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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 1977-03-24 TOTINN OF ITHACA SPECIAL BOARD MEETING Harch 24 , 1977 - 7a00 p . m . At a Special Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca , Tomp- kins County , New York , held at the Town of Ithaca Offices at 126 East Seneca Street , Ithaca , New York , on the 24th day of March , 1977 , at 7000 p . m . , there were PRESENT . Walter J . Schwan , Supervisor Andrew Wo McElwee , Councilman Noel Desch , Councilman Victor Del Rosso , Councilman Robert N . Powers , Councilman Catherine Valentino , Councilwoman Shirley Raffensperger , Councilwoman ALSO PRESENT ? James V . Buyoucos , Town Attorney Lawrence P . Fabbroni , Town Engineer/Building Inspector Liese Bronfenbrenner , Planning Board Chairwoman Eva B . Hoffmann , Planning Board Richard K . Blatchley , 131 Honness Lane David, G . Cassel , 152 Pine Tree Road Paul L . Hartman , 132 Pine Tree Road Herbert Mahr , 103 Judd Falls Road Representatives of the Media PUBLIC HEARING - 7 ° 00 p . m . DELETION OF ROAD FROM TO1II1 HIGHTIAY MAP Proof of posting and publication of notice of public hearing having been presented with respect to deletion from the Town Highway Master Plan Map of section of proposed road between Slaterville Road and Pine Tree Road , the Supervisor opened the hearing . Kr . Fabbroni opened the meeting with a discussion of a traffic study in the East Ithaca area . He demonstrated results of the East Itlia- a Traffic Study on the map and distributed traffic count charts in the same connection . Mr . Fabbroni said they did a study of the corridor from Rt . 3F6 to Slaterville Road , and found that that section is operating just short of breakdown condition as far as volumes of traffic are colAcerned . He noted that generally hazardous conditions exist at tl .� intersecti.on of Judd Falls Road and Ellis Hollow Road and at the intersection of Judd Falls Road with Rt . 366 . In the traffic s+udy the intersections of Judd Falls and Maple Avenue and Snyder Hill and Ho:;iness Lane , and Pine Tree Road and Slaterville Road were also con- sidaredo Mr . Fabbroni noted that the major traffic generator for the whale corridor studied is Cornell University . He suggested that wise planning for the future would provide for a new facility from that generator ( Cornell University ) to Pine Tree Road , but that the para- 1 el facility planned in 1963 ( the proposed road on the Town highway map ) does not have justification either in terms of volume of traf - fic or from an economic standpoint . The trend in local of State funding in the last five years has been toward improving the existing traffic network . 1-.1r . Fabbroni noted that it would appear that Pine Tree Road will continue to be the major traffic corr 20 years . idor for the next 67 Town Board Minutes - 2 - March 24 , 1977 At this point the Supervisor read the resolution of the Planning Board which was read to the Town Board at its ( Town Board ) meeting on March 7 , 1977 . This resolution was adopted by the Plan - ning Board on Plarch 1 , 1977 : " WHEREAS , a traffic study of the East L :huaca area relative to the Pine Tree Road , Honness Isane , Slaterville Road , Ellis Hollow Road , � aad Falls Road , Route 366 in the vicinity thereon: , and other pertinent roads , has been made by the Town Engineer in February of 1977 , and WHEREAS , the results of said traffic study have been presented to this board at its regularly scheduled meeting of March 10 1977 , and WHEREAS , a section of a proposed road in East Ithaca area and shown on the Totm . of Ithaca Highway Master Plan map runs from Slaterville Road to Pine Tree Road through the Blatchley land and others , and WHEREAS , said section of said proposed road is in close proximity to the existing Pine Tree Road , NOTI , THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , by the Planning Board of the Town of Ithaca that in view of the traffic study and the close proximity with Pine Tree Road that section between Slaterville Road and Pine Tree Road of the proposed Town road is not justified . " The Supervisor then threw the meeting open for public �com� mert . David Cassel , 152 Pine Tree Road ` 1141y feeling on this is that holding a line on a map like tb .tt through 1.4r . Blatchley ' s property for years without doing arjy- thing about it is nothing short of scandalous . TATe as a Town have to rectify that ; it must be taken care of for justice ' s sake . Cer- tainly , within the plan we are operating under , the only thing you can do to rectify that is to take it off the map and let him develop hi s land . i " I am concerned as a resident of Pine Tree Road over the dasign.ation of Pine Tree Road as the major traffic corridor ; that it is now getting the official stamp