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Home My WebLink AboutPB Minutes 2016-07-12TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING BOARD Shirley A. Raffensperger Board Room, Town Hall 215 North Tioga Street Ithaca, New York 14850 Tuesday. July 12. 2016 SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA 7:00 P.M. Continue consideration of acceptance of a final scoping document for the draft Enyironmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding the proposed Maplewood Apartments Redeyelopment project located between Maple Ayenue and Mitchell Street, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No.'s 63.-2- 10.2, 63.-2-1, 63.-2-2, 63.-2-14, and 63.-2-3, High Density Residential Zone. The proposal inyolyes demolishing the existing Maplewood housing complex and redeyeloping the -I-/- 17 acre site with up to 500 residential units (studios and 1-4 bedroom units) in a mix of townhomes, stacked flats, and multi-family apartment buildings. The project will also include some small retail, new interior streets, parking areas, pedestrian facilities, open spaces, stormwater facilities, and a community center. Cornell Uniyersity, Owner/Applicant; EdR Trust, Applicant; Scott Whitham, Whitham Planning & Design, LLC, Agent. Copies of the current draft scoping document are ayailable at the Town of Ithaca Town Hall, 215 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY (call 607-273-1747), or on the Town's website: www.town.ithaca.ny.us. 2. Persons to be heard 3. Other Business 4. Adjournment Susan Ritter Director of Planning 273-1747 NOTE: IF ANY MEMBER OF THE PLANNING BOARD IS UNABLE TO ATTEND, PLEASE NOTIFY SANDY POLCE AT 273-1747 or SP()[.CE@TO\N N.H HACA.NV.US. (A quorum of four (4) members is necessary to conduct Planning Board business.) Accessing Meeting Materials Online Site Plan and Subdivision applications and associated project materials are accessible electronically on the Town's website under "Planning Board" on the "Meeting Agendas" page (luto://v\ww.town.lthaca.nv.us/meetinu-agenda.s). Town of Ithaca Planning Board 215 North Tioga Street July 12,2016 7:00 p.m. PLEASE SIGN-IN Please Print Clearly. Thank You Name Address TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING BOARD MEETING Tuesday, July 12, 2016 215 N. Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 Town Planning Board Members Present: Fred Wilcox (Chair), Linda Collins, Joseph Haefeli, John Beach, Yvonne Fogarry, Liebe Meier Swain Town Staff Present: Sue Ritter, Director of Planning; Chris Balestra, Planner; Susan Brock, Attorney for the Town; Debra DeAugistine, Town Clerk Call to Order Mr. Wilcox called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. AGENDA ITEM Consideration of acceptance of a final scoping document for the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding the proposed Maplewood Apartments Redevelopment project located between Maple Avenue and Mitchell Street, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No.'s 63.-2-10.2, 63.-2-1, 63.-2- 2, 63.-2-14, and 63.-2-3, High Density Residential Zone. The proposal involves demolishing the existing Maplewood housing complex and redeveloping the +/- 17 acre site with up to 500 residential units (studios and 1-4 bedroom units) in a mix of townhomes, stacked flats, and multi-family apartment buildings. The project will also include some small retail, new interior streets, parking areas, pedestrian facilities, open spaces, stormwater facilities, and a community center. Cornell University, Owner/Applicant; EdR Trust, Applicant; Scott Whitham, Whitham Planning &. Design, LLC, Agent. Mr. Wilcox stated that the board is working their way through the draft scoping document prepared by staff and dated July 5, 2016. They completed reviewing through page 20 at the meeting of July 5, and the plan is to finish going through the document at this meeting. Staff will then incorporate all the comments and prepare an updated version, which the board will review and consider approval of at the meeting of July 12. Ms. Balestra read the changes she made to the redlined version, starting on page 21. Minor changes were suggested by the board. She said the clean copy will go out in the planning board packet on Wednesday or Thursday. City of Ithaca Comments The planning board reviewed the comments submitted by the City of Ithaca. Ms. Balestra pointed out that the city planners were working from the original draft scoping document, so some of the issues have already been addressed. The planning board's responses to the comments that will not be incorporated into the document are noted below. Chapter 3: Existing Conditions, Impacts, and Mitigation Potential Impacts: Flora and fauna have been taken out of the document altogether. We're not doing a Phase I because we had no information showing that it was an area of concern and that it was necessary. This site has been disturbed and has had housing on it since the 1940s. If city staff were concerned that contamination migrated from the Belle Sherman Cottages site, the planning board Planning Board Minutes 07-12-2016 Page 2 of 3 discovered during that review that any spills had been remediated, and there was no indication that anything migrated. Mitigation Measures: The answer is that erosion control measures will be taken; this is done as part of site plan review. Chapter 7: Aesthetic Resources and Neighborhood Character Existing Conditions: The board didn't consider that as being relevant. The viewsheds from West Hill and South Hill will not be affected by the four-story buildings in this project. Ms. Ritter stated that when they were creating the town's Scenic Resources Inventory, the view from the hills coming down into the city was of buildings; that is a desirable view. It's not just about looking at forested hillsides; it's also the spectacular panorama of the developed area with the colleges and forested landscape in the background. Chapter 9: Recreation (previously Open Space, Recreation, Vegetation, and Fauna) Existing Conditions: The comment deals with vegetation, which was removed from the chapter, so it's not relevant. If this weren't an infill site, the board might feel differently. Also, the applicant is proposing to protect the trees in the cemetery. Chapter 4: Construction &. Demolition Activities It was generally considered that this has been covered in the document and the comment about impact of construction vehicles on local roads is handled through our local law; any impact on county roads will be covered by their law. The board always requires a construction staging plan to determine where the workers' truck will be parked. We also require a truck routing plan for trips to and from the site. Ms. Balestra pointed out that the fourth paragraph of this chapter already covers this issue. Applicant Questions The board provided clarification on questions from the applicant team. Two issues were left outstand ing in order to get input from the town engineer, regarding utilities, and from the sustainability planner and Mr. Bosak, regarding performance standards suggested in Mr. Bosak's rewrite of Chapter 5. Ms. Collins stated that the board decided to ask the applicant to look qualitatively at the South Hill Precinct. Does the qualitative information have the same standing as the quantitative information in terms of being able to make decisions? Ms. Brock said it depends on what the analysis shows. There might be things that come out of that analysis that will affect mitigations. AGENDA ITEM Persons to be heard - No one came forward to address the board. Planning Board Minutes 07-12-2016 Page 3 of 3 AGENDA ITEM Adjournment Upon a motion by Joseph Haefeli, the meeting adjourned at 9:31 p.m. Respectfully submitted, DeAugistineT-Deputy Town Clerk