HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 2004-03-15TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS
MONDAY, MARCH I. 5, 2004
7 : 00 P .M .
By direction of the Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that
Public Hearings will be held by the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Ithaca on Monday, March 15 ,
2004, in Town Hall, 215 North Tioga Street, Aurora Street Entrance, Ithaca, NY, COMMENCING AT
7 : 00 P.M. , on the following matters :
APPEAL of Student Agencies Inc:, Appellant; Dan Kathan, Agent, requesting a variance from the
requirements of Article XI, Section 51 and Article V, Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance,
Granted to be permitted to continue the use of a general storage building by the Student Agencies located at 1482
Mecklenburg Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 27- 1 -24 . 32, Agricultural Zone (R-30 regulations
apply). Said zone does not permit storage buildings as a principal use on parcels located in agricultural
zones.
APPEAL of Seventh Day Adventist Church, Appellant, Mark Thompson; Agent; requesting variances from
Section 3 . 02- 1 and 5 .04-3 of the Town of Ithaca Sign Law, . to place a 24 square foot self-illuminated sign
Granted with copy change components at 1219 Trumansburg Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No, 26-4-42,
Residence District R- 15 . The Sign Law does not permit self-illuminated; copy change signs in residential
zones.
APPEAL of Bonnie Mathers, Appellant, requesting a variance from the requirements of Article IV, Section
14 and Article XII, Section 54 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted, to construct a roof .
Denied over an existing non-conforming patio/porch that is located at the property line ( 15 foot setback required)
at 909 Taughannock Boulevard, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 25-2-9, Residence . District R- 15 .
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APPEAL of Kirk Sapa, Appellant, Pamela Williams, Agent requesting a variance from the requirements of
Article IV, Section 16 of the Town. of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to create by subdivision a
Granted building lot that does not contain sixty continuous feet of road frontage, nor 100 feet of width at the
maximum front yard setback, at 621 Elm Street Extension, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 29-8-5 . 1 ,
Residence District R- 15 .
Said Zoning Board of Appeals .will at said time, 7 : 00 p.m. ; and said place, hear all persons in support
of such matters or objections thereto. Persons may appear by agent or in person. Individuals with visual
or hearing .impairments or other special needs, as appropriate, will be provided with assistance, as
necessary, upon request. Persons desiring assistance must make such a request not less than 48 hours prior
to the time of the public hearing.
Andrew S. Frost
Director of Building and Zoning
273 - 1783 .
Dated : March 5 , 2004
Published : March 8 , 2004
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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ITHACA TOWN BOARD
MONDAY , MARCH 15, 2004 AT 7 : 00 P . M .
215 NORTH TIOGA STREET, ITHACA, NEW YORK
PRESENT : Supervisor Valentino , Councilperson Grigorov , Councilperson Lesser, Councilperson
Burbank , Councilperson Engman , Councilperson Stein
STAFF PRESENT : Tee-Ann Hunter, Town Clerk ; John Barney , Attorney for the Town ; Dan Walker ,
Engineer; Jon Kanter , Director of Planning ; Fred Noteboom , Highway Superintendent; Al Carvill ,
Budget Officer; Judy Drake , Human Resource Manager
EXCUSED : Councilperson Gittelman ; Andy Frost , Director of Building and Zoning
OTHERS PRESENT : Joel Harlan , Newfield ; Doria Higgins , 2 Hillcrest Drive ; Pat Hall , 1307
Trumansburg Road ; Gerald Hall , 1307 Trumansburg Road ; John Ward , 207 North Geneva Street;
Mike Thompson , 5790 Route 14A; Susan Suwinski , Sheffield Road ; John Bowers , 1406 Trumansburg
Road ; Brian Grout, 115 Hopkins Road ; Brian Grout, 115 Hopkins Road ; Andy Byrne , 137 Hopkins
Road ; Celia Bowers , 1406 Trumansburg Road ; Sidney Merritt , 127 Wolf Lane ; Joyce Merritt , 127 Wolf
Lane ; Karen Governanti , 1 Perry Lane ; Al Burkhardt , 3 Perry Lane ; Dan Governanti , 1 Perry Lane ;
Charles Nocera , Tompkins County Red Cross , 102 West Clinton Street ; Sandra Conrad , 60 Spring
Run Road , Freeville ; Deborah Campbell , 1445 Trumansburg Road ; Don R. Crittenden , 173 Bundy
Road ; Jean McPheeters , 904 East Shore Drive ; Steve Bowman , 238 Bundy Road ; Yvonne Fogarty ,
238 Bundy Road ; Carmen Blackinship , 222 Bundy Road ; Tricia Whitney, 100 Graham Road ; Laurel
Lewis , 509 Willow Ave , Fall Creek; Tim Ciaschi , 120 Grove Road ; Peter Trowbridge , Trowbridge and
Woolf, 1345 Mecklenburg Road ; Chris Papamichael , Aris Development
AGENDA ITEM NO. 1 Public Hearing : Authorizing the Increase in Costs of Providing a Proposed
Phosphorus Removal Project for the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant
Supervisor Valentino opened the Public Hearing at 7 : 00 p . m .
Supervisor Valentino — Is there anyone here to speak on the Phosphorus Removal? Doria , do you
wan to speak to the Phosphorus removal ?
Doria Higgins — I would like to say again something I said before and you did not hear, that the Lake
Source Cooling Project from Cornell University was passed by the State DEC because the finding
statements stated that there would only be an addition of five to seven percent of phosphorus to the
discharge part . The extraordinary thing and maybe that is why you couldn 't quite believe it , is that
there was no data in the Lake Source Cooling Project about the amount of phosphorus from the
intake site , no data at all . The data from the next —
Supervisor Valentino — Doria , this Public Hearing is yes or no for the phosphorus removal project.
Ms . Higgins — Yes .
Supervisor Valentino — The Lake Source Cooling is not a part of this .
Ms . Higgins — You think what I ' m saying is inappropriate here?
Supervisor Valentino — Yes , because this is just a phosphorus removal .
Ms . Higgins — That 's what I am saying .
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Mr. Stein — Doria , this is another issue . Phosphorus from the sewage , not phosphorus from Lake
Source Cooling .
Ms . Higgins — Okay. It is impossible to distinguish the two , that' s one of the points that I am making .
Supervisor Valentino — Thank you Doria .
Supervisor Valentino closed the Public Hearing at 7 : 04 p . m .
Supervisor Valentino gave a brief overview of the circumstances with the City of Ithaca and the DEC
leading up to the need for the increase in costs .
Supervisor Valentino — Just to give you some numbers , I think, if our first estimate from Sterns and
Wheeler and the City Engineers for the Town of Ithaca ' s share would have been $ 1 , 681 , 800 . 00 , with
the grant money that we would receive from New York , the real net cost to the Town would have
been , at that point , $549 , 292 . 80 . When the bids came in and were over their estimated amount, the
price that went through the referendum process again , raised the Town 's share to $683 , 959 . 45 as our
net cost and our total cost would have been , without the grant money, $ 1 , 817 , 897 . 60. The new cost
that has the City's number. their revised number was $ 4 , 975 , 000 . 00 . Our Engineer added at ten
percent contingency on top of that just to make sure that we wouldn 't go through this again , which
brings the amount for the Town 's out-of-pocket expenses up to $899 , 140 . 00 or $2 , 250 , 000 . 00 . So
that's where we are today , looking at the two Public Interest Orders .
Councilperson Stein posed the question as to why the difference in figures is 25 percent over the
original figure , instead of ten percent .
Mr. Walker explained that the City added ten percent into the revised construction costs as well as
five percent on to that.
Supervisor Valentino added that the City of Ithaca stated that there was a huge increase in the price
of steel .
Supervisor Valentino pointed out that there might be a possibility of a higher interest rate on the loan ,
as well the fact that an analysis of the concrete at the present sewer plant turned up results the
concrete is in very poor shape . She also informed the Board of other costs the Town might be facing
with other projects .
Councilman Engman commented on the fact that the total cost from the original estimates was up 25
percent and 20 percent fro the original bid in a total of less than eight months . He would like the Town
to take a stand not to see anymore increases .
Supervisor Valentino pointed out that this is an estimate from the City of Ithaca based on one
contractor. She suggested that the Town puts a limit on the cost and there be a pre-bid meeting and
the bid go out for 45 days . Supervisor Valentino further suggested the Town staff be present at the
pre-bid meeting and bid opening , and a list of all the contractors picking up bid specs be provided to
the Town of Ithaca .
Mr. Barney explained that there are two different Public Interest Orders because when bonding , if the
cost to the Town exceeds more than one-tenth of one percent of the total assessed taxable property
in the Town , outside the Village of Cayuga Heights the Town must be granted the approval of the
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
State Comptroller. One Public Interest Order was prepared without bonding , if the project is paid for
out of surplus revenue in the sewer account . The other was prepared if bonding is required .
Mr. Barney suggested adding to the resolution a clause that stated " No contract will be awarded until
the Ithaca Town Board has reviewed the Bids . "
TB RESOLUTION NO . 2004-057 : Approval of Conditions reglarding the Joint Sewage Treatment
Plant Phosphorus Removal Project
RESOLVED , that while the Town Board is generally in favor of pursuing the joint sewage
treatment plant phosphorus removal project with the City of Ithaca and the Town of Dryden , certain
conditions should be in effect in relation to the project, accordingly it is further
RESOLVED , that the bid period for solicitation of bids for the project be no less than 45 days ,
that a pre-bid meeting be held prior to receipt of bids , that the Town Engineer by advised of the
names of all contractors that request bid specifications , and that the Town Engineer be present at all
pre-bid meetings and at the bid opening , and it is further
RESOLVED , that no contract be awarded until at least 30 days have passed after the adoption
of a public interest order for such project and no petition for a referendum has been filed or, if filed ,
until a vote is held on the petition and the votes approve the project and related bonding ; and it is
further
RESOLVED , that in any event no contract be awarded for the project until the Town Board has
approved the amount and significant terms of such contract ; and it is further
RESOLVED , that if any contract is awarded without conforming to the above conditions , the
Town may choose to withhold its share of the financing of such project; and it is further
RESOLVED , that a copy of this resolution be provided to the Mayor and Engineer of the City
of Ithaca .
MOVED : Supervisor Valentino
SECONDED : Councilwoman Grigorov
VOTE :Supervisor Valentino , aye ; Councilwoman Grigorov , aye ; Councilman Lesser, aye ;
Councilman Burbank , aye ; Councilman Engman , aye ; Councilman Stein . Motion Carried .
Consider Public Interest Order In The Matter Of Authorizing The Increase In Costs Of Providing
A Proposed Phosphorus Removal Project For The Sewage Treatment Plant In The City Of
Ithaca Serving The Town Of Ithaca Pursuant To Article 12-C Of The Town Law
Councilperson Stein posed the question as to whether there was any disadvantage to a Public
Interest Order and Bond Resolution , as opposed to a Public Interest Order alone .
Mr . Barney replied " If you choose to bond at any time in the future , that choice , that resolution , is itself
subject to a permissive referendum under the local finance law . If you are thinking you are going to
band , it doesn 't make a lot of sense to authorized a project in one resolution , which is subject to
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
permissive referendum and then come back , three months later and adopt the bond resolution , which
is again subject to a permissive referendum . Have the first one pass and the second one voted down . "
TB RESOLUTION NO . 2004-058 :PUBLIC INTEREST ORDER AND BOND RESOLUTION , In The
Matter of the Proposed Phosphorus Removal Project for the Sewage Treatment Plant in The
City of Ithaca Serving the Town of Ithaca to be known as the Joint Sewage •treatment Plant
Phosphorus Removal Improvement Project for the Town of Ithaca, Tompkins County, New
York Pursuant to Article 12-c of The Town Law
At a special meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , held at the Town
Hall , 215 North Tioga Street, in the City of Ithaca , New York , on the 15th day of March , 2004 , at 7 : 00
o'clock p . m . prevailing time .
PRESENT :Supervisor Catherine Valentino
Councilperson Carolyn Grigorov
Councilperson William Lesser
Councilperson Will Burbank
Councilperson Herbert Engman
Councilperson Peter Stein
ABSENT : Councilperson Sandra Gittelman
WHEREAS , the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca by Public Interest Order adopted on June
91 2003 , authorized , subject to a permissive referendum , the expenditure of up to $ 1 , 681 , 800 . 50 as
the Town 's contribution towards the $4 , 115 , 000 cost of constructing a phosphorus removal facility at
the joint sewage treatment plant in the City of Ithaca managed by the City jointly with the Towns of
Ithaca and Dryden (the "Joint Sewage Treatment Plant Phosphorus Removal Improvement Project"
sometimes also referred to as the " Improvement" ) which Improvement is more fully described in the
Public Interest Order adopted June 9 , 2003 , which description is incorporated into this resolution as if
fully set forth herein ; and
WHEREAS , thereafter on September 22 , 2003 , the Town Board authorized , again
subject to a permissive referendum , an increase in the total project cost of $ 333 . 500 and an increase
in the Town' s share of $ 136 , 301 . 45 as a result of the receipt of bids in amounts in excess of the
previously budgeted construction costs ; and
WHEREAS , no referendum was requested with respect to either of said authorizations ; and
WHEREAS , after receipt of the bids , the Town was unwilling to contract for the project until the
State of New York and provided adequate evidence of the funds it was going to provide for the
project , which evidence was not received until after the 45 day period in which the bids needed to be
accepted ; and
WHEREAS , the lowest responsible bidder is unwilling now execute a contract at its bid price
and it has, become necessary to re-bid the project ; and
WHEREAS , the Engineering reports and estimates indicate there is a need to further increase
the overall project estimate by $ 1 , 057 , 672 to a total cost of $5 , 506 , 172 to cover anticipated additional
costs and contingencies resulting from the re-bidding ; and
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
WHEREAS , as a result of the increase in the overall cost of the project, the Town 's share of
such costs would increase by $431 , 898 . 05 to a total cost of $2 ,250 , 000 . 00 ; and
WHEREAS , a supplement to the plan , report and map prepared by Stearns and Wheeler,
Professional Engineers , relating to the increase in the cost of such improvement , has been duly
prepared in such manner and in such detail as heretofore has been determined by the Town Board of
the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , New York , and has been filed in the office of the Town Clerk
where it is available for public inspection , and a further supplement to such Stearns an Wheeler report
has been similarly prepared and filed by Daniel Walker, Professional Engineer, setting forth further
information pertaining to such increase ; and ,
WHEREAS , the area of said Town determined to be benefited by said Joint Sewage
Treatment Plant Phosphorus Removal Improvement Project consists of the entire area of said Town
excepting therefrom the area contained within the Village of Cayuga Heights , and
WHEREAS , the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca duly adopted an order on March 1 , 2004 ,
calling a public hearing to consider the authorization of the expenditure of the increased amounts for
the Improvement , and to hear all persons interested in the subject thereof, all in accordance with the
provisions of Section 209-q of the Town Law and applicable provisions of the General Municipal Law;
and
WHEREAS , notice of said public hearing was duly posted and published as required by law;
and
WHEREAS , said public hearing was duly held at the place and at the time aforesaid and all
persons interested in the subject thereof were heard concerning the same ; and
WHEREAS , the Improvement was previously determined to be an " Unlisted Action " pursuant
to the laws and regulations of the Town of Ithaca adopted pursuant to the State Environmental Quality
Review Act and the regulations of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
promulgated thereunder , the implementation of which as proposed , the Town Board determined on
June 9 , 2003 , would not result in any significant environmental effects ; and
WHEREAS , the scope and nature of the project has not changed from that which existed at
the time of the negative determination of environmental significance , only the cost , and thus the
increase in the expenditure for the project does not result in any change that would require additional
environmental review; and
WHEREAS , it is now desired to authorize the increase in expenditures for the project ;
NOW , THEREFORE , BE IT RESOLVED AND ORDERED by the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca as follows :
Section 1 . It is hereby determined that it is in the public interest to make the improvement
hereinafter described at the increased cost hereinafter set forth , and such sewer improvement
at such increased cost is hereby authorized . The proposed area hereby determined to be
benefited by said Joint Sewage Treatment Plant Phosphorus Removal Improvement Project is
all of the Town of Ithaca outside of the Village of Cayuga Heights .
Section 2 . The Improvement shall consist of construction and installation of a tertiary high rate
settling process and associated reinforced concrete structure on piles at the end of the current
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
process stream , adjacent to the final effluent channel at the sewage treatment plant located at
525 Third Street , Ithaca , New York , operated jointly for the benefit of the City of Ithaca and the
Towns of Ithaca and Dryden , together with associated controls , piping , and other structures .
Section 3 . The Town of Ithaca , subject to the approval of the voters of the Town of Ithaca if a
referendum is requested , hereby authorizes an increase in the expenditure by the Town for its
share of the cost of such previously authorized Improvement of $431 , 898 .05 , making the total
maximum amount authorized to be paid by the Town towards the cost of such Improvement
2 , 250 , 000 . 00 , as the Town ' s share of the jointly funded project cost of $5 , 506 , 172 . 00 for the
construction , installation , and equipping of such project and the payment of all costs incident
thereto , including architects fees , consulting fees , attorneys fees , bidding costs and any other
related costs , all of said actions being hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Project" and
all of such actions being authorized pursuant to Section 209-q of the Town Law.
Section 4 . 5 , 506 , 172 is now estimated as the maximum cost for Project and $2 , 250 , 000 . 00
is estimated as the maximum amount of the Town 's share of the cost of the Project .
Section 5 . The plan for the financing of the Town 's share of the costs of the Project consists of
the issuance of General Obligation Bonds of the Town in the principal sum of not more than
2 , 250 , 000 , to be issued pursuant to the Local Finance Law for costs of the Project , the
issuance of which bonds is hereby authorized subject to the approval of the voters of the Town
of Ithaca if a referendum related to such issuance or Project is requested .