as being the official traffic corridor for the foreseeable future . I disagree with the statement that the ' movement along Judd Falls Road and Pine Tree Road from Cornell to Slaterville Road . . pose no t1weat to the capacity or safety of existing roads . ' I agree you can shove a lot more cars down that road without increasing collisions , but I think one would be hard put to agree you can shove as many cars as we are doing with- out posing a threat to the safety of the people . " I think this is where the real problem comes . It has been a . few years since we have had the last death on the road . On the other hand , we have had several near misses in the recent past , in- cluding some children , whom , one might argue , may rtvve been too small to be on t�» road . But if you are familiar with children living on the road there will be children on the road no matter how careful the parents are . Town Board Minutes - 3 - March 24 , 1977 " The problem is that the only direction we are talking about going is in the direction of increasing traffic , and not doing any ° thing about alleviating the safety problem for the reri.dents o We are talking about fixing up the two . intersections . 'he YciJt that there are not more dead people on those intersections is -I..P.ha grace of God . Anybody who doesn ' t believe that should try reNt through Rt . 366 in the morning , noon , and evening hours . " Other places seem to be able to get traffic lights , but we don ' t . We are talking about piecemeal efforts , about closing off half the road because people come from Judd Falls Road or get over Rt . 366 to somewhere else . We are talking about fixing Ellis Hollow Road intersection , which may be some help . Even that Caldwell type intersection could help , but none of those will really fundamentally affect large volumes of fast traffic going through our area . " We have not talked about any kind of police protection or monitoring of the road to keep the traffic within the speed lix�� .t or rational range . If we are going to accept the notion that P .': re Tree will become a major thoroughfare forever , you have to decide you are going to do something about these other problems . Ultimz!—te- ly you will make Pine Tree Road a desert . Just drive down Slater - ville Road and see what has happened to real estate . You see For Sale signs , and you see newspaper ads ; the turnover in housing is tremendous . It must be that people who live there two or three years find out what it is like there and they move . The real estate market sells to suckers and then they move when they learn what it is like . The same thing will happen to Pine Tree Road , and then you may say the houses had to be sacrificed to the greater good . That is what is going to happen and then we will not have a residential. , area there . . It will turn into a speedway and cycling area . It is only suckers who don ' t know what they are getting into who will buy there . " It was pointed out to Mr . Cassel that the large volumes pro- jected are 20 -year projections and that right now the volumes are much smaller . Mr . Cassel said the Board may be making a derision tonight regarding a 20 -year projection (•which is not that long , he saidy and that the road is going to be at the absolute maximum for a two - lane road , Ur . Fabbroni said the residential section is not projected at any more than Warren Road now carries . Mr . Fabbroni said the top projections are based on every dwelling unit , existing or potential , based on existing zoning . In the traffic study at leas six out of ten cars figured as carrying one person at this time , so there is a lot of potential to reduce the high volume esti - mates . Furt-.her , the residential out of Pine Tree Road is projected to carry approximately the 24 hour volumes that Warren Road now car - ries betUcer, Hanshaw and the Town line . Mr . Cassel agreed this was nauT information , but said that the houses on Warren Road are typically t:sice as far back from the road . For that reason he did not think t17larren Road is comparable . Mr . Cassel said , "What , if anything , are we ever going to do in order to make the place more livable ? We know we are going to make it less livable , we do that all the time . We have not done anything about this . " Councilman Desch pointed out that it was not proper to com- pare the traffic on Pine T�:ee Road with the traffic on Slaterville Road . He said people do travel over the speed limit on Pine Tree Road , but they do not go anything like as fast as they do on Slater - ville Road . He noted , too , that Pine Tree Road speeds going south were considerably faster than going north . Councilman Powers noted that he drives Slaterville Road and Pine Tree Road every day ; that he drives at exactly 35 miles per hour