HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-03-29 - MP Sr
TOWN OF ULYSSES
MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE
MARCH 29 , 1994
TOWN HALL
P RESENT : SUE POELVOORDE , DAVID TYLER , RUTH KAHN , BUDD STOVER ;
BUILDING / ZONING OFFICER : ALEX RACHUN ; SECRETARY : ROXANNE
SMITH .
The Members / Guests read the minutes from March 8 , 1994 . The
meeting came to order at 7 : 45 PM . Planning Board Member , Budd Stover ,
asked Alex ( Building / Zoning Officer ) what was happening with the
shacks down from Ulysses Square ? Just that day , Alex had an hour
• long phone conversation with Audrey , at the Health Department . Three
o f the shacks are being used . They have not had water since December /
J anuary . They would have condemned it but the people had no where to
g o . The owner , Will Robert Teeter , has not done anything about them .
H e originally bought the old County Home ; for over $ 200 , 000 . He
e ventually sold it to the present owner ( along with 10 - 12 acres ) for
$ 35 , 000 .
David said everyone was shocked to hear just how much money the
Chamber of Commerce ( Tompkins ) received from the room tax . He questioned
whether it ' s being properly spent . They focus on the Town and City of
Ithaca . Sue wondered if Tompkin ' s Chamber kicked in money for the local
brochure ( Trumansbu .rg ) . Ruth said that was entirely funded by the
D owntown Business Association .
David inquired if any other Members would be coming to this
meeting . Gary was needed at home as his wife was called into the
h ospital ; Joanne had donated blood and wasn ' t feeling too well .
Catherine is in Florida . David was hoping more Members would be
present as he wanted to talk about the direction the Master Plan needed
to take . It ' s his observation that the Committee is running out of
steam . The plan was , on a volunteer basis , to produce a Master Plan .
The group is getting into technical things , and will need statistical
back up . It has been gathered but no one person / group has the time
to pull it all together . The Members are not professional planners .
Alex and Sue are the only ones who have a background in planning . The
o riginal Master Plan group was almost entirely different . Other
municipalities have gone out and hired a consultant . We have got to
h ave the data so it will hold up to public scrutiny .
Alex has met with the new circut rider . He was anticipating
something like this occurring . David said that the Town Board is looking
t o the Master Plan Group to put in $ 20 , 000 worth of work ( or more ) on
a volunteer basis . That just isn ' t going to happen . Alex thought
perhaps someone from the County could be freed up for six months or so .
It will be a fight with the County as Jim Hanson doesn ' t give up his
people to do that sort of thing . Perhaps Peter Meskill could help
o ut . A lot of communities have money and have a planner and also a
CEO . They used Tom Niederkorn ( Danby ) . They didn ' t even have zoning
in place . Groton used an outside consultant . The Town of Ulysses
was probably one of the first Towns to have zoning and one of the first
Towns to have some sort of sense about development . These other Towns
0 that have done nothing have been sued and have had pressure , have not
leapt ahead . The Towns of Lansing , Ithaca and the City have used their
o wn planners .
11/ Sue said that she does want to commit the time needed , but she
would rather spend it getting into the really tough part ; talking about
t he goals and the issues that need to be addressed . This can not be
d one one night a week . She spends 8 hours a day doing this . You really
h ave to exhaust every possible source for the information / data so it
can be analyzed and put together . She feels the group can not do this ,
o nly a professional planner has that ability . She sees two options :
1 . have a circut rider do the work
2 . hire a planner
TOWN OF ULYSSES 2
MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE
MARCH 29 , 1994
Alex said you should not have zoning without a Master Plan - but
zoning can be the Master. Plan . PUD is dead in the water . There
is no flexibility anymore . There are some things happening :
1 . Osmo Heila ' s " PODUNK VILLAGE " - he ' s received an overview
of the project .
2 . Alex is meeting with Guy Crow and Doug on the issue of
III creating a water district ( through the Town ) . The district
will also include the Shur - Save , Little Venice and Auble ' s .
D avid said the Village is in the position to dictate the conditions .
0 Alex said it is awfully hard for the Village to give water to the
Golf Course and outside the County and not at least entertain in good
faith , water in the immediate circle . Budd asked if Auble was asking
the Town to ask the Village for water ? It was his impression that they
were going to petition for it . Alex said yes , and he wasn ' t sure why
t hey were doing it that way - he would ask tomorrow . It doesn ' t make
sense to Alex to do it that way . It just creates more bookkeeping for
t he Town . ( This is how Alpha House was done . ) Water going out Seafuse ' s
d irection would change the commercial viability , said Ruth . Alex
t hinks water will come from Bolton before it conies from the Village - a
✓ ery expensive proposition . A grant would have to be written . Alex
is sure that the developer will require municipal water on Auble ' s
parcel . The Village is very gun shy of the individual . As it stands
n ow , the Town does not have a viable PUD ; commercial is at a stand
still ( with the exception of what Jim Seafuse can do ) . We have limited
space to put logical development . David said we need the basic under.
pinnings . The Town can ' t change its Zoning Ordinance without a Master
P lan . David was not suggesting that the Committee stop its ' work .