Section 6 . It is hereby determined that the period of probable usefulness of the aforesaid
specific objects or purposes is 40 years , pursuant to Subdivision 4 of Paragraph a of Section
11 . 00 of the Local Finance Law . It is further determined that the maximum maturity of the
serial bonds herein authorized will exceed five years .
Section 7 .The full faith and credit of said Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , New York , are
hereby irrevocably pledged to the payment of the principal of and interest on said bonds as the
same respectively become due and payable . An annual appropriation shall be made in each
year sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on such bonds becoming due and payable in
such year. There shall be annually apportioned and assessed upon the several lots and
parcels of land especially benefited by the improvement in proportion to the amount of benefit
which the improvement shall confer upon the same , an amount sufficient to pay the principal
and interest on such bonds as the same become due and payable . In the event the collection
of such assessments shall be less than the amount required to pay the principal and interest of
such obligations as they shall become due , the Town Board shall direct that surplus moneys
not otherwise appropriated be applied .
Section 8 . Such bonds shall be in fully registered form and shall be signed in the name of the
Town of Ithaca , New York , by the manual or facsimile signature of its Supervisor, and a
facsimile of its corporate seal shall be imprinted thereon and attested by the manual or
facsimile signature of its Town Clerk.
Section 9 . The powers and duties of advertising such bonds for sale , conducting the sale and
awarding the bonds , are hereby delegated to the Town Supervisor, who shall advertise such
bonds for sale , conduct the sale , and award the bonds in such manner as he or she shall
deem best for the interests of said Town , provided , however, that in the exercise of these
delegated powers , he or she shall comply fully with the provisions of the Local Finance Law
and any order or rule of the State Comptroller applicable to the sale of municipal bonds . The
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
receipt of the Supervisor shall be a full acquittance to the purchaser of such bonds , who shall
not be obliged to see to the application of the purchase money .
Section 10 . Subject to the provisions of the Local Finance Law, the power to authorize the
issuance of, and to sell , bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance and sale of the
serial bonds herein authorized , including renewals of such notes , is hereby delegated to the
Supervisor, the Chief Fiscal Officer. Such notes shall be of such terms , form and contents ,
and shall be sold in such manner as may be prescribed by said Supervisor, consistent with the
provisions of the Local Finance Law .
Section 11 . All other matters , except as otherwise specifically provided herein , relating to such
bonds , including determining whether to issue such serial bonds having substantially level or
declining debt service and all matters related thereto , prescribing whether manual or facsimile
signatures shall appear on said bonds , prescribing the method for the recording of ownership
of said bonds , appointing the fiscal agent or agents for said bonds , providing for the printing
and delivery of said bonds ( and if said bonds are to be executed in the name of the Town by
the facsimile signature of the Supervisor, providing for the manual countersignature of a fiscal
agent or of a designated official of the Town ) , the date , denominations , maturities and . interest
payment dates , place or places of payment , and also including the consolidation with other
issues , shall be determined by the Supervisor. It is hereby determined that it is to the financial
advantage of the Town of Ithaca not to impose and collect from registered owners of such
serial bonds any charges for mailing , shipping and insuring bonds transferred or exchanged by
the fiscal agent , and accordingly , pursuant to paragraph c of Section 70 . 00 of the Local
Finance Law, no such charges shall be so collected by the fiscal agent. Such bonds shall
contain substantially the recital of validity clause provided for in Section 52 . 00 of the Local
Finance Law and shall otherwise be in such form and contain such recitals in addition to those
required by Section 52 . 00 of the Local Finance Law , as the Town Supervisor shall determine .
Section 12 . The Supervisor is hereby delegated the authority to designate , on behalf of this
Board , any bond issued pursuant to this Public Interest Order and Bond Resolution to be a
qualified tax-exempt obligation" pursuant to Section 265 ( b )( 3 ) ( B ) of the United States Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 as amended from time to time .
Section 13 . This resolution shall constitute a statement of official intent for purposes of
Treasury Regulations Section 1 . 150- 1 .Other than as specified in this resolution , no moneys
are , or are reasonably expected to be , reserved , allocated on a long-term basis , or otherwise
set aside with respect to the permanent funding of the object or purpose described herein .
Section 14 . The validity of such bonds may be contested only if:
1 . Such bonds are authorized for an object or purchase for which said Town is not
authorized to expend money , or
2 .The provisions of law which should be complied with at the date of publication of
this resolution are not substantially complied with ,
and an action , suit or proceeding contesting such validity is commenced within 20 days after
the date of publication , or
3 . Such bonds are authorized in violation of the provision of the Constitution .
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Section 13 .It is hereby determined that the estimated expense of the aforesaid improvement
exceeds 1 / 10th of 1 % of the full valuation of the taxable real property in the area of said Town
outside of Villages and , therefore , in accordance with the provisions of subdivision 13 of
Section 209-q of the Town Law, the Town Supervisor, with the assistance of the Town
Engineer and the Attorney for the Town , is authorized and requested to seek the permission
of the State Comptroller for such improvement , and no bonds are to be issued until such
approval is received .
Section 15 . Pursuant to subdivision 6 (d ) of Section 209-q of the Town Law , the Town Clerk is
hereby directed and ordered to cause a certified copy of this resolution to be duly recorded
within 10 days of the date of adoption in the Office of the Clerk of the County of Tompkins ,
which when so recorded , shall be presumptive evidence of the regularity of the proceedings
and action taken by the Town Board in relation to the aforesaid improvement .
Section 16 . Within 10 days after the adoption of this resolution by the Town Board , the Town
Clerk shall , as set forth in Section 90 of the Town Law, post and publish a notice which shall
set forth the date of the adoption of this resolution and contain an abstract of this resolution ,
concisely stating the purpose and effect thereof. Such notice shall specify than such resolution
was adopted subject to a permissive referendum .
Section 17 . If no referendum is requested , or if requested , a referendum is held and the
referendum approves the resolution , this resolution , or a summary thereof, shall be published
by the Town Clerk of the Town of Ithaca , together with a notice in substantially the form
prescribed , and containing the information required , by Section 81 . 00 of said Local Finance
Law , such publication to be in the Ithaca Journal , a newspaper published in the City of Ithaca
and having a general circulation within such Town .
Section 18 . This resolution shall take effect immediately , unless a referendum is requested , in
which event it shall take effect , if approved at such referendum , upon such approval .
Section 19 .This resolution is adopted subject to a permissive referendum pursuant to Town
Law Section 209-q and Local Finance Law Section 35 .
The question of adoption of the foregoing resolution and public interest order was , upon
motion made by Councilperson Lesser, and seconded by Councilperson Engman , duly put to a vote
on a roll call , which resulted as follows :
Supervisor Valentino Voting Ave
Councilperson Grigorov Voting Aye
Councilperson Lesser Voting Aye
Councilperson Burbank Voting Aye
Councilperson Engman Voting Aye
Councilperson Stein Voting Aye
The resolution and public interest order was thereupon declared duly adopted .
8
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL. 12 , 2004
Agenda Item NO . 2— Public Hearing Regarding "A Local Law Amending The Town Of Ithaca
Zoning Ordinance and Map Rezoning a Portion of Tax parcel No. 24-04-14. 2 Located on N .Y.S .
Route 96 From Residence District R-15 to Multiple Residence District (Overlook at West Hill) "
Supervisor Valentino opened the Public Hearing at 7 : 10 p . m . and told those wishing to speak that
they would be given five minutes to address the Board . Once all interested speakers had the
opportunity to speak , Supervisor Valentino would allow people another two minutes to speak .
Supervisor Valentino — Now, we have a Public Hearing open for the re-zoning of Overlook . I think
people were given the standards of conduct on your way in . We will be having a five minute limit on
everyone' s coming up to the microphone , giving your name and your address and from that point on ,
you will have five minutes to make your points . Our Town Clerk has a timer here . Tee-Ann , I think if
you would , when they've got one minute left, maybe raise your hand so that they would know it's a
good time to summarize because your five minutes it up . When we get all the way through , if we still
have time and there are some people that might want to speak again , we will consider adding another
two minutes to the speaking time . I would ask everyone to please be courteous and polite , to make
your points about the project pro or con . Please refrain from , you know everyone has their right to
speak and the right to their opinion . If someone gets up and talks for a few minutes and says
something that you are not perfectly happy with , please at least be polite and don 't comment on that,
just give your own comments about why you either favor this or what your concerns are against it so
that we can move forward in a orderly way . Do you have a list of people who wish to speak?
Ms . Hunter — I do.
Supervisor Valentino — Who was the first name?
Ms . Hunter — Joel , I guess you signed up first . You have five minutes . Would you like to come up and
speak?
Joel Harlan , Newfield - 1 come in front of you all to tell ya I favor the project . Even though I ' m not in
that neck of the woods , you gotta understand no matter where you make development in this Town
and City or County they' re against it . You can 't be intimidated . They' re trying to shove this down your
throat . I mean after all , you approved of all the colleges projects , mostly . And there ' s a lot of heavy
opposition against that . But you still went on through with it . Cause why? A lot of you are Cornell
and Ithaca College affiliated and shows that you favored the colleges . And I think you should go on
with the project up there on the rezone it , get it started and you guys should be commended and show
that you ' re gonna be in favor of this and show that you ' re gonna try to make turns change and make a
showcase out of this Town to show a good example for around the County that they should start
thinking about getting affordable housing elsewhere besides West Hill . This will be a good showcase
and you outta not back down on it . I don 't know. Alan stuck up to his guns . And you guys gotta stick
up to your guns in this Project . Cause the next project is gonna be the same thing and the projects
after are gonna be the same thing . Nobody want anything in the backyard . But I ' ll tell ya . If these
people think this is gonna be a nightmare , I don 't think so . It' s gonna be a creampuff. They should go
live in Collegetown on South Hill and see how those neighbors live in terror with the college kids
uprising and keeping them awake and all the traffic and all the noise and all the garbage in the
streets , in the yards . They don 't know what hell is until you live over there . I mean this could be a
creampuff of a project. That' s all I got to say . Just stick to your guns . And don 't be intimidated about
it .
Supervisor Valentino — Thank you . Okay , who would like to be next? Oh , I ' ve got a list here . I ' m not
used to this .
9
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Ms . Hunter — Doria Higgins
Doria Higgins , 2 Hillcrest Drive- You ' re treating zoning , I know none of you are planners but you ' re
treating zoning codes as though they are something you can just frivolously change at will . You
changed the zoning codes six months ago and now you ' re preparing to do it again . Zoning codes are
very important and they should be respected more than you are doing so . One thing about this
housing project, it sounds good . People say it' s affordable and I am certainly in favor of any low-
income housing projects that could be approved by you . We need to help the disenfranchised , the
homeless definitely . But this term "affordable housing " means affordable by whom ? You know, Bill
Gates . These houses are not affordable by low-income people . They' ll have to go through Section 8
and get federal help. And they can get that at any place they reside in . I checked with Jonathan
before the meeting . They could come to my apartment in my house and get Section 8 help . So this
development is not necessarily gonna help any more than any other development would low-income
people and that you should remember the distinction between affordable and low income . I 'd like to
point out to you that the main one of my main objections here is the increase in traffic . I live off of
Route . 96 and I know what it's like . And it occurred to me if it is a state road , have you informed them
about this zoning change . I know you 've informed the City , informed the County , but have you ,
Jonathan did you informed the State about this?
Councilperson Kanter -Absolutely .
Ms . Higgins-You did . Okay .
Supervisor Valentino - And we 've received responses .
Ms . Higgins -Ten years ago the City Planning Department proposed an alternate Route for 96
because ten years ago, they saw the traffic was becoming a problem . Ten years ago the common
council let the proposal drop . They were gonna go up the old railroad route and then go up past the
hospital . But even then it was a problem . And you ' re ignoring this problem . I know all of this all most
everyone here at the hearing mentioned this as a problem . It's an on going , increasing problem and
it' s something that needs to be addressed . I know I spoke to one ambulance driver. it wasn't Tim
Bangs because I spoke to him later. He didn 't know anything about this at all . But the one
ambulance driver I did speak to said that he is becoming worried about getting to the hospital on time
or leaving the hospital going to other hospitals with people transferring patients to another. So this is
what has to be concerned you have to this zoning change has to be thought of in terms of the general
welfare of the general of the people . I think those are the points I was going to make . Thank you all .
Pat Hall , 1307 Trumansburg Road- I 've lived in the Town of Ithaca for 35 years . And I have great
concerns for the traffic and the safety . And I don't agree with the studies that have been done
because the month that they did it in was in August when none of the schools were in session . That's
all I have to say.
Gerald Hall , 1307 Trumansburg Road- I 've been residing in or near 1307 Trumansburg Road since
1948 . My folks bought that property at that time . My main concerns are the traffic and safety. And I
submit that the rental figure would approach $900 or $ 1200 per person for the single bedroom
apartments . I think the speed limit of course is 45 mph in hospital zone but it's pretty hard to enforce
that . I 've seen em go 65 anyway up through there . And I think any youngster that' s crossing the road
at that point would have to have a special signal at the intersection to get them across . Thank you .
10
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
John Ward , 207 North Geneva Street - 1 am the Coordinator of Shelter Operations for the American
Red Cross Homeless Services Program . I will have been there 10 years in May . Just tonight there 'll
be 58 people in the shelter program . The people in our program are dying for housing . They're
begging us to find them some housing . Whether it' s in this sight or in another sight in the city or in the
town , whether it's gonna be affordable for the clients coming out of the shelter or not it's gonna free up
housing in the county . It's gonna create more housing . We are dying for more housing in this county.
The clients in our program do not want to be there . Their length of stay in the program has risen from
an average of approximately 21 days now to well over 30 days approaching 45 days on an average .
That' s two and a half months at an extreme cost to this county. If we could free up some housing in
this community , we could get our numbers down to a more manageable number and hopefully do
what we ' re there to do which is to basically work ourselves out of jobs . We don 't want anyone in our
shelter. And I think there 's a lot of people in the community that would agree with that . So we' re
strongly supporting this Project and to look at it as a way to evaluate whether this type of housing is
what's needed in the county or whether there' s other type of housing that needs to be built . But until
we put something there , we' re not gonna know what impact it has on the community. Thank you .
Mr . Engman Cathy , is it permissible for us to ask questions of these people .
Supervisor Valentino — Well , we don 't usually . We usually take notes and then we ask them the
questions at the end if they haven 't been answered somewhere along the line .
Mike Thompson , 5790 Route 14A - I ' m for this Project and there 's a couple of different reasons why I
think that this Board should also vote in favor of it. Number one I . guess the question to ask
yourselves and anybody else is , is there a housing shortage in this town ? And nobody can answer
me "no" to that question . There is definitely a housing shortage . So the other issue I guess that we
need to address is safety . Everybody is talking about safety . Well , yes some people could get injured
on this road but that' s been an issue for the past ten years at least as the people who are against this
even say . This has been a problem road for quite some time . This Project will probably bring about
an expedited cure or at least some kind of help for this road . Where as it' s been going on for some
time and not been addressed . I think this will help get that addressed at least at that intersection . Is it
can you in your own mind justify not building this housing because some kids might get hit on that
road when we have homeless people that could die this year in the winter because we won 't have
built housing? I mean the odds are greater that the homeless people will pass away before these kids
get hit by a car. And that's up to the parents to take care of their children on these busy intersections .
How many people are killed on Route13 here? I think that's a little busier than 96 . People cross it
everyday and seem to do ok . I heard it said that the people are from out of town that come here and
speak to the Planning Board and to this Board . Well there ' s a good reason for that . I can 't afford to
live in this town . I have to drive an hour to work everyday . And then an hour back home each night.
And that makes for a long day for me . I don 't have any community transportation along those routes
where if I lived closer to here I could take a bus and therefore not needing to drive on the roads .
Same with a lot of people that come into this town they can 't afford to live here . They have to drive
here which increases the traffic . I under it is my understanding this is also income-based housing .
And I unless I misread or the paper was wrong , I understood it to say that it was something like $300
to $800 per month somewhere in that price range depending on your income , which would probably,
make it sufficient for me . And you 've got Lowe 's and Home Depot and Wal-Mart being built here . All
of those people are minimum - wage people . They are gonna have to live someplace . And it won't be
here unless you can get some kind of housing for these people . It and it has been addressed . And
as far as the speed on that road , if the Ithaca City Police sat on that road everyday for a few hours
and started handing out tickets , you would see a dramatic drop in the speeds going up and down that
road . It would become a well-known fact that they were there and you would get a ticket . There are
11
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
ways to get around the safety issues and to make them much , much better. I don 't know. I this is a
well thought out project . They have experts who know more about it than I do . And I think then that
some of these other people , their surveys and their issues that they . take up and these people are
professionals at it . They take all . the time frames into consideration . I 'm sure of that. I mean I don 't
do it for a living but I certainly would . So I would expect they do. Thank you .
Supervisor Valentino — If people were noting that flash . Let me just say that we have a Cornell
student here tonight that's working on a project . And I gave her permission to take a few limited snap
shots . So you might see that go off two or three times . But she has permission to do that .
Susan Suwinski , Sheffield Road - I live with my husband Yan and we 've been there for close to 35
years and have enjoyed living on West Hill very much . We like the semi rural area and atmosphere .
And so naturally we ' re dismayed as the traffic increases on 79 and Sheffield Road as it has over the
last 15 years . With this Project , I can 't help but think that it will increase more . Even though it's on
96 , there are gonna be people coming across Bostwick or up Bostwick across Sheffield to this Project
to deliver things and fix things and so forth . So I think we ' re gonna see more a lot more traffic also .