and finds that no one passes him . Councilman Powers noted further that although Pine Tree Road Town Board Minutes - 4 - March 24 , 1977 appears to be designated as the major traffic corridor for the next 20 years , Mr . Fabbroni in his traffic study , sa sza . long range solu- tion to circumferential flow around the Town will be needed 25 years in the future and should be planned now east of the Town before deve - lopment outruns that option . Mr . Fabbroni stated that the problem on Pine ? Town Board Minutes - 5 - March 24 , 1977 do as a Town which are primarily of benefit to one section or another . I am going to be satisfied if they get their road and they must be satisfied with my police protection The Supervisor noted again that police protection would have to be provided as a Tovm-wide furs ° tion . Herbert Mahr , 103 Judd Falls Road " I would like to see the Town Board give a statement of in- tent and to give us a view to the future or to acknowledge there is a problem with the traffic , especially in East Ithaca . Until that is done we should not take any road off the map . At the time it was put on the map in 1968 , there was probably, some wisdom in it . The Board at that time rLtust have thought there was traffic to come and they must have thought at that time a road was a good solution . The traffic has grown so they were not wrong with their earlier wisdom , It apparently was a good idea , but somehow a road never came through . As there have been newer Boards the problem has increased and the question is , What are we going to do about it ? The older Board thought it was a good idea . . . There have been public hearings with 40 or more people and they were asked how money should be spent . They did not talk about spending money for a Town Hall or a Town high- way Barn . They talked about policemen and parks , it was an outcry of the people . Because of the ' Triphammer development and the Lansing development there is traffic in larger numbers going through Cayuga Heights and Cornell Universitye adhere roads are patrolled the speeds are controlled . The control is effective because people know there is a police officer in the area . . I think it would be re -assuring to us at least if the Town Board would acknowledge the problem and say what they are going to do about it ' before they take a road off the map . u Supervisor Schwan again indicated that if people are willing to pay $ 4 . 00 to $ 5 . 00 per thousand of assessed valuation in addition- al taxes , the Town could then consider having a police force . Air . Mahr said that perhaps the Supervisor ' s estimate of the things he does not want is too high and the things other people do bot want is too low . He said it is a � question of priorities , a question of what is more important in our lives . Supervisor Schwan said it is easy to talk about priorities , but there is also the question of what people are willing to pay for . Councilwoman Raffensperger pointed out that the Town Board has asked the Planning Board to look into the problem of traffic con- trol and bring back to the Town Board the facts and figures , and the Town Board is committed to do that . This i or ties . s one of the Planning Board prii Councilwoman Raffensperger said , "May I bring to the Board ' s attention the impression I have gotten living on Pine Tree Road . The people on Pine Tree Road feel there is no reason not to take the road off the map because they don ' t feel it will , realistically , be built . It has been used by real estate people who point out the by-pass , and it really has not served any purpose to the residents . However , I share the concerns Mr . Cassel has come up with . If you are going to do this you must recognize that the road was put on the map because there was a perceived problem and the problem has grown . Therefore , you must try to solve the problem that the road originally sought to solve , The volume of traffic is not significant , but the speed is . How do we slow down the traffic in what is still a residential area ? My understanding is that the Planning Board has been asked to look into a study of the problems on the needs of the whole Town and en - forcement in the whole Town and try to come to the Board with a solu tion . I understood also that the Planning Board , at the same meeting _ in which they recommended that we delete this road , made a co4vimitment to look for lands further out which would really be a by-pass which would work . . C I don ' t think we should take the road off the map unless we also have done something to . solve the problem . °' Town Board Minutes - 6 - March 24 , 1977 Mr . Paul Hartman , 132 Pine Tree Road , suggested the possi - bility .A- of : constructing speed retarding bumps in the road . There was some question as to whether