S ue said that she ' s not sure that she ' s comfortable , that they have
got all the information . They have bits and pieces . Enough time has
not been spent gathering all the information ; compiling it ; creating
a bibliography . This group does not have the time / resources to accom -
plish this . She would like to see someone spend 7 - 8 hours of their day ,
putting it altogether . Then the group could list the concerns of the
Town and state how they ' re going to be addressed . The input will then
be needed from citizens of the Town .
Alex said , in a way , they were all agreeing . David is worried
about where the Master Plan is going once the data is collected . Alex
is not as concerned about that . He agrees with Sue in that he ' s worried
whether all the data has been collected ; reliable data . Where do we
go from that point ? Maybe we put together a survey ; get some input
from the Town . Once that is done , the Committee gets together and
t akes the information that is pulled together , and says , OK , this is
where we are going . This is when you take the heat . Sue said decisions
will be based on the information received from survey results . Compro -
mises will be made ; everyone ' s interests will be taken into considera -
t ion . David said that he wants it detailed enough that it stands up
t o scrutiny . From a lawyers point of view queried Alex ? David went
o n to say that if it is worth doing , it is worth doing right . One
o f the conclusions that he has arrived at is that this is a very com -
plex community . ( Maybe more complex than other Towns in this County . )
He ' s discovered that when you have a public forum , you hear from the
d isgruntled . If you put something out to a vote you get a very differ -
ent result than from the hearing process . He feels a lot of people
have given a lot of time to this effort . He would like to see it
come to an effective conclusion . The Town needs it .
Alex shared some of his areas of concern . Where is the farming
community today ? There are 11 - 1200 acres around where he lives that
are randomly up for sale . It ' s being farmed , but the for sale signs
are up all over . Budd mentioned that one of the largest grain farmers
in the area is heading for Missouri . Alex said he ' s already planted
h is crops . The cost of taxes there is one quarter of what it is here ,
said David . A lot of farmers are not coming in and buying up the land .
Who is going to buy it , asked Alex ? Other concerns are the issues of
nit
TOWN OF ULYSSES 3
MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE
MARCH 29 , 1994
water and traffic . We need concrete information on these issues . The
O ctopus will be done in 1995 . The City of Ithaca has spent a lot of
t ime / effort / money in discouraging West End development . It won ' t be
stopped , said Alex .
Ruth asked why Alex thought there would be development . He thinks
t he Town of Ulysses will look pretty much the same twenty years from
now . He thinks David ' s warning is well heard . It just takes one
major change to create a lot of other changes . New York State has
t he second highest number of costs of non - commercial permits , in the
0 country , in the last quarter of last year . In all of last year , it
came in at number two . NY State is not dead ; it was only behind
Texas in the cost of non - residential permits . Perhaps it costs more
t o build in New York , said Ruth . That ' s part of it , said Alex . New
York is no longer the corporate headquarters in the nation . ( California
is now . )
Alex will feel out what is available from the County , before
D avid goes before the Board . David wondered how the Village could
afford Tom Niederkorn ? Alex responded that they got a grant . He
d oesn ' t think it would cost $ 20 , 000 for the Town as they don ' t need
a complete package . Budd suggested that all the avenues be exhausted
before the Town Board is approached . Alex thinks Doug would be inter -
e sted in finding out a way to get a grant . He could direct the Town
B oard to find out where the grant money exists ; Ben ' s pretty good at
t hat . He could pull out that information from the County and then
find out from Peter ( Meskill ) if there is any ARC money in area
✓ egional development .
Alex mentioned that the Town is adding onto the building . They
are also building a salt shed . Ruth mentioned that the Village will
have to bond in order to upgrade the sewage system . ( They may end
u p more efficient . )
Sue mentioned that Monica Crispin ( Cooperative Extension ) has
agreed to come address the Planning Board / Master Plan Committee . She
will speak on her perspective of where farming is going in the area .
S ue will try to get her for April 26th .
Alex suggested that the group should meet and consolidate the
outline . The next meeting will be April 5 , 1994 at 7 : 30 PM .
The meeting adjourned at 9 : 10 PM .