And so in my opinion this location is gonna cause a lot of problems for a lot of us that we didn 't
anticipate when we moved to the area . Somebody mentioned a HUD study last week saying that
people that live in low-income housing really don 't want to live in projects . They want to live in
neighborhoods . So I wonder why all this money that would go to this Project couldn 't be used to
somehow subsidize landlords in our local area to make housing available to lower and low middle-
income people . Anyway I 've not heard any body mention that at all . And rather than keep changing
zoning , putting up projects that deteriorate rapidly , to concentrate on what's there and make it
available . And as we were told last week , there's plenty of middle-income housing . So why couldn 't
that be made available to the lower income people ? Mr. Talty of the Board made a statement . He felt
that the character of West Hill will be changed forever with the building of this Project. And I have to
agree and I 'm not in favor of it. I don 't like the idea of that radical a change with developments . I think
houses on two to four acres fine . We none of us object to that. But plunking down 120 units in a semi
rural area just seems out of character to me . And so I would like to ask the Board to riot approve the
zoning change . That yes we ' re all interested in low income housing but it seems like there should be
other solutions that would be more beneficial to the people that are going to live there that's closer to
town where they don 't have to worry about bus transportation . I just don 't think this sounds like a very
good solution . Thank you .
Councilperson Lesser — Cathy , could I ask for a point of clarification under the existing zoning? If we
do nothing isn 't it permissible to build something like a 150 units on that property so it' s not that we ' re
looking at indeed it's lower than the permissible density than proposed right now . So it's not 4-acre
zoning . It 's not anything of that sort . It's really it's the current right of the landowners to build at that
level .
Supervisor Valentino - Yes that's correct .
Councilperson Lesser — Is that correct . Do they have that right? Or does the when the zoning
changes they can 't do that but they' re grand fathered are they?
Mr. Kanter — We can discuss this more after the public speaks . But the bottom line is they could build
approximately the same number of single-family houses on that property now under the R- 15 zoning .
As Cathy said , it ' s not two or four acre zoning it's 1 /3 acres zoning . 15 , 000 square feet is about 1 /3 of
an acre . And it's got the , basically it has the sewer and water available .
Councilperson Engman — Then why do we need a zoning change then ?
12
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Mr. Kanter — Because the zoning doesn 't allow apartments and rentals .
John Bowers , 1406 Trumansburg Road - Good evening . I ' m sure you ' ll be amazed to hear that I ' m
here to urge the Board not to approve the zoning change that is required in order to proceed with the
project known as Overlook . I did have distributed before the meeting some documents that I will be
referring to so I hope everybody has that . So there's four reasons why basically I think this Project
should be turned down . First , I still think that it is not been adequately demonstrated that it's needed
or that it will even begin to address the very real housing needs of the most economically
disadvantaged members of the community . Secondly , I think that numerous issues relating to traffic
and safety have been raised at the Planning Board hearings and in written submissions . Yet none of
these have yet been adequately addressed . Third , it's emerged recently that there are very large
number of complaint calls to the sheriff generated in the last three years by Linderman Creek a project
comparable in most ways to Overlook. And I believe this is an extremely serious cause for concern .
And fourthly , though the MR Category has been described repeatedly by town officials as a so-called
floating zone , I have to say that it looks , feels and smells like what used to be called spot zoning . And
as such I believe that it betrays both the letter and the spirit of the Town ' s own recently completed
Comprehensive Plan as well as betraying the trust of the those property owners on West Hill who
bought their property in the belief that the R- 15 designation would be secure . Now I 'd like to elaborate
if you ' ll permit me briefly on each of these points . And I ' m intending to touch only on new information
or information that I feel has not been adequately discussed in public at previous hearings . I ' m not
gonna spend much time on the issue of affordability . I trust that most of you had time to read my
earlier statements or my guest column in the Ithaca Journal . I ' ll just say that I have yet to see a
convincing rebuttal of my claim that the Overlook apartments will have little or no effect of sever
shortage of housing at the lowest end of the scale . I ' m talking about people with incomes with under
10 , 000 a year and I don 't believe there 's any convincing evidence that these apartments apart from
the twenty apartments in the 30% level are truly affordable in the sense that the rents will be well
below current median levels . On the contrary all the evidence I 've been able to find suggests that
Overlook's rents will be at or above the median level rent level in the county . To these statements I
only want to add one new fact . After attempting on several occasions to find out from the developers
how they arrived at the average rent figures for the Ithaca area to which they compared their
proposed rents , I finally obtained an answer at the very end of the last Planning Board meeting . As I
suspected , their procedure has no objective validity whatsoever. Basically they chose a mere 16
comparable properties and averaged them . But on what basis they were judged comparable they
gave no indication . Now it seems to me surely obvious that this is just not an adequate basis on
which to base the claim that Overlook will provide affordable housing . If you jack up the average rents
then of course it' s gonna make your rents look affordable . And I maintain that that' s exactly what has
been done . Let me turn next to problems of traffic and safety . The littlest problems with placing an
apartment complex with 128 units on a major state road directly opposite the entrance to a medical
facility have been raised in public hearings and in many written communications , I don 't believe that a
single one of these issues have be satisfactorily addressed . We have been assured that eventually
an agreement will be reached TCAT to pick people up in the apartment complex so they don 't have to
this is a mistake actually on what I wrote , TCAT has already said they won 't stop by the side of the
road , so if they don 't agree to go into the complex then anybody that wants to get the bus would have
to cross the Trumansburg Road and go to the Professional Building in order to get the bus . But as far
as I know , there' s been no commitment from TCAT to do any such thing . We have been told that at
some point a pedestrian walk light will have to be installed in order to permit people to safely cross
Route 96 . But there's no indication of how or when DOT might agree with such a change . We 've
been told that the town is looking at the possibility of sidewalks in other areas of the town and it might
at some point in the future do the same for Route 96 . But there ' s certainly been no formal
13
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
commitment and certainly no explicit timetable for such a project. These are not trivial problems .
We 've obtained confirmation
Supervisor Valentino — Sir your time is up . Your five minutes is up . I ' m sorry your five minutes is up .
Brian Grout , 115 Hopkins Road- I own a house further south of the proposed project. I 'd like to thank
the Board and the town officials for having these continuing sets of hearings . I ' m against the rezoning
effort here . I bought my house several years ago primarily because of the rural , quiet and safe
character. And if this proposed rezoning is done , I ' m sure all of that will be compromised for myself
as well as my neighbors . A couple of people have talked about traffic and what I 'd like the committee
and the Board to look at is not necessarily the resident traffic but the service vehicles . You ' ll have
additional police cars , fire trucks , repairmen , painters , contractors , etcetera , which I think will
significantly add to the already congested activity on that highway . I would appreciate me being a
neighbor up there if you would have my input as well as what the majority of my neighbors think of the
project when you consider this rezoning . Thank you .
Supervisor Valentino — Who is next .
Ms . Hunter - Diane Hardy .
Ms. Hardy was not present)
Ms . Hunter — Andy Byrne .
Andy Byrne , 137 Hopkins Road- I 've lived on West Hill for 15 years first on Bundy Road and then the
last five years on Hopkins Road . When I purchased my house on Hopkins Road , one of the first
things I did was check the zoning of the property behind me and found that it was R- 15 and I thought
that that would be even if it was developed it would be something, that_ would be good for me and my
family. And when the Town began its rezoning project , one of the things I kept track of was the
zoning of the property . And it remained R- 15 so I felt comfortable that whatever was developed would
be safe for my family and one of the reasons I bought the house was to provide a safe environment
for my family . The statistics that Sheriff Meskill has provided on Linderman Creek on the number of
complaints are quite alarming to me . I have two young children and I don 't feel that if the Overlook
project is going to be similar which it seems to be , and it's gonna have this number of complaints that
my children won 't be safe . Sheriff Meskill has indicated that his officers are under pressure now and
that another project like this would put them under even more of a strain . And I don 't feel that it' ll be a
safe environment for my children anymore . I guess my options are to move out of the Town of Ithaca .
That would my first priority is to provide a safe environment for my children . Arid if the Town is willing
to break that agreement that zoning agreement and put my children in an environment that' s unsafe
then I ' ll have to move , as my children are my first priority . We all know that the traffic has been
picking up on West Hill and this Project again will add much more traffic to an already unsafe
environment . There are many questions about the project that you know I 've been to a lot of these
meetings and I don 't feel they've been answered . There ' s a culvert that's gonna go in a road that' s
very close to my property that I had questions about those questions were not answered by the
Planning Board . We've had questions about our view. We have not had a clear answer on those
during the planning board meetings . The project has changed every time that we 've had a meeting .
I ' m not sure if you ask someone on the Planning Board if they knew what it's gonna look like if they'd
be sure . That' s changed every single time that it ' s come .
I would have been filled whether it was 128 or whatever the number of houses but the Planning Board
continually stated that they would never let them build the same number of houses as they would
14
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
apartments on that property even though it's zoned for that . They will not allow that density . So
please consider the citizens of the area their concerns . Thank you .
Celia Bowers , 1406 Trumansburg Road - I ' m going to continue the statement , which my husband and
I wrote together. He ended with talking about safety on the roads and he pointed out that these are
not trivial problems . We have obtained confirmation in writing that we gave you that the from DOT
that the accident rate for the section of highway between Bundy Road and Hayts Road is 6 . 71 which
is double the statewide average for this type of highway and their figures by the way they insisted
reflect only what is reported to the DMV and there is absolutely no evidence that all accidents are
reported . They don 't have to be by law . The collision diagram that is in the materials I 've given you
taken by DOT's 2002 Highway Safety Investigation shows a heavy concentration of accidents around
the medical center. This is where the ambulances go to the hospital . Right there's a big group of
accidents there which the traffic report did not mention at all that was provided by the (inaudible) The
data I 've given you is from the years 1996- 1999 because the comparable data from 1999-2001 is
unfortunately not available however we do know that in the latter period there were 62 accidents on
that section of road and 11 involved personal injury . Finally , despite the projections of the traffic
consultants to the contrary the count at Linderman Creek in which they crucially based their final
projections of the increased in traffic caused by the Overlook development bears no resemblance
whatsoever to current reality . One need only look at their claim that there will be a total of three
vehicles entering the development during the A. M . rush hour to see that something is seriously wrong
with their projections . At Linderman Creek three weeks ago , twelve school buses alone entered the
development during the morning rush hour and their expected to be at least a hundred children at
Overlook . To claim as they do that a development of 128 apartments right on the Trumansburg Road
will not cause a major increase in traffic is just ludicrous . In short we believe the problem of this
magnitude should have been resolved before a proposal for a major zoning change was ever brought
before the town . Now the next issue that I 've got to talk about briefly I guess . I want to draw your
attention to the highlighted statement made Mr. Fred Wilcox in the Planning Board Meeting of
February 17th . He researched the number of responses by the Sheriff's Department of the
complaints involving Linderman Creek is " roughly 25-30 per year" and anticipates "something similar
for Overlook" . It was reported to the Planning Board ' s last public hearing these figures are nowhere
close to actuality . In fact , the Sheriff' s Department responded to 183 complaints in 2001 , 191
complaints in 2002 , and 160 in 2003 . Six to seven times the number claimed by Mr. Wilcox and he
never told the Board his figures were wrong . Furthermore there ' s a letter from Sheriff Meskill a copy
which I 've provided you with in which he states that his department is concerned about such dense
housing projects and the number of projects are proposed because of the strains they impose on "our
very limited law enforcement resources . " Despite the fact that these statistics in Sheriff. Meskill ' s letter
were entered into the public record prior to the last Planning Board meeting , there was absolutely no
public discussion of these facts nor any acknowledgement of their existence . I call upon the Town
Board to rectify this omission before considering the zoning change . Overlook is in every relevant
respect comparable to Linderman Creek . The developers themselves have repeatedly told us so .
And therefore every reason to expect the number of complaints generated by Overlook will be
comparable as well . I do not see how this Project can possibly be approved given the danger it will
pose both to the residents of West Hill and to the residents of Overlook . And given the burden that
will obviously place on law enforcement institutions responsible for maintaining public safety . It is very
interesting by the way to compare the complaint statistics generated by Linderman Creek with those
generated by West Village an even lower income and much larger project . As you can see from the
documents in front of you West Village the village has 235 units . Almost a hundred more units that
Linderman only generated a total of 45 call in the 14-month period from 1 / 1 /2003 to the present . In
comparison to 175 calls from Linderman . If you do the math , you ' ll see that Linderman generated
1 . 27 complaints per unit for the period . Whereas West Village only generated 1 . 19 complaints -
15
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Supervisor Valentino — Your five minutes is up Celia
Ms . Bowers - I ' m going to finish the paragraph . Okay and then I ' ll stop .
Supervisor Valentino — You ' re time is up
Ms . Bowers — I would like to just finish one paragraph , please .
Supervisor Valentino — You can give it to the . . .
Ms . Bowers — Just let me finish this one paragraph .
Supervisor Valentino - Your five minutes is up . If we have time you can come back to
Ms . Bowers — You know, I really want to protest Cathy .
Supervisor Valentino — I can 't treat you differently than I can treat-
Ms . Bowers — I think everyone should be able to finish their paragraph .
Supervisor Valentino — Please . You are out of order, Celia . If there is time at the end , we will let you
finish .
Ms . Bowers — We ' re going to have another meeting ?
Supervisor Valentino — Please , Please , you are out of order. You are out of order. Who's next?
Supervisor Valentino — Who is next, Tee-Ann ?
Ms . Hunter — Sidney Merritt .
Sidney Merritt , 127 Wolf Lane - I 've been there eleven years in the Town of Ithaca . I had two
concerns regarding Overlook and I have to reverse them because of the time limitations . So what I 'd
like to bring to the attention of the Board tonight is not only the traffic situation , but the concerns with
the 4-way intersection , which is going to result as a result of Overlook exiting and entering at the
hospital intersection . I think that everyone agrees that the access to the hospital cannot be impeded
and that riot only involves emergency vehicles but involves people that have to go or be driven to the
hospital for treatment and also for the surgeons and physicians that are on call that have to be there ,
to provide service . Now the traffic survey indicates that there will be no significant impediment to the
traffic access to the hospital . But I have a problem with some of those statistics and I would like to
explain them to you if I may . Overlook consists of a 128 residences primarily for low and middle-
income personnel and I assume from that then most of them are going to have to work to earn livings .
And those of those that are going to have to work to earn livings are going to have to go into the
Ithaca area to find their employment . I think that's reasonable to assume . Now there will be two and
three apartments there and I would suspect that the residents in the two and three apartments at
Overlook will have two or more vehicles . And I can 't help but think in the modest apartments it's not
uncommon for low-income people to have two breadwinners in the family, which means that they also
will need two vehicles to go to and from work . So on the basis of in addition to this of course the
developer has made provisions for 175 parking places in Overlook and I ' m sure if you didn 't consider
those being filled , you never would have put them in place . So it's my way of thinking that many of
these people are going to have to ride to work . They' re not going to do it in public transportation .
16
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
They' re going to have their own vehicles . Now the problem I have with the traffic statistic is that the
last information that the traffic planner presented and these are his last statistics . He said that 27
people at peak employment time are going to be down to go to work . And if he has he didn 't delineate
really which vehicles were among those 27 but if 10 of them are school buses , this means that there
will only be 17 people out of the Overlook going to work in the morning and that just doesn 't make any
sense to me . I what also puts some lack of credibility in this report , which incidentally was the last
information he submitted to the DOT , was that when the 15 single-family residents buildings are
constructed there would be 15 people going to work . But with the 128 people at Overlook only 17 will
be driving to work . And that just doesn 't make any sense to me at all . Now I think probably a more
reasonable number would be at least 50% of the parking occupancy because I think the developer will
not make provisions for empty parking places and then I expect 85 to 100 people should be
considered in the traffic survey . And I think that study should be .made and I should think the
implications would be considered and if another report hasn 't made to the Department of
Transportation it should be made . Now I ' m not a traffic engineer. But I was an engineer by
profession . And I made an effort to study this and I use a combination really of common sense and
the fact that I 've been driving up and down Route96 for eleven years come to the conclusion that
those numbers were badly understated . And that they at least some consideration should be made
for numbers much greater. And when that is done , maybe the implications on the traffic density on 96
will show that it's far more serious than it's been made out to be with this report. Thank you .
Ms . Hunter — Joyce Merritt .
Joyce Merritt , 127 Wolf Lane - 1 wanted to say something about zoning and what the purpose and the
implications that a zoning board must take into consideration when making a change . I 've have a
number of quotes and some ?? Of notes from the New York Consolidated Law Service Annotated
Statutes with Forms are 16 Volume 34a and the McKinney Is Consolidated Laws of New York
Annotated Book 61 Town Law. First I wanted to expand a little on Doria 's remarks about the generic
environmental impact study , which was passed last fall . Six months later it was too soon to rezone
and I assumed this was a very careful study that looked at the best type of zoning to make West Hill
an attractive and sensibly developed area . The rush to rezone seems in this case just that . It should
be more carefully considered . This is from the McKinney' s book , "Zoning often has a substantial
impact beyond the boundaries of municipalities and hence in examining zoning ordinance a court
should take into consideration not only the general welfare of the residents of the zoning township but
should also consider the effect of the ordinance on neighboring communities" such as Ulysses then
Jacksonville and Trumansburg , all of whom are going to be impacted by the larger volume of traffic .
A town board in exercising its legislative powers to zone property must consider the overall effect on
areas zoned and adjacent areas . " In all of the reading I did there was such an emphasis on adhering
to the comprehensive plan and of course this is exactly what is violated in the consideration of
changing the zoning law . It is my feeling along with the others who have spoken against that change
that it's opening up a Pandora' s box of hastily made changes to zoning laws and I fear that it will
begin a haphazard pattern of developing the West Hill , which does not seem very feasible to me . This
from the McKinney book , "When a zoning amendment is incompatible with the comprehensive plan , it
is not in the interest of general welfare of community and as it as a whole . It then becomes invalid .