this would be legal on Pine Tree Road . Town Attorney Buyoucos suggested that the Town might be sub- ject to lawsuit , but the matter could be looked into . No other persons wishing to be heard , the Supersj;iSor closed the hearing , and the Board acted as follows : Motion by Supervisor Schwan ; seconded by CounciL^►an Powers , RESOLVED , that there shall be deleted from the Town of Ithaca Highway Vaster Plan Map that section of proposed road between Slaterville Road and Pine Tree Road , said proposed road running through Blatchley land and others * further , that the Town Board , recognizing that cer - tain traffic problems do exist on Pine Tree Road and in the East Ithaca area generally , declares itself committed to solving these problems and hereby directs the Planning Board to investigate ways and means of solving these problems and to �make recommendations to the Town Board at the earliest possible time . ( Del Rosso , Raffensperger , Powers , DIcElwee , Desch , Valentino and Schwan voting Aye . Nays - none . ) SPECIAL ELECTION - APRIL 19 , 1977 (MANDATORY REFERENDUM ) On February 14 , 1977 , the Town Board adopted a resolution ordering a special election in the Town of Ithaca with regard to the election of councilmen . Town Attorney Buyoucos Presented to the Board a draft to revise the said resolution . The purpose of the revision was merely for the purpose of clarification of the proposi - tion to be voted upon . After brief discussion , the Board acted as follows ° Notion by Councilman Powers * seconded by Supervisor Schwan , T,.]HEREAS , ( 1 ) on the 14th day of February , 1977 , the Town Board adopted a resolution ordering that a Special Election be held in the Town of Ithaca for the purpose of submitting to the electors of the Town a proposition relating to the election of Town council - men , and ( 2 ) the Town Board now determines that for the purpose of clarification , the wording of the proposition be slightly amended , IT IS RESOLVED * ( 1 ) That paragraph 6 of the previous resolution be amended to read as follows % 6 . The proposition to be voted upon is as follows * SHALL THE QUALIFIED VOTERS IN THE TOWN OF ITHACA , IN TOTZPKTNS COUNTY , APPFOVE THE LOCAL LAW ADOPTED BY THE TOM BOARD ON JANUARY 17 , 1977 ; ENTITLED `° A LOCAL LARD PROVIDING FOR THE ' ELECTION OF ADDITIONAL TOWN COUNCILMEN TO TI3E TOTIN BOAP.D AND REGUI614TING ELECTIONS WHERE TERMS ARE INAPPROPRIATELY DESIGNATED ? #3 THE NUMBER OF COUNCILMEN ( 6 ) ON THE TOWN BOARD TLS. A?OT AFFECTED IN ANY WAY BY THIS LOCAL LAG4? OR THIS ELECTION, r Town Board Minutes - 7 - March 24 , 1977 THIS LOCAL LAW ULATES TO THE 1975 TO!FIST ELECTION IN WHICIi M110 ADDITIONAL TO11IN COUNCILKEN [n3ERE ELECTED AND RELATES AMSO TO THE PROCESS FOR ELECTIONS THEREAFTER . ( 3 ) The resolution of February 14 , 1977 is confirined in all other respects . ( Del Rosso , Raffensperger , Powers , McElwee , Desch , Valentino , and Schwan voting Aye . Nays - none . ) STATE EINIRONI!ZENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT Mir . Fabbroni Mir . reported that under the new State Environmental Quality Review Act the deadline for towns to adopt environmental quality review laws or resolutions is April 1 , 1977 . The act will require local governments to prepare environmental impact statements for all projects planned which might have an impact on the environ- ment . The Town has the option of setting up in its local law or resolution those activities which it considers will have a signifi - cant impact on the environment and those activities which it considers will not have a significant impact on the environemt . If the Town does not act by April 1 , 1977 , it would appear that the State legis - lation will govern . Supervisor Schwan said that the guidelines which have come out of the State are confusing and contradictory , and in certain cases guidelines are non - existent ; that it is very difficult to de - termine what the State x�rants . k1r . Fabbroni said the State has prepared a model law ( drafted by the Department of Environmental Conservation ) which gives muni - cipalities a starting point to work from. . It was agreed that Pir . Fabbroni and Mr . Buyoucos would work together on a draft , using the State material as a base , of a local law or resolution . In order to comply with the April 1 deadline , the Board acted as follows Motion by Supervisor Schwan ; seconder? by Councilwoman Valentino , RESOLVED , that this Town Board will conduct a public hearing on March 31 , 1977 at 7 ° 30 p . m . for the purpose of considering a local law relating to the State Environmental Quality Review Act . ( Del Rosso , Raffensperger , Powers , McElwee , Desch , Valentino , and Schwan voting Aye . Nays - none . ) ADJOURNDENT The meeting was duly adjourned . 6 fit_ Edward L . Bergen Town Clerk