HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PEDC-2022-01-19Approved at the
March 2022 PEDC Meeting
City of Ithaca
Planning & Economic Development Committee
Wednesday, January 19, 2022 – 6:00 p.m.
Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 108 East Green Street
Minutes
Committee Members Attending: Laura Lewis, Chair; Cynthia Brock, Rob
Gearheart, Patrick Mehler
Committee Members Absent: Alderperson Phoebe Brown
Other Elected Officials Attending: Mayor Svante Myrick, Alderperson George
McGonigal, and Faith Vavra
Staff Attending: Lisa Nicholas, Deputy Director, Planning and
Development Department; and Deborah
Grunder, Executive Assistant
Others Attending:
Chair Laura Lewis called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
1) Call to Order/Agenda Review
Chair Laura Lewis welcomed everyone to the first Planning and Economic
Development Committee meeting of the year.
She introduced the committee members: First Ward Alderperson Cynthia
Brock, Second Ward Alderperson Phoebe Brown (unable to attend), Third Ward
Alderperson Rob Gearhart, and Fourth Ward Alderperson Patrick Mehler as well as
herself, Laura Lewis, Fifth Ward Alderperson and Chair.
Chair Lewis also thanked former Alderperson and PEDC chair for many years,
Seth Murtagh, who served the City as Alderperson very well and certainly served as
Chair of the PEDC very expertly.
She also thanked JoAnn Cornish, our retired Planning Director who has lived in
the City of Ithaca her whole life and has served our City so well for many, many years.
Thank you to them both.
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She further thanked Acting Director Lisa Nicholas who along with Debbie
Grunder is supporting our meeting tonight.
The meeting will begin we'll begin with public comment and a reminder to
members of the public that there is a three-minute limit. A one-minute heads up will
be given when your time is about to run out but please do note yourselves that you will
have three minutes to speak.
2) Public Comment
Sarah Curless, 838 North Aurora Street, shared her disappointment that
although the eviction moratorium for the state of New York was allowed to expire this
past Saturday which put 210 000 households at risk of eviction in the state that the
Common Council of Ithaca has not passed any good cause legislation to date and is
not even close to doing so. This legislation would protect so many renters from
eviction in the
City during global pandemic which is still raging. As someone who is currently
sick with Covid and quarantining at my current residence, she thankful that she does
not have to worry about losing her rental housing as well.
Those at risk of eviction and suffering from Covid and those who have chronic
illnesses and are more susceptible to the many terrible effects of this disease do not
have that luxury the government of a municipality is supposed to protect all of its
people as best it can especially from avoidable threats such as homelessness and a
climate with negative Fahrenheit temperatures
She urged the City to please do the right thing and pass good cause legislation
for the City as many other municipalities have done in this state since the summer and
other states passed decades ago. If other cities and states have shown that good
cause works for tenants, there's no reason not to enact it here. This state allegedly
has relatively good tenant protections by this country's standards so as a self-
proclaimed progressive City, we should be legislating those values. Also Alderperson
Patrick Mehler’s proposed amendment to the city code is a Band-Aid for what really
needs to be done. It is a distraction from the passage of good cause eviction. Taking
the bill out of committee was a mistake and it's time to do the right thing for the
residents of Ithaca.
Bhuvan Singla, 206 West Lincoln Street, he lives here with his mother. He is
medically disabled and they are marginalized immigrants. He provided examples from
his own personal life.
The landlord who owns the property where we currently live is selling the house
which means we have to move out. We want to move out, but the good cause eviction
is not in conflict with the goals of the landlord. We will move out and cause no conflict
for him.
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He used to live on Slaterville Road for almost half a decade. Once the
landlord became elderly, they wanted to sell the house. That meant they had to go.
He didn't want to move out because he lived there for a long time and was part of
the neighborhood. The landlord moved in and renovated it. After three years he is
still there. The last example I would like to give is one of my clients from my
computer services became disabled, losing his fingers in an accident and his
landlord just removed him. He didn’t renew the lease even though he was able to
pay.