Town zoning boards may exercise power to make zoning regulations only to promote health , safety ,
morals or general welfare of the community . . "
Ms . Hunter — You have 30 seconds left .
Ms . Merritt — Really? I ' m just getting warmed up .
Supervisor Valentino — Maybe we' ll have time at the end . Make a note where you left off.
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Ms . Merritt — I made my notes too hastily today . This is from the other book , Consolidated Law
Service ,
Supervisor Valentino — You ' re time is up now.
Ms . Merritt — Okay.
Ms . Hunter — Ann Byrne
Ms. Byrne was not present)
Ms . Hunter — Karen Governanti
Karen Governanti , 1 Perry Lane — Good evening . My husband and I purchased our home there about
three years ago . We purchased because of the beauty of the area . And I ' m very concerned about
zoning that would dramatically change that. I ' m also very concerned about the traffic in the area . I
travel 96 all the time . I don 't think it's safe for me to walk there . I don 't . I walk on Bundy. But now I ' m
concerned . I read an editorial in the paper that says that they' re considering putting you know they' re
thinking the editor the personal that wrote the editorial said that they were considering putting a road
between 79 and Bundy. Now I 'm concerned . I live right on the corner of Bundy and Perry . I ' m very
concerned about what that traffic' s going to do . The noise , the effect of just more traffic in general
what it does . I ' m concerned about safety . Am I gonna be walking or not walking on this road too . So
it's impacting my life . It's impacting how I want to live . So I am concerned about that. I don 't believe
that the housing that's being stated to be affordable is truly affordable for those people who need it in
this area . I appreciate what this gentleman from the Red Cross said that there 's people in these
shelters . I don 't believe they' re going to be able to afford this type of housing . And that it would be
actually able to afford housing that other people would leave to come to live here at Overlook . I guess
my husband and I went out to a trip to Denver and we looked at Boulder. And if anyone's been there
there 's beautiful mountains in the background . It's absolutely gorgeous but they have horrible urban
sprawl . And there isn 't a person who lives there that doesn 't agree that that' s a problem and you
know what they ended up doing after all this urban sprawl took place they ended up doing something
with the taxes where people now are paying taxes to purchase land so that they can maintain the
beauty of the area . So I guess I plead with you and say think about those issues . It looks like I ' m not
against affordable housing and I ' m not against units being developed . I also want to say that I don 't
feel that it's to the best interest and I think someone else brought this up at a meeting to children and
families to live in such large communities . I think it's better to be dispersed throughout the
community. Not so congested in one area when you have low-income housing . And I believe that it'd
be more beneficial to integrate into neighbors I guess is what I ' m trying to say. So I guess I plead with
all of you to consider these points and to consider what your overall plan is that you view for Ithaca
and what you want people moving in here , how do you want them to view your area ? So thank you .
Ms . Hunter — Al Burkhardt .
Al Burkhardt , 3 Perry Lane -Thank you for letting me speak. My wife Mary and I purchased our home
about 31 /2 years ago in the faith that the rural character and zoning of West Hill would remain . Let
me give you some background on myself. I 've lived most of my life in and around New York City and
in the San Francisco Bay area . So I ' ll hope you ' ll allow that in my life I have witnessed some traffic
and congestion problems first hand . And I moved to Ithaca because I didn 't want to see those
problems creeping up in back of me again and the character of West Hill as it exists now gave me that
faith that that was the kind of place I was going to live . Ladies and gentlemen , I am afraid that you are
18
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15, 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
about to break that faith . So my concern when I sit in West Hill and look at the traffic is that there is
no commercial development on West Hill . There is not a drug store . There is not a convenience
store . There is not a cleaners . There is not any place for anybody to go . When any of those 128
individuals want to come out of that place and buy diapers , or a quart of milk or a pack of cigarettes ,
or get some film developed , that' s gonna put a set of wheels on Route 96 . When any of them order a
pizza or need an electrician or order some flowers or service for their homes , that's gonna put a set of
wheels on Route 96 in the other direction . And indeed as soon as that unit is built , you ' re going to
have 128 large vehicles making a left turn there to try to get into that unit to bring in furniture and other
goods to set up those households . I also have significant concerns about emergency vehicles of all
types . Previous speakers have spoken about ambulances . I would certainly be worried about having
an heart attack in downtown Ithaca at 5 o 'clock in the afternoon and having to have an ambulance
come up Route 96 when these units and the extra traffic impacts on that route . But I would be also
concerned for that stretch of Route96 where you need to get fire trucks down in there or police cars
and I wonder how that would be accessible at certain times of day . Allow me also to look into the
future and say if you do approve this Project, and other developers see that .you have , I wonder ladies
and gentlemen what will be your reasoning to another developer who comes in here in a year or 18
months and says you approved Overlook . Why not approve my project that' s only a half mile up and
down here and I ' ll only have 96 units? If you come to the point where you have not 128 high-density
units but 300 or 400 high density units strung out on Route96 or on Route79 , what kind of pressure is
that going to put down into 96 where it feeds on Route13 when you ' re already doing enormous
development in the southwest part of the city where you ' re talking about putting in an esplanade
between the Station Restaurant and the Boatyard where you ' re talking about putting in an exercise
facility across the street from that and parking there? I just wonder what kind of an impact this whole
octopus area that has been so carefully tried to be built up and you ' re going to dump enormous
amounts of traffic in that and complicate it again . So I ask you very much to think about this rezoning
and what it's going to do to the character of West Hill and indeed what it 's going to do to the whole
west side of Ithaca . Thank you .
Ms . Hunter — Dan Governanti .
Dan Governanti , 1 Perry Lane - I ' m part of the Perry Lane contingent . I don 't understand the rules for
notices . But I question I have a question for the Town Board . I did receive a notice from the Town
Clerk here that this was a notice of a public hearing . I was rather surprised when I got to the meeting
and saw your agenda and saw that you ' re also taking action to actually consider adopting it and voting
on it tonight. So I don 't know in terms of your rules if your notice has to consider that this is also a
meeting to adopt this . I urge you not to adopt it tonight . As you 've heard in the short run I think my
concerns of traffic and safety . In the long run , this is a question of confidence and credibility in the
town 's comprehensive plan and planning process . I haven 't heard an answer to the question is this
really solving affordable housing needs of the town of Ithaca ? That question was posed at the
planning board meetings . It' s been posed here tonight . And I would say at least look at the question
of whether or not this is solving the needs of the very low income and the very high income . An
argument has been put forth that this is gonna put more pressure on the middle . We've been here
four years . We 've had four tax assessment increases . Some are legitimate . Increasing the pressure
on the middle is hurting a lot . I also think that this is a tough dilemma for the town board . It's a tough
dilemma for the planning committee . But the question comes down to the quality of life for the
existing current town residents and the protection of our town 's natural resources . So if you 're more
concerned with that then you will not approve this proposal . If you ' re more concerned with future
residence and their needs and giving up our natural resources , you will approve this . The question
about connecting Bundy and Route . 79 we' ve heard that when we moved here . Again I don 't see that
as a solution because you' re planning some development on 79 . 1 read over 200 condominium units
on Mecklenburg Road and both 79 and 96 empty into a two-lane bridge . And I don 't see how any of
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
connection between 96 and 79 is going to improve anything when you get down to the Octopus . I will
share with you my upbringing and Al talked about New York City and San Francisco. Karen and I
were raised on Long Island and as you can see that was so well planned out that we don 't have any
problems on Long Island any traffic . And we got to experience the Long Island Expressway and even
before it was built and opened fully it was the world's largest parking lot. And that was because no
matter what the study showed , more people were attracted to use the area . I think you ' re gonna have
the same kind of phenomena . This is really a question of what is the development of West Hill look
like in the future? What do we want? As a resident who moved here just recently, four years ago , we
consciously chose to live here . We did not choose this kind of development to be happening . And I
ask you as a taxpayer, as a voter to consider our concerns as much any body else's . Thank you very
much .
Supervisor Valentino — Thank you .
Ms . Hunter — I ' m sorry . I can 't read this very well . Charles . . . .
Charles Nocera , Tompkins County Red Cross , 102 West Clinton Street- I ' m a resident of Danby
because up until six years ago I couldn 't afford a home . Six years ago I looked around in the City and
the Town and realized I could not purchase . And so I looked in the Danby area . I come to you here
tonight because not because of that because I 'm represent an agency the American Red Cross . I ' m
director of that agency . Have been for 15 years . And have been involved with the affordable housing
issue for that length of time . It' s hard for me actually to concede that people do not believe there' s a
housing shortage especially on the affordable low and affordable housing side of the spectrum .
There's been a number of studies in the community that have substantiated that as well as our own
statistics of the number of people using our shelter. Just recently the United Way and about 15 other
partner agencies completed a study called Compass Two , which identified affordable housing as the
no one of five top issues in this county. The Tompkins County Planning Department has published
some data that I would like to just sight a few facts from . The vacancy rate for rental properties in the
county is under five percent and within the city is under three percent to show you how pressurized
the market is . That' s the lowest in the seven counties surrounding Tompkins County . Among those
seven counties , Tompkins County has the highest median rent . Professor Ralph Pendal , who's a
professor at City Regional Planning up at Cornell University, just completed the study in which he
sights that 72 percent of the lowest households earning $20 , 000 or less are rent burdened . Meaning
that they pay more 30 percent of their income towards rent. The highest areas one of the highest
areas identified was the Town of Ithaca . There are others the city obviously ; Ulysses and Enfield
were also mentioned . I believe very sincerely that there 's a housing issue in this county . I do not for
one instance think that the Overlook project is going to solve that issue . It' s a drop in the bucket. But
it' s a right step in the right direction . Actually based on Professor Pendal 's study, we need in this
county 20 , plus similar type projects . We need over 2500 units in this income rental category to begin
to address the issue . Recently and I see Jean here I hope she ' ll talk . Recently there was a summit
meeting co-sponsored by the chamber and the community foundation that tried to address this . I
think there were over a hundred participants , business , agencies , general community and clearly
there was consensus around the issue of lack of affordable housing . As to the folks that come to our
shelter, I want to sight a few statistics because I think there ' s a lot of stigma attached to the people
that we work with . Seventy-five percent of the people that we see have been homeless for less than a
week . We' re not talking about chronically homeless people . Forty-two percent say that the main
reason that they were homeless is because of affordable housing . Half of the people that we see
have been homeless when we see them for the first time . Again it's not a chronic problem . It's what
we call episodic . Something in someone ' s life tips the scale in favor that they can 't make the next
months rent. And eventually leads to eviction , leads to our shelter. We served 560 households last
year. Every year we serve between 400 and 600 . We also serve about 270 households each year in
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
preventing evictions . Something ' s causing that . I believe its lack of affordable housing . And lack of
affordable housing hurts the people with the lowest resources . I 've also looked at the rental incomes
for this property and sincerely believe that they address the issue affordability on the low-income side .
They' re designed to be at sixty percent of the median or lower and their rents are not burdened .
Thank you .
Sandra Conrad , 60 Spring Run Road , Freeville- I ' m the property manager for Ithaca Neighbor
Housing Services . We are the not-for-profit agency that's been in business for 25 years and we are
partnering with Aris Investments and are in favor of the project . I wanted to just point out that there 's
been a lot of talk about is this really an affordable housing project? And I wanted to point out to you
that it is based on three levels of income 30% of median income , 50% of median income , and 60% of
median income . And what does that really mean for people of very low income? And I wanted to
point out and stress to you that while the project does not meet the need of the very lowest in a broad
sense , unfortunately the project would not be viable financially if we only provided rents at say $ 311
for all of the units because unfortunately you do have fixed costs to building that project . And
because of that and we deal with rehabbing our buildings in the city of Ithaca , if we held our rents
down in the 300 range where everyone even at 10 , 000 or lower income could afford those units , we 'd
be out of business . We would not be able to maintain them in the quality that we do . We would not
be able to provide them the services that we do , maintain the property so that the rest of the
homeowners that live in the City of Ithaca would appreciate them for what they are and be in keeping
with the rest of the neighborhood . And so that's one of the issues that the project has to address is
that it is feasible to build . And so that' s why you have the rent structure the way it is . How do we
address the very low- income people that earn below $ 10 , 000? We have at least 40% of our 100 units
that we service in downtown Ithaca earn below $ 10 , 000 . These are lot of SSI recipients . They' re
average monthly income is about $685 a month . How do they afford our units? They' re more than
300 a month . The reason they can afford these units is because they have other agencies to help
subsidize their income . They can take those same subsidies and go to a project such Overlook and
also afford rents that may be about $500 to $600 . For example , a one bedroom apt and the way that
they do this is if they are only to pay 30% of their income and let ' s say that only $300 they should
have to pay . If the rent available for a one bedroom apt is only available now an opening at say 500 ,
then that subsidizing agency would provide the buffer between 300 and 500 dollars so that they could
still afford that apartment and only pay 30% of their income . So , while it's not going to address all of
the housing needs at the very low scale , it still can provide those housing needs because it is
affordable housing that is restricted by income . First of all , someone who earns 50-60 , 000 dollars will
not be allowed to rent at this Project . So it is restricted in that way . And I think that's something that
people need. to understand is that it is limited to people of low means which provides housing
specifically for their needs . So that it will open up the market for those looking to have Section 8
vouchers . Section 8 vouchers are being turned back in because many landlords in Ithaca and the
Tompkins County area will not accept those vouchers . This housing project will accept Section 8
vouchers for those residents . So it is going to meet the needs of low-income families . So I think
that's one of the important issues that needs to be addressed with this Project. One of the things that
the speakers also mentioned was some of the issue with police and crime and traffic issues and
things of that nature . Certainly all of those issues can 't always be completely addressed with any
project that you built . But I think that the developer will bring in a very good management system . I
think with the management system we have and the application system that we have , we have very
good residents that we bring into our project . We manage them well . And I think in terms of
addressing those types of issues with police calls and things of that nature we have reduced that
dramatically . We have some very wonderful residents that live in our buildings and take very good
care of the neighborhood and are very concerned about their neighbors and being a good neighbor.
Thank you .
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Ms . Hunter — There are not two Sidney Merritts in the audience are there?
Male voice from the audience - No there is only one
Ms . Hunter — Deborah Campbell .
Deborah Campbell , 1445 Trumansburg Road- I live about 9/ 10 of a mile above the hospital . I had a
few comments of my own that weren 't very a revealing and as profound as some people but I have
been living for 201 /2 years . First downtown on Aurora Street and then seven years at Candlewick
Apartments , which I always thought , were a bad idea . But they afforded me some housing for the
time being . And then I bought my house about a mile above the hospital and I 've lived there for 101 /2
years . I 've watched the traffic get worst over that time . We used to have peaceful Sundays . We
don 't even have peaceful Sundays anymore . The first thing I hear in the morning is traffic and the last
thing I hear at night before I fall asleep is traffic . Now of course I made the choice to buy the house so
that's my own problem but I really think that after living up West Hill for so long that would be a total of
about seventeen years , and looking around I really don 't think I ' m really opposed to multiple housing
of any sort up there . And I don 't care what price I don 't condominiums for rich people apartments for
rich people rich or poor it does not matter to me . It' s going to put cars on the road . I 'm very
concerned about the part of 96 that is in the city of Ithaca . If Cliff Street is not it's not a good street
and I mean sometimes I just go crazy like you get a bicyclist on the road plus all the traffic, fire
engines , police cars , ambulances , and it's a nightmare . I been by the way I have to drive down it
every day and back up every day and even on the weekends so I have a lot of I don 't know how many
drives I 've made but quite a few and that's the I really think that the very careful consideration needs
go into the development on West Hill and I really cannot I think low- intensity housing is a good idea
whether it' s for whether it's affordable housing or housing for rich people not affordable housing that's
I think that we need to really consider this very carefully . I also wanted to finish the statement started
by the Bowers . They were talking about the comparison with Linderman Creek and West Village and
that it has the . . . West Village although it has 235 units almost 100 more units than Linderman only
generated a total of 45 calls in a 14-month period from January 1 , 2003 to the present in comparison
to 175 calls for Linderman . If you do the math you ' ll see that Linderman generated 1 . 27 complaints
per unit for the period whereas West Village only generated . 19 complaints per unit : In other words
Linderman is generating almost 7x as many complaints as West Village . Why should there be such a
huge discrepancy? One possible explanation comes to mind is West Village unlike Linderman Creek
is locally owned and operated . I believe they believe that the Board should think very carefully indeed
about the desirability of approving another large development only a short distance away from
Linderman Creek built by another out of town developer with no strong local ties . In conclusion we
believe these complaint statistics together with Sheriff Meskill 's serious reservations are in themselves
sufficiently disturbing to suggest that the town board should not approve the zoning change . By way
of introduction to the last topic I would like you to look at the statement made by Mr. Kanter the town
planner at the February
17th Planning Board Meeting . Basically what he says here is that MR is the
only zone that has not been assigned to any specific areas in the comprehensive plan . I quote , "What
they do is basically is look at proposals for specific sights and specific development as they come up . "
In other words the Town apparently has a policy that specifically permits what it what used to be
called spot zoning of MR in any residential district whatsoever regardless of it' s designation in the
Comprehensive Plan . If this is really so , then what meaning does the Comprehensive Plan really
have? What is the point of designating a given area for single family if it can be changed to MR
anytime a developer comes along with a proposal ? This policy , call it what you will floating zones ,
spot zoning whatever basically betrays both the letter and the spirit of the Town ' s own Comprehensive
Plan . As well as betraying the trust of those residents who purchased in the Town in the belief that
their homes would be adjacent to other single family homes not to large apartment complexes . In
conclusion , I urge the Board not to approve this request for zoning change . This proposed
22
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
development has numerous problems virtually none of which have been addressed satisfactorily .
Thank you very much .
