Chris Jung, Bill Arms, Eva Hoffmann. Eric Levine via Zoom. Member absent: Susie Gutenberger-Fitzpatrick Staff Present: C.J. Randall, Director of Planning; David O'Shea, Director of Engineering; Dana Magnuson, Senior Code Officer; Marty Moseley, Director of Code Enforcement; Susan Brock, Attorney for the Town; Chris Balestra, Senior Planner;Nick Quilty-Koval, Planner. Guests: One student in the audience. The meeting began at 5:30 p.m.,was recorded on Zoom and streamed live on the Town of Ithaca YouTube channel. 1. Member comments/concerns. None 2. Review minutes from September 12,2024, COC meeting. Rob moved to accept the minutes; Bill seconded, and Eva offered a minor change in addition to two minor changes submitted by Susan Brock. All members voted in favor of approval of the September 12, 2024, COC meeting minutes as amended. 3. Continued review of initial Draft Subdivision of Land regulations: Planner Nick Quilty-Koval began with an additional graphic presentation of the same three sites that were previously shown to the committee. The previous presentation applied the proposed clustered provisions and focused on preserving more of the natural features than the proposed regulations required, leaving housing layouts to be dense in focused areas on smaller lots. At the request of the committee,Nick gave a new presentation that showed each site using the minimum proposed clustered preservation requirements. For comparison, the resource analysis and dwelling unit breakdowns were shown for each site along with the progression of each of the three versions shown to the COC to date. C.J. noted that the Planning Board had the authority to review and determine that the plans meet the overall preservation goals. Since each site in the town is unique and has individual constraints, the Planning Board has the authority to issue waivers to individual aspects of the clustered provisions. Nick and Rob both noted that these illustrations were done without professional surveyor work, and it is likely that the preservation goals could be met on all of the sites if a developer invested in the time. Chris B commented that,based on the different versions shown and the proposed regulations,the overall takeaway is that cluster subdivision is a good development tool. There can be a significant amount of density while preserving a significant amount of environmentally sensitive land. Rob summarized that there appears to be a 60%build to 40%preserve overall requirement and it seemed achievable by the visual representations provided by staff. Eva commented about the uniqueness of Ithaca, developing in the way that the cluster subdivision proposes. She cautioned, however, that it is best to have clear regulations to follow without having to change or flex based on the rules. Bill's concern was the 1 Planning Board not being presented with a plan that does not fit with the regulations and being tasked to determine each situation differently, which could be a deterrent to developers. C.J. explained that the Planning Board could waive requirements, depending on each situation. Chris J commented that the proposed regulations are helpful in providing different types of housing, providing affordable housing, and saving on infrastructure and construction costs. The committee went back to review the proposed revised Subdivision Regulations, beginning with Section F: Development Standards. Susan highlighted her previous note/comment to revise the law to list the standards the Planning Board should apply to determine if the applicable conservation goals are met. This will give the Planning Board directions to follow. Marty concurred that this would help the board making findings for a waiver. Committee members were in favor of this list, so staff will revise the law accordingly. The committee moved on to Section G: Conservation Standards. Marty asked about Section G (3)(d) "required conservation buffers,"referencing the"suitable buffer"requirement. The proposed law states that a buffer should be provided where a conservation subdivision abuts an existing residence in a residentially zoned area, and it states that the buffer should be at least the same distance as the rear or side yard setback. Marty noted that those setback numbers are often different, and the proposed law does not specify which should apply. This should be revised. Related to specific environmental resource issues, Eva asked if the stream setback law should be reviewed relative to climate change, suggesting greater setbacks if there is a greater chance of the water rising above a certain level. Staff explained that the stream setback law requires measurements to be from the top of the streambank and not the center of the stream, so this will apply with higher water levels in the future. C.J. mentioned that there are the NYS Wetland regulation changes coming, and the town will be looking at its own regulations. The town can also review the stream setback regulations at the same time. The committee left off on page 21 of the paper copy of the law, Section H. Conservation subdivision design steps and review procedures. C.J. noted there is some redundancy in the language that will be removed.A note from previous review mentioned the 6 steps, especially 1 (c) which needs to be written more clearly as well. There was discussion of roads being essentially their own parcel and part of the common/open space and not including them into the buildable calculation. Private road ownership versus town ownership was discussed as well. The committee will pick back up with this section, page 21,line 820, next month. Bill noted that the original online version page/line numbers of the proposed regulations do not quite line up with the paper version anymore with the changes added to date. He wondered if it would be worth it to re-print copies for the committee. Staff stated that there is the ability to download and print from the online version, but it might be least complicated to have only one printed version for now. Staff will direct the committee to the pertinent pages and lines. Then,when the committee is done reviewing the initial (current) draft, staff will update everything and provide the COC with a revised draft version from which to work. Other business: Next meeting -November 14, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. Agenda - Continued review of the draft subdivision regulations. The meeting adjourned at 6:48 p.m. 2