Landlords are selfish and prioritized with themselves. He feels that good
cause eviction causes them to think about the community first and think if it benefits
my community and therefore benefits me versus the other way around.
3) Special Order of Business
a) Public Hearing
Alderperson Brock moved to open; seconded by Alderperson Mehler. Carried
unanimously.
Carolyn Headlam, 310 W. State Street, stated on January 15th over Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. weekend during a massive snowstorm and yet another
covered winter the New York State Government allowed the eviction moratorium
which has secured shelter for tens of thousands of the most vulnerable New Yorkers
to expire leaving renters quite literally out in the cold.
Tomorrow night right here in the City of Ithaca, four households are on the
eviction docket on the 27th. That number rises to 11 families at risk of eviction and
permanent displacement from our City. Ithaca is a city of renters. Three out of four
Ithaca city residents rent our homes so when you evict us you risk permanently
unraveling the fabric of our City.
To combat the violence of displacement and homelessness, Common Council
needs to pass strong and comprehensive good cause legislation. We need more
than a revised timeline for lease renewals. We need a baseline right to remain in our
homes because housing is a human right. We also need a robust right-to-counsel
program so that Ithacans of all income levels can receive quality representation. To
date we have not received any details about that program. These programs and
policies must be informed by the lived experiences of Ithaca tenants in a city where
three out of out of four residents are renters a working group with one tenant is not
sufficient equitable landlord-tenant relations are a matter of public welfare in the
midst of a global pandemic it is also a matter of public health. I implore you to pass
comprehensive good cause beyond the lease renewal that that has been placed on
the agenda tonight.
Genevieve Rand, 128 E. Spencer Street, her comments are basically along
the same line as the others. With this lease renewal timeline regulation, she doesn’t
disagree with the intent of the law to place a stricter guideline when landlords can
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start pressuring people for lease renewals because people just aren't generally able
to make that decision way far in advance. She thinks regulating this and creating like
a new period is a good idea in theory but it doesn't actually work if people can be
denied a lease renewal for no reason. The law has no teeth, and you can't really
functionally uphold it if people can then just be denied renewal for absolutely no
reason.
What would the enforcement mechanism for this even be legally? What
happens if the landlord violates this law? The obvious thing would be that they then
cannot deny that tenant lease renewal. If they start asking before this required wait
period has expired, then they cannot evict that person for non-renewal. They would
be in fear unless they wanted to go for financial damages which would be hard to
calculate. It is just so much simpler, and the reason that the regulation of lease
renewable timeline is included in good cause is because one needs to be able to
stop a landlord from denying somebody a lease renewal. That is the only way that
this has any teeth.
As far as the law, I understand the intention of it, but it doesn't do anything if
you don't stop the denial for no reason. That is why it needs to be a part of good
cause legislation. It doesn’t really functionally do anything if it is separated out
because there is no way to enforce it. It is not a bad idea, but it belongs as part of
the bill that actually gives it a way to function which is good cause, and that is what
we need to pass
Ray Schlather, Schlather, Stumbar, Parks, and Salk, LLP, 200 East Buffalo
Street, Ithaca, started out a with a simple story. Years ago he chaired the charter and
ordinance committee of this Council and along with his colleagues attempted to
amend the plumbing code. It made a lot of sense for a lot of people. We made a
mess of it. Why? Because we did it or we tried to do it without inviting the plumbers to
table. He suggested the City has an opportunity to make some constructive useful
changes to the rental code. But the City has not engaged the landlords. He gave an
example of how artificial barriers and artificial deadlines create unintended
consequences or have unintended consequences. Given the present legislation, what
you're trying to do with §258.10 you are trying to change the 60-day period to 180
days, and you're trying to eliminate the waiver opportunity that people can ente r into.
There are two problems with that. Number one, you're going to run into some
constitutional issues. This may sound brash and brazen, but that's the bottom line.