Ms . Hunter — Dan Crittendon .
Don R . Crittenden , 173 Bundy Road- Thanks for inviting me to speak tonight . I ' ll try to keep my
comments to five minutes . I have to re-shuffle things a little bit. I think it's unfortunate and sad at the
same time that we lose the Rose Inn that we are going to build this colossal apartment complex
instead and I want you to keep that in mind when you vote on this tonight. 1 want the Board to know a
few things when you sent this down to the Planning Board this was proposed as some king of
residential complex for the hospital workers and it's changed quite a bit since then . I attended most of
the planning board meetings and I really don 't think they did their homework. I don 't think they asked
the appropriate questions and I want to tell you a few things about those meetings . The first thing I
object to is the special treatment I think this Project has received . I don 't think that if a town resident
came along with a similar project it would have been pushed through so quickly . These meetings
happened so fast you can 't even get the minutes process and digested before the next meeting .
comes along . Mr. Larry Thayer of course couldn 't even attend most of the meetings because of prior
scheduling out of town . Mr. Kevin Talty proved the most responsive board member and he wisely
recognized the information supplied by the developer was well short of that needed for such an
important decision . He wanted answers . He didn 't take the bait about having dialogs with people . He
wanted answers . Now here's a public servant worth his salt. Thank you Mr. Tatty. Board Member
Tracy Mitrano took the opposite position claiming the town or its residents did not present enough
evidence to deny the development and that these larger social issues were beyond her policy making
powers. I don 't quite understand why she 's on the Planning Board . Mr. George Conneman had
concerns about safety and said he would hold Peter Trowbridge's feet to the fire if any child is hurt .
Well that's very admirable but exactly how he's going to do this is unclear since the vote is already
been cast and the complex will be in by then . Eva Hoffman liked the idea of apartments for hospital
workers but wanted to discriminate against students . And the developer cannot guarantee her
dreams will come true . Chairman Wilcox was the most insulting of all . At first he thought the
development was too large , but then he started lecturing us that this is not a done deal : He
proceeded to insult and intimidate the residents and brow beat other Board Members to side with him .
He degraded our neighborhood . We share the same micro weather patterns, the same flocks of
birds , the same red tail hawk, the same traffic noise , the same dogs barking , the same lawnmowers ,
and for him to tell us this is not a neighborhood was very insulting . He continued to front for the
developer by rescheduling special meetings so quickly the minutes could barely be digested even this
meeting tonight is to push this process along . Choo-choo can you say railroaded? I want to-
Supervisor Valentino - Sir , will you please try to keep your comments to the issue of this? I think it is
not appropriate and I will call you out of order if you keep making the insulting remarks about our
Planning Board and people that work for the Town of Ithaca . Please , as I have said at the beginning
of the meeting , I will call people out of order if they go down that road . So please stop going down
that road . Please keep your comments to the issues of this Project .
Mr. Crittenden - The issues of this Project , traffic. The traffic developer came in with a study done in
July / August 2001 , well that got quick a chuckle from the crowd since this town is so different in the
summer with students . And everyone knows that except apparently for him . Put him on the defensive
and he was ranting about his qualifications . . .
Supervisor Valentino — This is your second warning to stop going down that road .
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Mr. Crittenden - I didn 't hear him say how he was stuck in traffic coming from coming down from
Route 13 and stuck behind all the way out to the school district the school just trying to make a right
when you come down from the mall . You 're backed up all the way to the school just trying to take a
right . They haven 't addressed the safety issues . We don 't even know if there's a turning lane there .
They won 't put a turning lane in at Bundy Road and there was two accidents since the last meeting .
They talk about safety and Linderman Creek there are no sidewalks there . Linderman Creek they get
calls for crime every other day . Are you kidding me? This is not good . TCAT hasn't. come on board .
And clustered housing this is suppose to enlightened community in Ithaca , yet clustering this housing
even is above HUD recommendations . They don 't agree with it. The SEQR review; . I looked at a few
of the questions there . Will the proposed action create a demand for any community provided
services , recreation , education , police , fire protection ? Yes . If you ask is the capacity sufficient to
handle projected demand ? No . Well how do we know? Will the proposed action result in the
generation of traffic significantly above present levels ? Yes . If you ask is the road network adequate
to handle additional traffic? No . That should put an end to it right there . I think John Barney hit
closest to the-
Supervisor Valentino — Your time is up sir.
Mr. Crittenden — Does include the time that you took from me?
Supervisor Valentino — I had to give you a warning . I ' m entitled to do that .
Ms . Hunter — Actually . it's 5 : 26
Mr. Crittenden — I 'd like to speak at the end of the meeting .
Ms . Hunter — Jean McPheeters ,
Jean McPheeters , 904 East Shore Drive - I ' m the President of the Tompkins County Chamber of
Commerce . I ' m here this evening to really talk about the need for housing across our entire county .
We have both from the Compass Two study that was done through United Way and locally in the
Chamber through our CEO round table . The CEOs in this community have expressed the incredible
need for housing there is . They find that workers across the board from people who are earning $ 15
and $ 20 , 000 a year to people who are earning $200 , 000 a year are finding difficult finding housing .
We just have not built sufficient housing in the last number of years . And the other problem with our
community, which is a ' wonderful problem , is that we have the jobs . If you look at our region we have
between 56 and 60 , 000 jobs in this county . We have 13 , 000 people who come into this county to go
to work on a daily basis . For instance , in Schuyler county twenty five percent of the work force of
Schuyler County works in Tompkins County . And I think twenty percent also works in Chemung
County the problem is there's no jobs in Schuyler County . So what we have here is an abundance of
riches with a good job base but we don 't have the housing that will support the people working in this
community . So the Chamber has decided that this is a critical issue for us ; and something we are
going to be pressing on for the next considerable period of time . We also have , as you know
incredibly high housing rates housing costs compared to our neighboring counties . Our housing costs
here exceed all the counties surrounding us by a considerable margin . And we have seen enormous
increases in the last 18 months . That combined with enormous increases in taxes really has pushed
the housing costs up . You 've all seen the county budget has been increasing and that's a real
difficulty . A person owning about $ 150 , 000 home in this community , which is pretty much towards the
average , now is paying well over $6 , 000 in taxes in our community . So that' s also keeping people
from building in the area . So we have this sort of end though sometimes renters don 't understand this
they' re paying those taxes as well . They' re paying those taxes in increased rental costs . Chuck
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Nocera talked to you about the rates that there are of the number of people who are paying well over
thirty percent of their income on housing in terms of rental . But that's also true for people who are
owning individual houses . This is a serious problem . I want to thank the Town of Ithaca because I
think the town has been much more responsible than some of our other communities in terms of
building affordable housing in the past . I also want to assure you that the Chamber is going to put the
same kind of pressure to our other towns . All of us need to understand the burden that we have and
all of us need to take part in that responsibility . So what I ' m asking you to do tonight is to consider
this in light of the other issues that have been brought to you . I would think that in terms of traffic and
enormous part of that traffic is that people are coming from outside communities because they cannot
afford to live here . I can 't tell you for sure that that's the only reason . I ' m sure that there are people
who live in Schuyler County or you know where ever they live because they want to live there and
there are jobs here and they'll come here for them . But I do know that it' s one of the issues that the
county . planning board intends to take up is to really do a survey of that in commuter traffic and see
what the issue truly is . We have a serious problem . And the affordability goes across all spectrum .
I 've had many CEOs say that they are having an enormously difficult time recruiting people to work
here because of the cost of housing in our community. If we want to continue having a good economy
here we need to provide housing for people . And that's across the entire spectrum . Thank you for
listening to me . I hope you will give this Project every consideration and the zoning change every
consideration . Thank you .
Ms . Hunter — Steve Bowman .
Steve Bowman , 238 Bundy Road- I 've lived on Bundy Road since 1990. And I just want to say very
briefly, I was in an accident intersection of Bundy Road and 96 and when the State Policeman came
to investigate it and fill out his report he mentioned you must be aware of all of the accidents that
happen along this stretch of road . We really don 't need any more density housing density on Route96
and the area is zoned residential single family residential for a reason and I don 't think it should be
changed . And I 'm just here to voice my opposition to the proposed zoning change . Thank you .
Supervisor Valentino — Thank you sir.
Ms . Hunter — Yvonne Fogerty .
Yvonne Fogarty , 238 Bundy Road- I 've been a resident of Ithaca for 32 years . I have lived on Bundy
Road for 15 years now and you know several things come to mind . West hill is a particular
community. It's a part of Ithaca that A- we spent millions of dollars on trying to fix the octopus and
really didn 't fix it. When you try and get to work in the morning , you find yourself stuck in traffic for a
very long time often . When you ' re trying to get home there are often trains that you have to sit and
wait for. 96 as everybody has said already it' s a problem . It really is a problem . And on Bundy Road
which is you know the part of Bundy Road that I live on is a bit up the road from 96 but we get over
the years we've gotten more and more traffic and we have 55 mph speed limit out there and we get
people going 65 , 85 mph down that road . And it' s very beautiful . It's a very beautiful part of our
community . We have people who come out there to walk every day and as soon as the weather
warms up there are lots of people and it we don 't have sidewalks . We don 't have shoulders . But the
more people you add to this community the more congested it's going to be . 79 is very congested .
Why is it that we have to have all of the low-income housing on the west hill? We have lots of other
communities and I ' m wondering has this Project did they look at other communities in Tompkins
County? Did they look at Lansing ? Did they look at Cayuga Heights ? Did they look at Bell
Sherman ? Did they look at any of the other areas? If were we want to have people spread out in our
county or do we want them all on West Hill? We 've already got four low-income housing projects on
West Hill . We have one on 13a . We have West Hill . We have the one on Elm not Elm Street the one
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
by ACS . And then we have Linderman Creek . That 's a lot . Can we help them find another part of the
county to put this Project in ? Thank you for your time .
Supervisor Valentino — Is there anyone who hasn 't signed up who would like to speak? I saw a lady
over here . There is still the five minute limits
Carmen Blackinship, 222 Bundy Road - I ' m not opposed to low- income housing . I did sit in the
planning meetings . And a lot of people were insinuating that the neighbors that were talking were
fussbudgets and didn 't want low-income housing . I also found some of the treatment very rude . And
found it intimidating to speak at the Planning Board . But I ' m not opposed to low-income housing but
this is very high density in a residential neighborhood . It is , as people have said , there 's not been I
think sufficient planning made for turning lanes for the people who are going to be coming in and out
of that area . Every time I come time on Bundy Road I ' m looking behind me as people whiz by on the
shoulder because they can't be bothered to stop while I make a left hand turn . So I don't think it's an
appropriate place . I don 't think it's appropriate to change the zoning for this particular unit. I ' m not
against low-income housing . I ' m not against mixed housing . But I do live in a neighborhood that is
residential . Thank you .
Tricia Whitney , 100 Graham Road- I run an apartment complex here in Ithaca . It's the Meadows Town
Homes . I wanted to say that out of the calls I received weekly, we keep a log on who calls and why
they are interested , and why they can 't afford it , and if their Section 8 and different things and approx .
6 out of every calls I receive are that they can 't afford it. The rent's too high . So I say what kind of
rents are you looking for. They're always looking between 4 and 700 . You can't find that around
here . Even one bedrooms go for $ 800 . 1 mean you might be able to find something downtown but
they're usually full . I will usually try to help people find housing if I can because they might know
somebody that might know somebody that always comes back to me . You can 't find it. You cannot
find housing for these people who work at Target , Home Depot. I 've talked to the managers and
they' re the only ones that can afford it. Their employees can 't afford it . I also wanted to say that
everybody talks about how bad the traffic is. I don 't know if anybody's ever come off the hill down
Route 18 . That's terrible . They keep putting stuff in there . I mean Ithaca 's just a rough place for
traffic. So it might be busy up on west hill but it's also busy everywhere else . So and the last thing I
wanted to say was that I have talked to several of the nurses and physical therapists at the hospital
and they are very excited to have this in . Many of them would like to live there . Many of them travel
from out of Ithaca because they can 't afford to live here because they might not be , like , RN they
might just be an aide or a therapist or something like that where they don't make as much money . So
I have talked to several of them and they are interested in maybe possibly getting an apartment there .
So that's all I wanted to say and I did want to say that I ' m in favor. Thank you .
Supervisor Valentino - Thank you . Now I think I saw a couple hands over here . Ma' am , you didn 't
speak before , right? No , okay .
Laurel Lewis , 509 Willow Ave, Fall Creek - I 've lived in Fall Creek for twenty-six years . I 've seen our
Fall Creek neighborhood change considerably . I 've seen the City of Ithaca change considerably in
the twenty-six years I 've been here . I would urge the Board to approve this zoning change . I also man
serve a board member of Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services and I know as a Board Member
there is a serious need for housing in this community . I also wanted to address the Board because I
grew up myself in rental housing in a single-parent household . And I can appreciate all the concerns
being raised . However, as someone who grew up in rental housing , I wanted to say that I believe that
people who either don 't have the means or choose not to purchase a home . And the house prices in
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
this city have increased dramatically certainly in the twenty-six years I 've lived here . I believe that
renters should have a choice of good , clean , quality housing . And Ithaca Neighborhood Housing
Services cannot do enough to rehabilitate all of the housing stock in the city of Ithaca . I understand
that there are concerns about safety , about traffic . One of the previous speakers spoke to the
increased traffic on Route 1. 3 . Anyone who lives in Fall Creek knows that we have also seen
increased traffic. It's hard to pinpoint apart of our community that's not experienced increased traffic
and safety concerns . However I think this developer has certainly made a point of working with local
architects , engineers , professionals who have informed the design and the ideas and planning behind
this Project . So I would urge the Board the last thing I wanted to say is in terms of some of the
concerns that have been raised about Linderman Creek and the number of complaint calls and police
calls , one of the other things that I think should be considered is that the management of any of the
housing complexes should be a concern and if there is a good quality management team in place ,
then , hopefully , it would decrease any of those complaint calls. Thank you .
Supervisor Valentino— Let's see , was there someone else here? Tim . You look like you've been
working today .
Tim Ciaschi , 120 Grove Road -Yeah , trying . I 'd like to do a little exercise with the Board if I may.
Please side with me. If we could all close our eyes for thirty seconds , a minute and picture yourself in
your home and you ' re barbecuing or you ' re swimming . You' re having fun . Your children are running
around safely . Everything isn 't an issue and then let's put the 128 units in your back yard . And now
think of all the issues that were brought up. Cause now it's in your back yard . It's in Cayuga Heights .
Or it's in Caroline . This is their backyard . This is my backyard . You people zoned it R- 15 . That' s
why they bought it up here . These people are paying taxes . They entrusted in you elected officials
and now they' re going to hold you accountable . And believe me things will fall if it doesn't go their
way because they are the taxpayers . They are the voters . They have a say. You've just heard from
Chuck Nocera that its a drop in the bucket. That tells me we' re not gonna solve this problem . You
heard it from the other institution Ithaca Neighborhood Housing . It doesn 't address the lowest income .
You also have to realize it's not gonna go away if we have five more Overlooks . It's still going to be
there . Has anybody ever thought about doing it in the outlining areas where you can create more jobs
out there ? They' re saying Schuyler Is running here and all these other counties well sure they' re
running to Tompkins County cause Cornell 's our employer. And Cornell doesn 't pay that well unless
you ' re a professor. So yeah it's tough to get housing . It's very tough . But just remember it being in
your back yard because it's our backyard . They put their lives in it. They love it up there . You know
the City of Ithaca is trying to stop urban sprawling . You guys are promoting it. This is the worst in the
world . We had mentioned yeah you ' re allowed R- 15 there's a hundred and something units they can
have on that acreage of houses . But over the progression of time it's gonna take 30 to 40 to 50 years
to get all those houses built then you bring in these people slowly as appose to plopping them all
there in one year. And believe me if you look at West Hill , we do have enough already . And if this
goes through what's to stop Babcock's property? And what to stop Lucatelli' s property? And what's
to stop another piece of property on West Hill? It needs to stop now because you know we want to be
represented because we voted for you people and we saw on the Planning Board the one gentleman
that does live on West Hill he had to abstain he wouldn 't say anything . So imagine it being in your
back yard . Imagine that . That's all 1 have to say . Thank you .
Supervisor Valentino - I guess that gets through the list now . Does the Board feel like we should give
some folks another two minutes ? Let me see a raise of hands of people who would like to speak for
an additional two minutes? You have two more minutes . Doria , I will let you go first .
Ms . Higgins - About sixty years ago , I had a job at the Populations Reference Bureau in Washington ,
D . C . and at that time we recognized that over population the growth of the population in the entire
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
world was becoming increasingly a very serious problem . It's a problem all over. So you have the
choice now between just lying back like good little and saying yes master you want to develop here
we ' ll say yes to you or you decide to follow the zoning codes or follow the plan for the town . Because
it's gonna go on and on if you keep saying yes , yes , yes . We ' re gonna turn into Newark, New Jersey
and that's a difficult job in front of you . Some people keep saying that I well , let me say this that I
gather well that' s it. This problem of people needing housing is going to continue and it has to be
done in I think a planning fashion and not ruin Ithaca . Thank you .
Mr. Thompson - I would like to ask the town board how long the hospital has been up there on the hill
approximately? I guess my point' s this how many hospitals do you know that are out in the middle of
nowheres in the country? None . All these people that bought these houses up there! bought it next to
a hospital . They' re not out in the country that' s on the edge of town . If they want to be out in the
wilderness , there 's wilderness out there . There 's all kinds of wilderness . You don 't buy on the edge
of town . The town's gonna grow. Common sense would tell you that. These people had to know
that . You don't buy close to a hospital and not expect people to be around there. Thank you .