Regulatory taking is similar to physical taking in the eyes of the law.
If it becomes confiscatory and my guess you have not had a chance to do the
legal research that is necessary to determine that this level of regulatory taking will
have that consequence but more importantly is many of you talked about how we want
to protect the individual tenant. The way the legislation is written there's nothing to
preclude a landlord from showing the apartment virtually, in other words, not go into
the apartment but make arrangements to rent to a new tenant, have it all set up and
then at the 180-day deadline simply sign up the new tenant. The existing tenant is out
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in the cold and my concern there these are little problems that can be resolved, they
can be addressed, and they can be.
What he is trying to explain is that even under this well-intended legislation the
unintended consequence may very well force existing tenants, primarily student
housing kinds of tenants, existing student housing tenants from not having the
opportunity to renew their lease because the landlord is not going to wait the 180 days
to begin virtually showing the apartment to other people lining up the tenants and
eventually signing those people up as soon as 180 days is over. The City must think
this through and spend some time. Invite the plumbers to the table. Don’t let history
repeat itself.
Both Christopher Anagnost, 418 North Tioga Street, and Nathan Lyman,
Ithaca Renting Company, sent in written comments. They were read into the record
and also attached to these minutes.
Alderperson Brock moved to close the public hearing; seconded by
Alderperson Mehler. Carried unanimously.
Response from Committee:
Alderperson Brock thanked all who commented tonight. She further stated that
we will not be voting on the Good Cause legislation. At the last meeting of the PEDC
in December we decided to not bring it back for the January meeting. One of the
reasons included the fact that there has been a request for the New York State
Attorney's Office take a look and issue an opinion to determine if municipalities are
pre-empted from the ability to pass legislation pertaining to evictions.
It was estimated at the time that an opinion would be forthcoming sometime in
December or perhaps in January we expect it to come at any time when that decision
is made we will share it with the public. That is one of the reasons we are not bringing
this forward for consideration by Council until that determination has been made. As
for the legislation that we are considering, it is just a discussion item tonight. I will
save my comments for that area on the agenda but she wanted to thank everybody for
coming and speaking.
3) Announcements, Updates, Reports
No announcements were made.
4) Action Items (Voting to send onto Council
a) 2022 Annual Council Concurrence that the Planning Board be Lead
Agency
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Alderperson Brock stated that this is great. It’s very helpful. It streamlines
things for staff and new members of council. She looked to Lisa to clarify when
projects are coming in through the planning board we are included in announcements
with projects as they are added to the agenda. It would be important to take a look
and see what's coming up that is actually our notification of these projects coming
forward and it would then be incumbent on members of council if they so choose to
withdraw its consent and decide to request lead agency to do so I believe early in the
process but keeping an eye on those agendas is just another thing that we can do to
stay out in front. She asked Lisa Nicholas to confirm what was just stated.
Nicholas stated that under law when an agency is about to declare as lead
agency, they have to send out the project information and the environmental forms to
the other involved agencies. This is done before the agenda comes out. Sometimes
you will receive a notification that there's a project and this is the description and that
the Planning Board intends to act as lead agency. It is actually even before the
agendas come out sometimes. It's a separate kind notification. Please keep an eye
on the agendas because there are lots of development that you might be interested in.
2022 Annual Common Council Concurrence that the City of Ithaca Planning and Development
Board be Lead Agency in Environmental Review for Site Plan Review Projects for which the Common
Council is an Involved Agency Resolution
Moved by Alderperson Lewis; seconded by Alderperson Brock. Carried
Unanimously.