Mr. Crittenden - It's appropriate when planning to ask what the developer is ,going to give in
exchange for these development rights . John Barney brought it up that they section this in two
phases so they can get these division of housing and community renewal tax credits which amount to
over a million dollars I believe for each phase so that' s two million dollars a year. Then they sell these
credits . And you have to ask what is the developer giving then to the Town of Ithaca? Are they going
to donate some advanced equipment for the hospital? Are they gonna give us rebate in school
taxes? Are they gonna fund a nursery school in the complex they' re building? Are they gonna
contribute to youth soccer leagues? What about a sidewalk fund are they gonna help with a left turn
lane? We can 't even get that . When they put in Perry Lane I believe that they had to seed parkland
to the town . Why doesn 't the town insist that this develop dead end and dedicate the single family
housing portion to the town as an open space? And what proposal in turn do we have for these units
to turn into home ownership? Where 's the agreement with INHS that at the end of these 15-year tax
credits this property then goes over for ownership to INHS to become a cooperative or condo? I
haven 't seen the agreement and 1 would really like to . Thank you .
Mr. Merritt - I 'm Sidney Merritt at 127 Wolf Lane . It could be argued for example that the traffic would
reduced coming out of Overlook for employees of the hospital who could be going back and forth to
work on foot . But then I ask you to remember based on the weather in January and February who's
going to go out in subzero weather and walk to work. I don 't think so . Also it's been said there' s a
heavy influx of people coming out of Trumansburg to go to work . These aren 't people because they
have to live in Trumansburg it' s because they want to live in Trumansburg . And if you know
Trumansburg you ' ll understand that why . Now I was going to make personal safety an issue but I
don 't have the time but I do have the letter from the sheriff and the statistics that the sheriff
department's compiled so if any of you haven't seen it I 'd like to make it available . Ok and thank you .
Supervisor Valentino — Why don 't you bring them up here to me and I ' ll distribute them for you ? I
think we 've already seen this but let me check . Okay , I was corning this way around . Celia and then
Joel .
Ms . Bowers - I think one of the previous speakers actually put their finger on the problem from INHS
okay. This is no better than any other housing for the poor because it's not affordable for the poor.
They would have to have Title 8 vouchers to live here and they could have Title 8 vouchers to live in
rental housing scattered across the Ithaca area that were market value properties because these are
market value rent . There is no advantage to the poor . I hate to say it. But if you want to help the
poor, you have to be more European and you have to pay higher taxes and you have to have more
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
social services because there is no other way. You can 't have trickle down economics in housing
because you come up against a plateau . INHS comes up against a plateau . You can 't rent an
apartment for $250 which people at the lowest level can afford or $ 10 , 000 or less or $ 12 , 000 or less
because if you . have an apartment and rent it for under $300 , you won 't be able to pay the taxes on it .
You won't be able to keep it up . The area 's very strict about housing codes , as they should . be. It is
simply not economic. People at the lowest level have to have tax help and that's why we oppose this .
It's not going to help anybody except the developers who are going to make one hell of a lot of
money . And I think you ought to look at this okay because this kind of building development could be
done on a smaller scale if we ' re prepared to put some tax dollars into it.
Mr . Harlan -I ' m from Newfield . Well I 've been to many meetings about six , seven years of it. I've
been with you many, many times . It's the same old excuses . They don 't want it in their back yards
just like Burger King . No body lived by Burger King and look at the drive throughs you abandoned
them because of these kind of people . You look at the lights you approved for the soccer field up
there by Burger King for the new field . Their neighbors are raising cane about the lights. And I 've
been to the expansion of the mall . Martha Robinson says she didn 't like it because she 's afraid she
might have traffic coming down her way and she lives on Ellis Hollow Road. and she's the one who
helped ban the drive throughs and plus stopped and tried to stop Burger King . And what about
Southwest Park , Whitewaters and all these other development coming through? It is the same old
thing "excuseitis" to stop the project . It took Alan I don 't know two or three years listening to the same
people over and over again and still he had enough guts to stick through them and went on with the
projects . He has enough guts to stand up to em . He wasn't intimidated . But it seems like YOU and
the Board and Carol Peterson and her crew are being very intimidated by these people by now and
it's what you call the "harpenese" and you people are what you call the "harpeneers" . You got to
stand up and . be like Cohen be proud . Vote it in because you 're gonna even if you do defeat this
Project, the project might go on to somewhere else and this could be the same old thing . And if that
project (inaudible) Their all vultures . Come out of the woodwork.
Supervisor Valentino - Have I had everybody that' s wanted to speak? I ' m going to close the public
hearing now then and before I bring it back to question and discussions for the Board , there are a
couple of things that I 'd like to bring up because it seems to come up every time no matter how long
and how hard we study a project, people seem to think that we have somehow rushed it through or
rushed to judgment somehow . John Kanter put together for me a list a little outline of when we
started and how we've looked this Project and I 'd like to read it. That on September 8 t we had a
Town Board meeting and there was discussion of Overlook at West Hill . Public comments were
allowed even though it wasn't a public hearing . On September 13'h you ' ll remember the Town Board
took a sight visit . We went up and looked at the Overlook site . On October 23`d the Town Board
special meeting continuation of discussion of Overlook on West Hill and public comment was allowed .
November 4'h Planning Board meeting : sketch plan , review , public comments were not allowed
because this meeting included sketch plans for the Remington Inn and Briarwood subdivision as well .
All the minutes from that meeting were provided to all of us to research .
Councilperson Grigorov — The public weren 't allowed to speak at that , but they could go.
Supervisor Valentino —They were allowed there . On December 16`
h the Planning Board had a public
hearing on the SEQR determination of Overlook at West Hill and , of course , a public hearing
everyone could speak . February 17"h planning board continuation of public hearing on SEQR
determination of Overlook at West Hill hearing was closed . February 26`h Special Planning Board
Meeting continuation of discussion of SEQR determination . Board approved negative declaration and
held public hearing on preliminary site plan and subdivision approval and recommendation on zoning ,
left public hearing open for further comment . March 4`h Special Planning Board Meeting continuation
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
of public hearing on preliminary site plan and subdivision approval and recommendation of rezoning ,
Closed the public hearing . Planning Board granted preliminary and issued positive recommendation
on rezoning. And here we are March 15" Special Town Board Meeting , public hearing on rezoning of
Overlook at West Hill . Now all these Planning Board meetings , most of the Town Board members
were present and if we weren 't present, we were provided with all the this is just the information that
we went through over the weekend . If you look at Jonathan 's pile over there you ' ll see: more of the
information that most of this Board reviewed , looked at and studied before we got to this point this
evening . So I don 't think that anyone has the right to say that we haven 't thoroughly looked at ,
studied , reviewed and talked to the public about this Project. One other thing before the Board asks
questions, is the statement about special treatment to the developer. The Town of Ithaca has a policy
of no special treatment . People that come before us whether it's for one single subdivision for one
home or for millions and millions of dollars of projects , the process they go through and the way that
they get treated is always the same. That has been our policy that we maintain and we' re very proud
of that policy. Okay Town Board Members you have questions ?
Councilperson Lesser -Yes . There are a number of statements made about the complaint calls to the
sheriff's office at Linderman Creek and by extension at Overlook. See if I can get this point clarified
that it's my understanding although the Sheriff Office refers to these as complaint , I gather and that's
what I want to check to see if I understand this correctly , that these rather refer to all calls and they' re
not complaints in the sense that they' re necessarily any problem there that they could be emergency
service or anything of that nature . And indeed my wife worked all of her career with severely
handicapped children indicated that if you had two even two medically fragile children in the
development anywhere you could get that number of calls . That if there' s an emergency call the
sheriff is called and so it 's difficult for me to extend from just these raw numbers that indeed there's
anything less safe about those communities than there is of any other comparable community around
the county . And I wonder indeed if my understanding of that is correct?
Supervisor Valentino — Jonathan ?
Mr. Kanter - 1 think that's correct .
Councilperson Grigorov — There was a sheet in here I was just looking for . . .
Supervisor Valentino - We were given all the same information on the Sheriff's report . I reviewed
them all and I 've talked to the Sheriff about them afterwards . I called him . The sheets that we
received had several complaints that were to the same apartment just being recalled there sometimes
domestic disputes . The thing about Linderman and the same thing is gonna be true here is that they
have , as you mentioned , managers who intervene who often call and call the problem folks are
removed from being there . Now I also asked the Sheriff because I happen to have a household in my
own neighborhood that gets calls on pretty much a weekly or every other week basis the Sheriff, the
State Police , arrests , they get taken away . They come back . They' re back in the household again
and so I asked the Sheriff if you looked at those across our community in the areas that you cover, do
you have some of these problem sites almost throughout the county? And he said , " Indeed we do .
Yes we do where we have to return and make calls many, many times . " So they' re riot just
Linderman Creek or someplace else . The Sheriff sees them everywhere . Then a problem the Sheriff
has , as he 's pointed out in his letter that we've heard over and over again , is being short staffed and
having had cuts in his department. And I think all of us have been working very hard to try to promote
getting additional deputy sheriff coverage for all of us for all of our sakes throughout this total
community . That's as much as I know about that .
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Councilman Burbank — Cathy , I 'd like to ask a little more . I 'd actually like if it's possible to ask Mrs .
Bowers could she raise this point? I didn 't quite understand her interpretation . Mrs . Bowers you
contrasted the situation with West Village and Linderman Creek . You're presumably aware that those
are different jurisdictions and West Village is served by the City Police , which have a different data
collection .
Ms . Bowers - Actually this all came about getting this information because we got an article on the
web from August which said that Linderman Creek had had SWAT Team arrests and that there was
new management and things were much better. So I called Linderman Creek , and I' said what was
going on and she confirmed what she said in the article which was there were between two and four
calls from the State Police a month which I thought was absolutely magnificent . I mean going from
this just seemed fabulous . I guess are you still there? Then I went to the police department
downtown and to the sheriff's office and asked for their statistics and that is how I found out that the
Linderman Creek' s complaint statistics , which they told me specifically by law, excluded any family
calls . They said they wouldn 't even give me those. Whether that's true or not maybe they said
something different to you , Cathy .
Supervisor Valentino — I have the same reports that you have, they show the address .
Councilman Burbank — Excuse me Ms . Bowers -
Ms . Bowers - So anyhow that's why I went to I wanted to compare Linderman with West Village ,
which is actually lower income , and in the city and I got police calls from them .
Councilman Burbank — Very quickly though . I was a little confused at the statement that you didn't
read but the other woman read . How do you interpret the difference? What is the dynamic that you-?
Ms . Bowers - First of all I think the rent at West Village are significantly lower. So, in fact they are
affordable visa vie other rents in the area . Nobody denies that at Linderman Creek they're putting a
you know they' re at 60 % or the person 's at 60% the fact remains if you look at average rents and you
have information from Tim Ciaschi , from the Ithaca Journal , their rents aren 't at the medium . Where
as in West Village people are really families who need the help . Now at Linderman Creek the
problem with this tax credit is , and I called HUD and the place that gives these credits , every year they
call these developments and in order to get their tax credit every year they have to prove that their
development is filled to I believe it's 95 % capacity all year, so they' re under tremendous pressure to
keep the development filled , otherwise the people who are financing it don 't get this money . So that's
one thing and I also thing the other thing is that Linderman is not locally owned at West Village the
buck stops right along (inaudible) .
Mr. Burbank — Thank you very much .
Supervisor Valentino — Peter , did you have some questions?
Councilperson Stein - Well I have some questions and comments . As you know I ' m new at this and I
don 't there are a lot of big issues that I really don 't know a lot about . But I 've sat and listened very
carefully to what the people have said and I 've read a lot of stuff that has come across my desk and
the analysis that I make of the people that are apposed to it is I hear a number of arguments and I just
want to say how they strike me . There 's the argument about traffic. And I must say it doesn 't seem to
me that if there ' s a traffic problem that the way to solve is to say not to put another development there .
When I first came to Ithaca , I came in 1956 , and the first place we lived was on the Trumansburg
Road right out at the intersection of the Town of Ithaca and the Town of Ulysses and I used to walk up
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
to the place called Bishops ' up there . It was a little restaurant there . And it was worth your life to do
that . That road as long , as I have lived here , has been a dangerous road to walk on and I used to get
nervous coming out of my driveway onto it. So I don't think this anything new and I think the right
solution to a traffic problem is that you have to do something about it . You have to widen the road .
You have to get buses to have the buses come into the development and so on and so forth . It just
doesn 't seem to me that the right answer is no if you believe you need a development someplace or
other the answer is well you can 't do that because this road can 't bear the traffic . That's one
comment.
Another comment that is the whole question of the complaints , I , frankly , don't understand the
relevance of that discussion . These are human beings . They' re gonna live someplace . If they' re
gonna generate complaints, they' ll generate complaints . And if the Sheriff doesn 't have the ability to
respond to them , then the Sheriff has to find the ability to respond to them . That becomes a problem
for the community to solve . The other question is , I know there 's a lot of heat around the statement
not in my backyard" and it's a dangerous thing to bring up but I just want to bring it up because I 've
been thinking about that a lot . I 've heard people say that they were insulted by other people saying ,
well the people that are complaining about it are saying not in my back yard" . But, in fact, many of
the people are complaining about used those very words here this evening . They said , "Would you
like it in your backyard?" " I don 't like it in my backyard" . If, in fact, this is a project which is in the
public good to build such a housing , it has to be in somebody' s back yard . And no matter where one
decided to put it , there would be people_ around saying , " I don 't like it. " "Would you like it in your
backyard ?" So somehow I don 't quite know what to do with argument, but I know you can 't find a
place to put it where it won't impact anybody and the question for me is will it impact these people
unfairly as compared to somebody else if you put it else where? And I really haven't heard that
argument . But there is one argument that I have heard which , honestly I don't have a satisfactorily
answer to , and that's the question , " Is this affordable housing or is this not affordable housing ?" And I
have heard both sides of that and I honestly feel that I haven 't seen an analysis that convinced . , . I
believe there's a need for affordable housing . I accept that . But the question is , " Is this affordable
housing ?" Unfortunately, the people went home that were associated with the homeless shelter, but
the question that came to my mind is how many units of this housing will in fact provide some relief to
the people that are running homeless shelters? And Mr. Bowers argues that none of' them will , okay?
The people that are for it argue that the vast majority of them will , not necessarily people in homeless
shelters but people at homeless shelters and people that are working at minimum wage jobs and
feeding their families and working at Target. I honestly don 't know whether those people will be
served , certainly not by all the units of the units being built but, by the majority of them . And for me
that's the question that I really wish I felt more secure about the answer to before asked to vote on
that .
Supervisor Valentino - Let's try to get to that for you .
Councilperson Grigorov — I just thought that Jon might be able to outline it in a clear way?
Mr . Kanter - I ' m not going outline the whole thing for you . I did prepare a statement which I think will
be better to hold off and read later, but I think that if you have more technical questions they should be
addressed to the applicant. I think there probably are some people in the audience that could address
that .
Supervisor Valentino — Okay , take a shot at it.
Chris Papamichael , Developer with Aris Investments -There ' ve been numerous studies and reports
done on this issue in the Town of Ithaca in the Tompkins County and also our own third party market
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
report and I 'd like to spot some statistics from the Cornell Department of City Planning Report , which
says that 67% of low-income renters over pay for housing in Tompkins County. And what that means
is that they pay more than 30% of their income towards rent. Moreover, in the Town of Ithaca 100%
of very low-income tenants in the Town of Ithaca overpay for their rent. So this Project specifically
targets those two groups the low-income renter is defined as someone who makes 60% of the median
income the median income being $55 , 000 in Tompkins County. So if you look at these income levels
for this Project, at the highest level which is the 60% level , it would be one person making $24 , 000;
two people making $27 , 000 ; three people making $30 , 900 ; four people $34 , 000 . So the highest
income bracket which is a family of four which could be two wage earners and two children or
however that slices is $ 34 , 000 . At the 50% AMI level one person would be $20 , 000 ; two people
would be $22 , 900; three people $25 , 000 ; four people roughly $28 , 000 . So again that's 50% of the
median . Median is half. So that's half of the half. Fifteen percent of the units are for the lowest end
which is the 30% level . Those incomes go from $ 10 , 000 to roughly $ 15 , 000 . If I go through the rents
at the 30 % level , that' s a $281 a unit for a one bedroom . For a two-bedroom unit at the 30% , that's a
332 a unit . A three bedroom at the 30% level is $380 . If I go to the 50% level of AMI , that's a $496 a
unit for a one bedroom in the Town of Ithaca . A two- bedroom unit would be $589. A three bedroom
at the 50% level is $678 .
Councilperson Stein- Let me interrupt you . The numbers go by so fast. I can 't accumulate them . Mr.
Bowers argues that there is a large amount of rental property at more these levels in Tompkins
County that that's not where the shortage is . Is this statement simply not true?
Mr. Papamichael - It's untrue . In Tompkins County there' s less than a 4 % vacancy rate in the entire
county so if there's such a large supply of this type of housing , there would be vacant units . They're
aren't any . These rent levels , again , when this market study was done ; sixteen properties throughout
the entire Town of Ithaca were surveyed . These are market rate properties . There was also
Linderman Creek and West Village , which were included in this report . So if you take all of these
properties which are market rate properties , their rents are anywhere between 25% to 67% above the
levels that we are proposing . The 60% AMI guideline is the standard used for any low-income
housing tax credit development . So it' s not like we can make these numbers to fit what we need .