WHEREAS: 6 NYCRR Part 617 of the State Environmental Quality Review Law and Chapter 176.6 of the
City Code, Environmental Quality Review, require that a lead agency be established for conducting
environmental review of projects in accordance with local and state environmental law, and
WHEREAS, State Law specifies that, for actions governed by local environmental review, the lead
agency shall be that local agency which has primary responsibility for approving and funding or
carrying out the action, and
WHEREAS, State Law also specifies that when an agency proposes to directly undertake, fund or
approve a Type I or Unlisted Action undergoing coordinated review with other involved agencies, it
must notify them that a lead agency must be agreed upon within 30 calendar days of the date that the
Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) or draft EIS was transmitted to them, and
WHEREAS, Projects submitted to the Planning Board for Site Plan Review and Approval, at times
involve approvals or funding from Common Council, making Council an involved agency in
environmental review, and
WHEREAS, in accordance with the State Environmental Quality Review Law and the City of Ithaca
Environmental Quality Review Ordinance, involved agencies are provided with project information and
environmental forms for their review, as well as all environmental determinations, and
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WHEREAS, Common Council did consent to the Planning & Development Board acting as Lead Agency
in environmental review for site plan review projects for which Common Council has been identified as
an Involved Agency since 2015, and
WHEREAS, in order to avoid delays in establishing a Lead Agency and to make the environmental
review process more efficient, it is desirous to continue the agreement in which the Planning Board
will assume Lead Agency status for such projects; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that Common Council does hereby consent to the Planning & Development Board acting as
Lead Agency in environmental review for site plan review projects for which Common Council has
been identified as an Involved Agency through December 31, 2022; and, be it further
RESOLVED, that for any future project Common Council may withhold or withdraw its consent should
it so desire.
5) Discussion Items
a) Proposed Amendment to §258-10 of the City Code (Rental Housing,
Renewal of Rental Agreements; Notification to Tenants)
Ordinance No. 2021-
Ordinance to Amend Chapter 258 (Rental Housing) of Part II (General Legislation) of the
Code of the City of Ithaca in Relation to Notification of Tenants
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca has a substantial renter population, with 74%1 of Ithaca’s 32, 1082
residents renting; and
WHEREAS, by providing a 180-day waiting period before receiving an opportunity to renew a
lease, a tenant will have had ample and appropriate time to decide on whether to negotiate to renew
as well as landlords will have more opportunity to rent to tenants attending Cornell University; and
BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 258 (Rental Housing) of Part II (General Legislation) of the Code of the
City of Ithaca, Section 258-10 is hereby amended as follows:
(...)
§ 258-10 Renewal of rental agreements; notification to tenants.
The landlord shall provide a minimum of 60180 days’ written notice to current tenants of a
residential unit before doing any of the following:
1. Renewing the current rental agreement
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2. Showing the residential unit to prospective new tenants
3. Entering into a rental agreement with new tenants
B. Such written notice may be provided at any time during the rental agreement
period, from the effective date onwards. This provision of notice shall not apply under any
of the following conditions:
1. The current rental agreement period is less than nine months.
2. A summons and complaint to recover possession of the premises has been
filed and served on the current tenant in accordance with all applicable laws and
rules.
3. The landlord and tenant mutually agree, in writing, to waive the notice
period.
(…)
Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect on February 3, 2022 after publication of this
ordinance pursuant to the City Charter.
1 http://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/10148/2019-2023-Consolidated-Plan?bidId= 2
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ithacacitynewyork
Alderperson Mehler thanked all who spoke tonight and further stated again that
this is not a voting item tonight. I did receive comments that this legislation seems to
benefit college students, not all renters. He stated that is not the case. All the letters
he received seem to be in favor of this change. His intent is to help everyone
possible.
Comments were made that people need time to figure out whether their
roommate is a good fit. Most renters and landlords rent right out of the gate because
they are concerned about not getting housing.
Chair Lewis opened it for other committee members to speak.
Alderperson Brock stated she very much supports these changes but thinks the
180 days is too long.
Alderperson Mehler stated that he is not inclined to change the 180 days. 90
days is still too low. He would like to know how others feel about the 180 days as
opposed to 120 days.
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Chair Lewis thanked Alderperson Mehler for allowing us to provide our
thoughts.