Sixty percent is the highest level . We have further skewed these rents to the 50% level and 30%
level. There 's nothing in the tax credit that requires us to do that and there's no additional subsidy
given by the government for us to make our rents any lower than the 60% level . We made them lower
because that's what the Town was looking for. They were looking for a diverse income mix and a mix
that best suited the needs for the residents of the Town of Ithaca . Now a project that was all at 30%
Area Median Income would not be feasible because you have certain expenses that need to be paid
in order to run a successful and well-maintained property . There 's property taxes , there's repair
maintenance , there's a payroll staff, there' s snow removal , there' s landscape , there's supplies that
need to be given for any repairs done so it's just not feasible to skew rents any lower than this and I
think that if you ask anyone who deals with affordable housing and asks them if these rents are within
the range of affordable rents they would argue that they are . Again , if you want to look at the facts ,
Linderman Creek which serves a higher income bracket, they' re at 60% AMI for half their project , 50%
for the other half.
Councilperson Stein — What is AMI .
Mr. Papamichael - They have no units at the 30% level . They have a hundred person waiting list at
their property. So that shows you that there' s pent up demand even for these higher rent units .
Tompkins Community Action , which is a distributors of Section 8 vouchers for Tompkins County , has
600 people on their waiting list and their main reason why they have such a big waiting list is that
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
there 's no housing in Town that will take Section 8 because , first of all the Section 8 rents are lower
than what the applicant can take . . .
Councilperson Stein - How many units in this will be Section 8?
Mr . Papamichael- They' re all affordable units . So Section 8 is a voucherd program it' s not a project-
based program . So in essence if someone came to us with a Section 8 voucher, they would be able
to rent at this property because it is an income-based property. In the Cornell report, it shows that
over 1300 units would be needed to satisfy the current demand for Tompkins County. So the 128
units proposed is only satisfying about 10 % of that demand . And again , the rents that they' re
proposed if you look at market rate properties are versus these properties , these rents are way below
the market level and to go to the paper and find two or three apartments that are at the $600 level is
not a fair representation of the market because you don 't know what type of condition these
apartments are in . You don 't know how large they are . You don 't know if it's quality housing . It's just
not a fair representation and , typically , not used for a market study.
Male Voice from the audience . - Excuse me , but I didn't here his address given .
Mr. Papamichael - It's 31 -87 Steinway Street .
Supervisor Valentino — Herb did you have?
Councilperson Engman -Yeah , I have a number of questions but I also wanted to make a comment .
But should the comments be held until later before we vote?
Supervisor Valentino- It' s up to you , you can take it either way that you prefer.
Councilperson Engman - I have a number of questions but most can be answered by yes or no so we
could keep them very short . In our materials there was a discussion of the possibility of an agreement
between Aris and Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services . Is indeed INHS a limited general partner in
this Project?
Mr . Papamichael - Yes there is a memorandum on that.
Councilperson Engman -The second item was that I noticed the Planning Board had required an
easement on the south end of the property so that the future potential road could be built. I didn 't see
any mention though of the bikeway and walkway . Is that included?
Mr . Kanter -The bikeway and walkway would be included really more as part of the street system and
the walkway system in the project , in the development .
Councilperson Engman - Then in the southern end of the property , will one of the market rate housing
lots have to be given up then ? Because I don't see any other way of getting that right: of way through
there .
Mr . Kanter - No , but there's actually a strip budding the Cornell property , which is where we're talking
about .
Councilperson Engman - So it will be going there rather than through the other end . Third it talks
about taking the dirt that will be taken to better the slopes and spreading it over ten acres to a depth of
18" . That doesn 't cause a problem if indeed those market rate houses are going to be built, but if
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
there ' re not going to be built for some reason , then you 've taken what is now an eco system and
basically smothered it and you ' ll have a sea of grass or something else there . So what's the likely
hood or the guarantee of these market rate houses being built after this dirt is spread?
Mr. Papamichael - It's certainly part of our plan and part of our proposal . That's been our plan all
along . We have no intention or reason to divert from that.
Councilperson Engman - Well dirt can be used for other purposes . It could be used for
soundproofing , birming , site enhancement and so forth . So unless there's some sort of guarantee of
these units being built , it seems to me the dirt should stock piled or handled in a different way, other
than essentially ruining ten acres of what is not fine open space. I don 't quite understand how this
should happen if there isn't some sort of guarantee of these housing units being built.
Mr. Papamichael - I 'm not sure how the dirt would change the texture of -
Councilperson Engman - Well anytime you put down 18" of dirt you ' re gonna destroy any current
balance in the ecology of the site . That's just the way it works .
Mr . Papamichael — Peter, maybe you would like to answer this question .
Peter Trowbridge , 1345 Mecklenburg Road — We ' re landscape architects on the project here in the
Town , It's clearly the intent to minimize any kind of drainage issue on . that portion of the sight. And
the Town has a long-standing concern about taking any salvage material off site and placing it
somewhere else. I thing there have been a number of problems and concerns associated with taking
material off site onto public roads and to some other location so I think that the spirit of good solid
planning is to try to utilize that material in situ and that's certainly what we 've done with this Project
and have also provided erosion sedimentation controls and we are coming back and we' ll seed that
as a conservation mix . It will not, in the end , be radically different than the condition that's out there
now , which is abandoned agricultural land that most recently most of it was brush off as a part of
doing the survey and preparation for the sight. And so that while clearly there is some impact the
lesser impact would be to utilize that material on the site rather than trucking off on public roads to
some other location . It just transfers that impact to another off site .
Councilperson Engman -Just two more questions . Why is there the jump to 40 % of median income
after 15 years from 35? Why is it being requested?
Mr. Papamichael - There' s a regulatory agreement in place with Division of Housing and Community
Renewal , which is in place for 50 years . So that is an agreement outside of the Town 's agreement for
the 50-year period and those rents are as stated with 15% at the 30% level , 35% at the 50% level and
50% at the 60% level . So there' s agreement outside of the Town agreement which in place and will
be in place for 50 years . The reason for the 40% level on the agreement with the town is that in case
of any cost spiraling out of control unforeseen by us at anytime in the future between year 16 and 50
and we would have to renegotiate any agreement with DHR which is just looking for the worst case
scenario we would have some legal room .
Councilperson Engman - I just wanted to make a statement then that this is an exceedingly difficult
decision for all of us and certainly for me because I 'm also an environmentalist. I hate to see open
space removed from the town , but that land and most of the areas that are now undeveloped are
going to get developed at one point or another. It may be single family . It may be clustered housing ,
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
but in some way these areas are going to get developed and the reason is that's where there's
undeveloped land . It's just the way it's going to happen. And this town I do think has an obligation to
provide some low-income housing . We can 't keep expecting people to come in and do the work that
needs to be done in the community then tell them they have to drive ten , twenty , thirty miles in order
to live . And it really doesn't make any difference where that housing development takes place .
They ' re all gonna stream into Ithaca in one-way or another to do that work . And it doesn't matter how
far out they are , whether it close to town or 30 miles out, they're still gonna drive into Ithaca and come
to the same bottlenecks . The only solution to the traffic problems is going to be when people stop
driving so many cars because there's no way to change the city of Ithaca into any other way. You ' re
simply gonna get people faster to the bottlenecks . So it just doesn 't make sense to me that it makes
any difference where the development takes place in terms to the total amount of traffic going into the
city of Ithaca . I do believe though that the residents really made some excellent points. That road is a
dangerous road . I 've gone back there . I 've walked the site an extra time . I 've walked the road . I 've
looked at what happens there during the rush hour and 1 think that it really is if this Project is approved
requires the town to supply some alternative means for those who, not necessarily walk to the city of
Ithaca , I don 't see kids walking three miles to get to where they want to go anymore , but they are
gonna ride bikes and that' s even more dangerous because the road is very narrow there. By the time
you get to the city you got sidewalks but it's illegal to ride your bikes on sidewalks .so I think it is
incumbent upon the town to really move very , very quickly in creating some sort of pedestrian and
bike connection to downtown . Because I do think kids are going to go down there . They' re gonna go
down on their bikes . So in the end I ' m gonna support this Project but not with out sever reservations .
I agree with the residents who say this is not the best way to build low-income housing . You ' re
absolutely right . The problem is that there's only money to build this kind of housing . I deliberately
went to an affordable housing conference in late February to Atlanta , Georgia to learn more about
affordable housing . With the current administrations we have in Washington and Albany, there is not
going to be more money to put up other types of affordable housing . This is it tax credits and Section
8 . There is just not going to be any more money under those administrations to put up low-income
housing . It just isn 't going to happen . So my agreement with this is very reluctant because I think the
problems that have been brought up are very , very real and need to be dealt with . But we either do
the housing now or it'll come in drips and drabs as some have indicated over the next ten or twenty
years . But it's gonna happen eventually and this seems to be one good way of getting some
affordable housing in Town which I think we have a responsibility to provide .
Supervisor Valentino — Will , do you want to go next.
Councilperson Burbank - I have a question . John , several people asserted that this was an example
of °'spot zoning " which is as we all know is not appropriate but maybe you could tell us whether that's
really a valid statement and if so why not or if not why not?
Mr. Barney - Spot zoning is generally where a parcel is singled out and rezoned to something
completely inconsistent with the land around it and not in accordance with a comprehensive plan .
Here we have a situation where our Comprehensive Plan says that we' re looking for development in
an area where we have the infrastructure in place . I think Jon is probably better able to comment on
this than I am , but I think the map behind you shows the red areas , which are adjacent to the Town
and to the lines of the town where we have water and sewer available . In our Comprehensive Plan ,
we talk about the likelihood of development occurring there. The Town , many years ago , chose for
reasons which were probably good at that time and may very well be good today , to not go out and
automatically or pre-select areas to rezone to a multi residence . They do it on a project-by-project ,
site-by-site basis much like you have coming in here . That's been found under the courts to be an
acceptable way to go as long as it ' s in accordance with your comprehensive plan . I would have very
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15, 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
little reluctance defending the Town in this particular case if you choose to rezone against a claim that
this is invalid spot zoning . I don 't think it is .
Mr. Kanter — I would just add to that by looking at the Comprehensive Plan and then also on our new
zoning map the proposed zoning which actually goes into affect April 1 "P.
If you look both on the comp plan and the zoning map , you ' ll see a lot of green colors to the west of
what I would call the growth area . The growth on the comp plan is the reds as John pointed out. On
the zoning it's really the yellows and reds . It's the medium density residential zone the few MR zones
that we do have . Basically , what we've done in the new zoning is lowered density so significantly in
that agriculturally area to the west that there are not just gonna be opportunities for any kind of
moderate or large scale housing development outside of that infrastructure area . I think this is
following the comprehensive plan . I think our plan is very flexible . It doesn't say here we will put
multiple family residences and here we' ll put commercial development because actually we don't even
show new commercial developments on our comprehensive plan . We basically say when residential
neighborhoods develop to the extent appropriate then we need to add a neighborhood commercial
area and that actually may be following some of these developments we been talking about.
Supervisor Valentino — Did you have a question again , Peter?
Councilperson Stein - 1 remember seeing a proposal to change one of the apartments in the lowest
income level to a resident manager' s apartments . What happened to that? Did we vote on that?
Supervisor Valentino — No, that's part of the plan for probably part of the site .
Mr. Kanter - It' s in the local law. That's where you saw that reference
Mr. Barney - I don't think that it came out of the lowest income level . It was the request of the
developer they indicated that normally will provide an on-site resident manager who may pay either
through compensation or through rent something more than they will be permitted to charge if it were
maintained as a low-income housing . So that's why the local law allows one unit of the 128 .
Councilperson Stein — The version I saw certainly did target the twenty lowest income or lowest rental
properties and it said it would go from twenty to nineteen .
Supervisor Valentino -That's not in the local law.
Mr. Kanter - I haven 't seen that either.
Mr. Barney -My understanding is that the percentages apply to the remaining 123 units so that 15%
need to be the . . . okay .
Councilperson Stein - 1 guess I was mistaken
Mr. Papamichael — Typically, in development it's advantageous to have staff /maintenance person or
someone on site so there may be a scenario where in that particular person making $28 , 000 where
they might fall above the income required so it allows to have one unit that wouldn't be necessarily in
compliance . But that's just so that we can have somebody on site to maintain the property.
Councilperson Stein -But there are places for people who make twenty-eight thousand also . Why
would you need a waiver then?
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Mr. Papamichael - Because it's easier if you have someone on site if there 's an emergency issue if
roads need to get plowed or if someone needs to shovel driveways or a furnace breaks it makes a lot
more sense for that person to be on site rather than driving up and down the road .
Councilperson Stein - No I understand but there are apartments at lots of different income levels .
Mr. Papamichael - We' re not taking it out of the lowest income levels . It's one apartment taking out of
the-
Councilperson Stein - If they fit into the income level then why would need a waiver.
Mr. Papamichael - If they fit in they fit in then it wouldn 't be an issue but you never know if that type of
wage increases then they don 't fit in then we want to have the flexibility . And it's something that -
Councilperson Stein - What disturbed me when I read it I thought I read something that more or less
guaranteed that it would come out of the units that were at the lowest level and that concerned that
seemed to be the best part of the part of the project were those units . I ' m mistaken about that.
Mr. Papamichael -That' s not something that we asked for.
Mr. Barney — Peter you could have a individual who's paid by the developer that with an income might
qualify but might have a spouse or significant other that's living in the same apartment that with the
combined income would throw them up over the income limits . I think that was the rationale part for
allowing one unit to be available for that purpose .
Councilperson Burbank - 1 have another for Mr. Papamichael . I think there's a very real and valid
concern by people adjacent to the proposed project that this will negatively impact the character of
their neighborhood . My question for you sir is ; What kind of assurances can you offer this Board and
the neighborhood at large that your company and your partners will do everything possible to
minimize negative impacts ? And can you speak a little bit about what kind of things will be in place
should problems occur?
Mr. Papamichael -Our developers take great pride in every property we own . We own most of our
portfolio in New York City and Long Island . We got into this market a couple of years ago and it's a
market that we intend to be in and stay in and grow in . I think, if you go to our property that's here in
town in Lansing , you ' ll see the care in which we take to maintain that property . I think if you speak to
my property manager, you 'd know that I talk to her two or three times a day and know everything
that's going on at that property even though I ' m not there personally . I ' m up here maybe two , three
times a month and go every little detail of the property . We will take the same care with this property .
We are not personally going to handle the management of this property because it is tax credit
property and we want to get a manager that knows and deals with these types of issues personally on
a first hand basis . We ' re giving it up because we want to make sure that it's clone right . That doesn't
mean that another company is managing it that we ' re not gonna oversee what their doing and be on
top of them just like I 'm on top of my manager at any other property that we own . Management plays
a big role in any property and something that we take pride in . An issues such as crime in our
management company that we have proposed has clauses in the lease which is basically no
tolerance clause on any crime committed by you know if anyone that lives at the property is convicted
of anything there ' s a no tolerance policy . So we try and do our best to maintain those issues . We
don 't any issues at any property that we own currently that are problems . We have very little calls .
We have managers who oversee things on a day-to-day basis . That ' s another reason we like to have
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
someone on site so we know what's going on at that property not only from nine to five but twenty four
hours a day.
Councilperson Burbank — I ' m not all that reassured as you describe that in property and markets .
Once again this is neighborhood and that a little rhetorical distinction but I do like the fact that you
have somebody on site . You did mention that you have a no tolerance clause . Does that mean that
if, say the son or daughter of a resident were to be convicted of say a drug offense that the parent
would be forced out of the unit?
Mr. Papamichael - I ' m not sure about I don't think so , I can answer the question .
Councilperson Burbank — Okay, because some of those kinds of provisions have actually operated in
ways that are fairly brutal in terms of. . . thank sir.
Councilperson Lesser - I , like most of this Board , have been involved with this Project for some period
of time since the date back in September when we as a Board first visited the site and have been
involved in public hearings since . I might mention that at that time we not only visited this site but we
visited also a second proposal for another proposed low-income housing development that's just a
few miles north right near the Town line . At that point, counter to what some people believe of how
we act that particular development , the Board decided very quickly was not an appropriate location for
that kind of development for several reasons . One was because it was sound agricultural and the
agricultural potential for the Town of Ithaca was quite good but more significant than that the location
with no breaks in traffic and no traffic controls at that location indicated that any movement in and out
of the site would be far more problematic than the proposed site for Overlook which indeed does have
a traffic light located there , some what limited but about the best we can do under those
circumstances . The situation of that traffic control device and the fact that the Overlook site is indeed
has been and continues to be zoned for residential development suggested indeed it is an appropriate
place and will be developed in the fairly near future I think no matter what we do and don't do in this
particular instance . I 've given this considerable thought and will vote in support the Resolution for
change in zoning . I do that for two reasons . One is because I 'm convinced there are a number of
indications here this evening with a need for affordable housing within the Town and within Tompkins
County. And secondly , the opportunity to zone multiple residence in the instance gives the Town
really more and indeed and not less control over the location and the situation and the development of
the property essentially giving something to the developer and we can ask for something considerable
back. Indeed , I have been looking at the documents from the developer and aware that . they have
been very concerned about the view options for the current neighbors to the west of the property and
have attempted to reduce the number of sites for the market rate development to the west of the site
trying to protect the view sheds as best as possible . And again that 's not if this were to go as simply
as a regular development for R- 15 zoning that's not anything we can control and indeed we might find
that the situation there is a good deal less attractive because we simply don 't have the control over it .
So , given the need , the appropriateness of the location , and the opportunity to weigh in the most we
can for privately owned land . It is zoned for residential development . It seems to me to strike a
reasonable balance and I will support the Proposal .
Councilperson Grigorov - Most of the things have been discussed . As one person mentioned the fear
that all the land out there is going to get developed . But not only has much of it been donated but
most of it is not serviced by water and sewer so it's unlikely that many of the large properties will be
developed in this way . And we are conscious of not putting all the low-income housing in one area of
the Town . I know it's a huge area and it's the place where the land is . But we would be certainly
looking for other possibilities in other parts of town . I would always kind of prefer to see a beautiful
field than a development , but I think in this case I think we really need the low-cost housing and it' s a
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
clustered development which is always a plus in my opinion and has the water and sewer already and
they have gotten a high level of professional architects and landscape people who work on the Project
and design it and it will have the good housing (inaudible) . I feel fairly secure that it will be a good
project .