Alderperson Cantelmo also provided his comments on this legislation. For him,
Patrick's proposed removal of Section B3 which is the mutual waving of the notice
period I think helps to provide the bulk of the rebalance here. He also echoed what
Patrick, Cynthia, and Rob have said in that he thinks underscoring any discussion of
this and an eventual conclusion whether it's the current 60 day, 90 day, 120, or 180.
Whatever it is, he thinks all are small comfort unless tenants that work living and
operating in a tight rental market are not under that pressure to wai ve something to
have their application be competitive. That particular piece of the intended legislation
is well intentioned.
Alderperson Gearhart presented a visual which might help understand the
impact on dates of different period of days. He shared his screen and plugged in
different dates to see the impact on changing the dates.
Lisa Nicholas stated that if we will be looking at this again in February, we will need to
reach out to more people for further discussion.
Alderperson Mehler moved to amend the whereas’s and amend to the February
date.
Alderperson Brock stated that she didn’t think it can be amended without
moving and seconded it.
It was moved and seconded it. Alderperson Mehler provided his amendments
and will provide the exact wording.
Alderperson Mehler moved; seconded by Alderperson Brock to make the
discussed changes, bring it back in February for a public hearing, and further
discussion.
b) Planning & Development Overview & Draft 2022 Work Plan
Lisa Nicholas, Acting Director, Planning and Development Department
went through the 2022 work plan for the group.
Chair Lewis thanked Lisa for pulling this together. This is really helpful.
Lisa thanked the group for giving her the opportunity to give a brief overview of our
department. She stated she will try to keep it brief. There will be an opportunity for a bigger
or more detailed orientation later but as she speaks having the work plan in front of the group
might be helpful to flush out some of the things that are said. She asked for some feedback
on the work plan at the end of this too.
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The Department of Planning and Development, as you know what we do as a whole,
we also have lots of different areas of practice and expertise as we manage growth
and change in accordance with the community's vision as set forth in the
comprehensive and other plans as well as state and local laws. In doing that the
department strives for a safe, sustainable, equitable, and economically diverse
community for those who live, work, and play or otherwise frequent the City.
We have two divisions: the Building Division and the Planning Division. The Planning
Division has lots of different areas and the Building Division is a little bit more
straightforward. She talked about this idea of managing growth and change a little
bit so all know what we do as the Planning and Development Department. Growth
and change can happen to us. We can try to make it happen and it can be due to
economic, political, or social forces. It can be internal or external. We do different
kinds of management. Sometimes we do proactive management where we determine
it is the community's desire for this outcome. We work toward how to make that
happen. She provided the top priorities for the department going forward.
Top Priorities for 2022 include:
1. Fill all vacant positions in Planning and Building to reach adequate staffing
levels, including a new Special Events Coordinator
2. Green New Deal Implementation
a. Implement the Ithaca Electrification Program
b. Establish a CCA with the Town of Ithaca
c. Complete Feasibility and next steps to develop a solar farm in the
Southwest
d. Create new Energy Benchmarking Program
e. Coordinate adoption of a Justice 50 Program
f. Submit grant application for the Good Jobs Challenge to create a Green
Jobs Corridor
3. Complete Downtown Plan in Coordination with the DIA
4. Update Zoning Map and Chart
5. Structure an Inlet Island Urban Renewal Project (IURA)
6. Coordinate, support and monitor Green Street Redevelopment & Conference
Center
7. Comp Plan - 5 year Review & Update– Accomplishment Report, Sustainability
Update
8. City Facilities –Conduct public outreach and development approvals for East
Hill Fire Station, determine next steps for Ithaca Police Department Relocation,
Release REFI for Redevelopment of Seneca St Garage and reevaluate
priorities for other City facilities.
9. Develop and Coordinate approval of local cannabis legislation
10. Modernize office space, functions and records: Provide all inspectors with
IPads for off-site access to network, complete digitization of building plans and
planning documents, select and install new office furniture in Planning &
Building.