Councilperson Stein - I have one more question . I 'd like to direct the question to Trish Whitney . If I
understood what you said I think you answered the question positively . Namely my understanding is
that you ' re a person who has daily experience in renting to lower income people and that you felt that
this location with these rents really meets a need that is not being met. Did I understand you
correctly?
Ms . Whitney — Well , kind of, I do run apartments . I run 111 units . They' re not low income though .
They' re market rate apartments . But six out of every ten calls that I get cannot afford to rent from me
because they don 't make the income . They' re either making $ 10/hour, which is like $20 , 000/year,
and you can't pay $890/month on $20 , 000/year. So I have I don 't have to but , as a person I try to
help them find places to live and you just can't find anything out there . Linderman Creek has a one to
two year waiting list . CSP takes some Section 8 but they' re always full . And pretty much that are the
only two other than West Hill and Maple Creek and they' re usually full too . You can't find anything to
help these people so they have kids or they don 't have kids or they' re the elderly that. can't afford to
spend $ 113 , 000 down and then $2 , 000/month to live at some of these individual nursing homes .
Does that answer your question ?
Councilperson Stein - And you have no stake in this Project?
Ms . Whitney - Well , I do work for Chris Papamichael at the Meadows . But I 've run six different
properties all over not for him and you run into the same thing. I just working for him three years ago .
He told me I did not have to speak and I wanted to . And he's told me nothing to say. I have logs . You
can look at my logs on my phone calls . Okay .
Councilperson Engman - Can I ask just one more technical question ? In the Project I noticed there 's
no walkway between Phase 1A and 1B on the southern end of the Project other than people going out
to the road and walking on what will become a public road . Why isn 't there a walkway between 1 A
and 1 B?
Mr . Kanter- There will be .
Councilperson Engman - It isn 't shown on the . .
Mr. Kanter - It will be . There actually is a condition on the Planning Board Resolution that requires
that to be part of the final site plan .
Mr' . Trowbridge -There' s a part of our revised plans , as Jonathan said , we have designed and the
drawings will be submitted in the next couple of days for a final submission show that walkway.
Supervisor Valentino - I guess it's my turn _ Well first of all , I appreciate all the folks that came here
and spoke tonight those that spoke in favour and those that had concerns . I think that as I read the list
of the time that we spent on this as a Board , we've tried very , very hard to look at each and every
concern that was raised in some kind of depth and try to figure out , as Peter and some of the other
Town Board members have said , is there a solution to some of these problems? Some of them don ' t
have a ready solution to really use , but then it' s the balance between the value of the Project and
some of the concerns that might be raised by that Project . For me and the Town working around the
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
whole Town a good deal of the time , I didn 't see any problems on West Hill that aren 't apparent on
every other part of the Town and I think especially as the Transportation Committee has looked . We
certainly have a lot of things to address and try to make it somewhat better. For me , because I spent
so much of my. life before I became a Town Supervisor, working as a union rep for the underpaid
employees at Cornell and I was also a representative for hotel workers who also are extremely ,
they' re more underpaid than Cornell . Cornell is high-paid people compared to some of the hotel
workers . And I had to spend a fair amount of time going to some of their homes and many of my
Christmas Eves were spent not taking gifts or presents to children , but taking kerosene so that some
of their dilapidated trailers could have heat at least for one night out of the year. It has affected me
and I ' ll admit it quite openly and everything that I do and everything that I think about when I see how
important it is for people to be able to have self esteem , to be able to move up to a better standard of
living and how valuable they become to our whole community and to our neighborhoods . And so my
hope is that I 'm going to vote yes to this tonight, I guess you figured that out already. This will
become a part of a very nice neighborhood that you can all contribute to and these folks that will move
there will also contribute to you . I 've lived in some of them myself and I know the value of the self-
esteem that these kinds of projects bring to people . So with that I would say that my vote would be
yes on this Project. Are we ready to vote or do people have more . Is this a roll call vote?
Ms . Hunter — Yes , it is .
Mr. Kanter — Cathy, if I could indulge you ? I did prepare a written statement and I kind of feel
obligated to say some of these things because of all the information and lack of information that's
been flowing . This is , again , in regard to the need for affordable housing . I didn't want to say this
before you had a chance to discuss some of the things that you were discussing . But I did want to
indicate that the Town of Ithaca Planning Department has reviewed County wide studies on affordable
housing including the Compass II Survey and Report , has reviewed the applicants Market Study ,
reviewed Martha Armstrong 's memo on affordable housing , has reviewed the report on affordable
housing prepared for the Tompkins Community Foundation Housing Forum and participated in that
housing forum and based on all of these finds that there is a critical need for the provision of
affordable housing in the income ranges proposed for the Overlook at West Hill Project . There have
been misleading statements made by the public regarding the need for affordable housing and
whether the Overlook Project will meet these needs . First statements indicating that there is an
excess or glut of housing at rent cluster around the medium are misleading and leave out key facts .
For instance those figures in the Housing Forum Report were intended to illustrate the total poll of
rental units not those that are available now. Tompkins County has a very low vacancy rate , as we 've
heard people indicating , of available rental units in the range of four percent, which means that when
units become available on the market , they rent very quickly and there are more people looking for
those units than there are units available . Also the gap analysis in the Housing Forum Report clearly
illustrates that there is a very high percentage of the population paying more than the 35 percent of
their gross income for their rent payments. This mean people are paying more towards their housing
costs than they can afford . This indicates that the housing market is stressed and people cannot find
sufficient , affordable housing in Tompkins County. Selected information has been provided regarding
examples of apartments in the area that have been represented as being at or below the rents that
would be charged at the Overlook Project . This has been used in a misleading way. It is not .
necessarily representative of the overall market and leaves out important information such as how
many of the units mentioned as examples are available today for rent? How many are occupied and
what condition are the buildings and what amenities are provided in the buildings? It's also been
stated that HUD guidelines , that 's the Federal Housing and Urban Development Department,
pertaining to the concentration of low-income housing could be violated if the Overlook Proposal is
approved . While HUD may use such guidelines for some of their funding programs for low-income
housing , I know of no such guidelines that would apply to the Overlook at West Hill Proposal and the
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Low.- Income Housing Tax Credit Program . The New York State Division of Housing and Community
Renewal will review the application for the Tax Credit Program and would consider if any such
guidelines might be relevant and if so obviously the tax credits would not be approved . But from our
knowledge of the Tax Credit Program , this would not relevant and I would add that the Overlook
Proposal contains a range of income levels , as we've been talking about including low to moderate-
income households . It does not involve strictly a concentration of low- income units . It's also been
suggested that planners in the area get together to figure out affordable housing needs . I agree
wholeheartedly and in fact this is already being done . The Tompkins County Planning Department in
consultation with municipalities is including this as part of their Comprehensive Plan update . I 've
been involved in the Municipal Officials Association Planning Coalition meetings working with the
County Planners on this Comprehensive Plan . I 've also participated in the Community Foundation's
Housing Forum which will likely result in follow-up efforts to address the affordable housing issues that
were discussed . And finally , it's been asked why the Town of Ithaca has not applied for federally
funding housing rehabilitation grants or low interest loans such as implemented by Better Housing for
Tompkins County arguing that such grant programs are a good way to upgrade the housing stock and
keep people in affordable housing and that I agree with also . The reason is that to qualify for such
grants or loans there has to be areas designated as blighted within the municipality. The criteria for
such designation include household income levels , age and condition of housing stock along with
other criteria and according to US Census data , the Town has had no such blighted areas , in the
years that I 've been here anyway , which would qualify for such programs . That's not to say that the
Town couldn't implement an affordable housing program of our own as suggested by comments if the
Town Board so decided and this is certainly something that would be worthy of consideration .
Supervisor Valentino -That' s a good point Jonathan . I know we've tried before to apply for those and
we just haven 't been able to because we weren 't designated that way.
Councilperson Burbank -I ' d like to make a statement , if I may . It' s been a long night and for me this
has been the hardest decision that I 've had to make since I 've been on the Board . I ran for this Board
originally because I was very concerned about land use issues . I 've spent much of my adult life ,
essentially , sitting like many of the folks here tonight speaking to boards trying to stop projects that I
felt were going to have a detrimental affect or impact on our community. And I am acutely aware of
what that feels like to be in that . It seems like the process is sort of moving along and it' s just a done
deal and you have no say . I know having sat on this side that my colleagues from this Board have all
spent hours and hours trying to understand the minutia of this Project and make sense of it . And what
has made it hard for me is that essentially we have values in conflict. We have , on the one hand , the
value of adding to our stock of affordable housing essentially a social-economic justice value,
something I hold very dearly . And , on the other hand , we have an inevitable change in our built
environment . We are urbanizing West Hill and we are doing it at a phenomenal rate . And we are all,
anybody who lives on the West Hill and I do live on the west side of Town and the only member of this
Board who does , knows that our neighborhood our communities are being changed in ways that we
don 't' like . And if I had it in my power to flip a switch and stop all that developing for a few years to get
you to sit around and figure out a better way, I would do it. We three months ago had a meeting
where passed our new zoning law and affectively designated much of West Hill as Agricultural Zone .
We actually expanded the area that was covered . And we did so in the face of a room full of folks that
felt as passionately as many of you that we were doing a very, very bad thing by preventing the ability
to use the land to the maximum potential which in this case would be develop it . WE' were essentially
creating a boundary . And it was not an easy decision but I understood the logic of this . Having given
this a lot of thought I have decided that given the alternatives that this probably on balance is a project
worth supporting . I ' m going to vote for it even though my vote would not be necessary for it to pass .
But I ' m voting for it and I hope people can hear this because I think it truly is the right thing to do . And
please understand that I understand the concerns that have been raised . You have a house . You
42
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
have a family. You want to be safe . You want your community to be one that you can enjoy living in .
I actually live closer to West Village , which is low-income housing within the city. I live closer to West
Village than most of the folk who have spoken tonight will live to this Project. My two children , when
they were in school would everyday walk out my backdoor, walk through a patch of woods , walk right
through West Village on the way to school . And I can honestly say that in all the years of their
schooling , we've never had an incident that I felt particularly troubling . In fact I 've been amazed at
how little connection there has been from folks living at West Village to our neighborhood which is not
that far but it's in some ways a world apart and I actually would support the creation of a trail that
would go between because I would like to see more contact . I do want to give credit to the enormous
effort on the part of citizens to raise up issues . I want to compliment Mrs . Bowers for getting out there
and counting traffic and school buses and trying to understand that and for Mr. Crittenden talking
about the process . It' s been a torturous process and I quite frankly have been concerned that for the
first time in my memory , we've had to limit the length of comments if you go to the City , that' s routinely
limited to three minutes . We tonight had to impose a five-minute rule and a two-minute add on . I wish
that we had the ability to let people go on at length cause you're dealing with very basic issues but I
do feel we 've attempted to do our best and I hope that this will not be the end of the story that we will
continue to work with the neighbors to ensure that if and when this Project is built that it' ll be built in
the best kind of way and that if there are problems with the adjacent neighborhoods that we will as a
Board take the responsibility to address them . Thank you .
Councilperson Stein - To the people particularly Mr. and Mrs . Bowers who produced all of the things
that I read that I think they were to me enormously useful and they raised issues and they made
question some of the things that I 've heard and the fact that they may or may not have been
completely accurate is to me irrelevant. I know how difficult it is to be someone on the outside that
doesn't have access to paid staff and so forth to work things out. It's very difficult . if you ' re activist and
you have another job to try to put together an argument and try to understand (?? ) data and I think
that they did an excellent yeoman 's service at least from my I found it useful and very beneficial and
even if I don 't come out in the same place that they did , they made it easier for me to think it through .
Supervisor Valentino — Okay. Are we all ready to vote? Bill wants to move it . Who would like to
second it? Cali seconds . Are we through with all the discussion . It is a roll call vote and so I will vote
first tonight and I vote "yes " . Cali ?
Councilperson Grigorov- Yes .
Supervisor Valentino — Bill .
Councilperson Lesser — Yes .
Supervisor Valentino — Will?
Councilperson Burbank — Yes .
Councilperson Stein — Yes .
Councilperson Engman- Yes .
TB RESOLUTION NO. 2004-059 : RESOLUTION ADOPTING A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE
TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING ORDINANCE AND MAP REZONING A PORTION OF TAX PARCEL
43
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
NO . 24-04-14.2 LOCATED ON N .Y . S .ROUTE 96 FROM RESIDENCE DISTRICT R-15 TO
MULTIPLE RESIDENCE DISTRICT (Overlook at West Hill )
WHEREAS , a resolution was duly adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca for a
public hearing to be held by said Town Board on March 15 , 2004 , at 7 : 10 p . m . to hear all interested
parties on a proposed local law entitled "A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF ITHACA
ZONING ORDINANCE AND MAP REZONING A PORTION OF TAX PARCEL NO , 24-04-14. 2
LOCATED ON N.Y. S . ROUTE 96 FROM RESIDENCE DISTRICT R-15 TO MULTIPLE RESIDENCE
DISTRICT (Overlook at West Hill)" ; and
WHEREAS , notice of said public hearing was duly advertised in the Ithaca Journal ; and
WHEREAS , said public hearing was duly held on said date and time at the Town Hall of the
Town of Ithaca and all parties in attendance were permitted an opportunity to speak on behalf of or in
opposition to said proposed local law, or any part thereof; and
WHEREAS , the adoption of this local law is ; pursuant to Part 617 of the Implementing
Regulations pertaining to Article 8 of the New York State Conservation Law (which law and
regulations thereunder, including the Town's local regulations, are collectively referred to as "SEQR" )
a 'Type I action ; and
WHEREAS , the Town Planning Board was designated lead agency for coordinated review of
the potential environmental impacts of the project and the rezoning , and on February 26 , 2004, made
a determination that the proposed project including the rezoning contemplated in connection with the
project would not have a significant effect upon the environment and could be processed without
further regard to SEQR , and
WHEREAS , the Town Planning Board , after due consideration has recommended adoption of
the attached local law ; and
WHEREAS , the matter was submitted for review to the Tompkins County Department of
Planning pursuant to New York State General Municipal Law Sections 239-1 and/or 239-m , and such
Department issued its opinion that adoption of the proposed local law will not have a significant
adverse impact on intercommunity , County , and State interests ; and
HEREAS , the Town Board finds it is in the best interests of the Town and its citizens to adopt
the local law ;
NOW, THEREFORE , be it
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby adopts said local law entitled
A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING ORDINANCE AND MAP
REZONING A PORTION OF TAX PARCEL NO . 24-04- 14.2 LOCATED ON N .Y. S. ROUTE 96
FROM RESIDENCE DISTRICT RA5 TO MULTIPLE RESIDENCE DISTRICT (Overlook at
West Hill) " , a copy of which is attached hereto and made a part of this resolution ; and it is
further
RESOLVED , that the Town Clerk be and she hereby is directed to enter said local law in the
minutes of this meeting and in the Local Law book of the Town of Ithaca , and to give due
notice of the adoption of said local law by publication of such local law or an abstract or
summary thereof in the
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
Ithaca Journal and by filing a copy of said local law with the Secretary of State of the State of
New York .
MOVED : Councilman Lesser
SECONDED :Councilwoman Grigorov
Vote :
Supervisor Valentino Voting aye
Councilperson Grigorov Voting aye
Councilperson Lesser Voting aye
Councilperson Burbank Voting aye
Councilperson Engman Voting aye
Councilperson Stein Voting aye
MOTION CARRIED
Supervisor Valentino - One other thing that I need to do before we adjourn . On projects like this we
are asked to , like I did with Ellis Hollow at our first meeting , write a letter of support . So , I 'm assuming
that I should go ahead and do that like w always have . They also requested that we waived the
Building and Zoning fees . I told them on the phone that we never have done that , the fees are the
fees and everybody pays them . That has been our policy; everybody gets treated the same way . 1
said that they probably won 't , but I felt that I necessarily had to bring it up . I just have to do that.
Training session for Sediment Erosion Control for Assistant Town Engineer, Creig Hebdon
TB RESOLUTION NO . 2004-060 : AUTHORIZATION FOR STW-007, EROSION AND SEDIMENT
CONTROL TRAINING
WHEREAS , Creig Hebdon , Assistant Director of Engineering , is involved in developing the
Stormwater Management , Sediment and Erosion Control Plan for the Town of Ithaca , and
WHEREAS, Creig reviews sediment and erosion control plans for proposed development
WHEREAS , the Syracuse University Continuing Education Stormwater Management Program is
offering a 16-hour course entitled Erosion & Sediment Control Plan Design in Syracuse , New York on
April 5-6 , 2004 for a course fee of $ 395 . 00 , and
WHEREAS , This course will provide training to improve employee skills and will be beneficial to Town
programs , now therefore be it
RESOLVED , that the Town Board authorizes Creig Hebdon to attend the course entitled Erosion &
Sediment Control Plan Design in Syracuse , New York on April 5-6 , 2004 , and be it further
RESOLVED , that the Town Board Authorizes the expenditure of $ 395 . 00 for the Course Fee and
100 . 00 for travel expense to be charged to A1440 . 410 .
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TOWN BOARD MINUTES
MARCH 15 , 2004
APPROVED , APRIL 12 , 2004
MOVED : Councilman Burbank
SECONDED : Councilwoman Grigorov
VOTE : Supervisor Valentino , aye ; Councilwoman Grigorov, aye ; Councilman Lesser, aye ;
Councilman Burbank , aye ; Councilman Stein , aye ; Councilman Engman , aye .
Adjournment
Upon motion by Councilperson Lesser, the meeting was adjourned at 10 : 35 p . m .
NEXT REGULAR MEETING — April 12 , 2004
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