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The Planning and Development Department also provides administration and support
to an array of boards and committees namely Planning & Development Board, Board
of Zoning Appeals (BZA), Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission (ILPC) and
Planning and Economic Development Committee (PEDC).
6) Review and Approval of Minutes
a) April 2021 and December 2021
Both sets of minutes were moved as amended by Alderperson Brock;
seconded by Alderperson Mehler. Carried unanimously.
7) Adjournment
Moved by Alderperson Gearhart; seconded by Alderperson Mehler. Carried
unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
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Ithaca Renting Company
118 Prospect St., #200
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-273-9462 x8800
Nathan M. Lyman, COO
Nathan@ithacarenting.com
January 19, 2022
Dear Committee Members:
These comments will summarize a detailed letter also being submitted that takes more than 3
minutes to discuss.
The proposed law represents a fundamental misinterpretation of the landlord-tenant
relationship, and is not well considered.
Early rentals are entirely driven by students, and their parents. Landlords are simply responding
to their requests. Does the city really want to force students to have a worse housing experience?
Students, and their parents do price comparisons and negotiate hard, often pitting one landlord
against the other. This law takes away their ability to negotiate, by compressing the timeline.
The proposed law only applies to juniors who might renew. Graduating seniors don’t stay in
Ithaca. Landlords know those units need to be rented and this law prohibits them from renting
in the fall, even knowing the unit will be available.
Landlords are prevented from offering incoming winter semester students a lease or showing
them a unit in the fall, until after they arrive in January. It prevents outgoing foreign study
students from subleasing, because we are prevented from negotiating a lease until February.
Compressing the renewal period into February – May will result in market turmoil and panic
shopping. Long lines up and down streets in the middle of the winter will be the result.
Current occupants will be constantly disrupted by the need to show spaces quickly.
Our company’s past experience has shown that a staggered renewal period provides a much
more satisfactory outcome for the tenant than having a fixed announcement date with people
stacked up outside our office.
There are challenges when people live together. Students can take months to decide if a
roommate is a good fit. This law takes away that opportunity.
It is a law in search of a problem that does not exist. The unintended consequences will be
dramatically bad. The comparative disadvantages of forcing all students into a short time
window during the middle of winter significantly outweighs any perceived benefit of this law.
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The amendment should be rejected, and PEDC should seriously consider removal of section
258-10 entirely from the city code.
Respectfully submitted,
Nathan M. Lyman
Ithaca Renting Company
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From: Christopher George Real Estate <christophergeorgerealestate@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 12:23 PM
To: Deborah Grunder <DGrunder@cityofithaca.org>
Subject: PEDC Committee Meeting
Re: § 258-10 Renewal of rental agreements; notification to tenants.
A. The landlord shall provide a minimum of 60 days' written notice to current tenants of a residential
unit before doing any of the following:
(1) Renewing the current rental agreement.
(2) Showing the residential unit to prospective new tenants.
(3) Entering into a rental agreement with new tenants.
Debbie,
Please forward the following message to the members of the Planning and Economic Development
Committee and ask that it be read into the record of the meeting:
My family has owned property on East Hill and Collegetown since 1949 and sold our last rental property
earlier this year. We have rented primarily to Cornell students, undergraduate and graduate, as well as
to visiting faculty and scholars from around the world. We have also in the past, had IC students as
tenants.
I would ask that you consider changing the notification requirement in this proposal to 90-days
minimum instead of 180 days. Many students who study abroad second semester want their housing
settled before they leave. Also, an exception should made for apartments or houses where all the
residents are graduating at the end of their lease period since they and the landlord know they aren’t
staying. Why can’t their property be shown after 90 days of the start of the lease? The current proposal
assumes a one size fits all situation and will cause undue stress on individuals who need to carefully plan
their schedules and finances way in advance of what the 180 days allows.
Thank you for your consideration.
Regards,
Chris
Christopher J. Anagnost
Licensed Real Estate Broker
Christopher George Real Estate
418 N. Tioga St.
Ithaca, NY 14850