HomeMy WebLinkAboutLL 09 of 2007 Northeast Moratorium.doc
TOWN OF ITHACA
LOCAL LAW NO. 9 OF THE YEAR 2007
A LOCAL LAW PROVIDING FOR A MORATORIUM ON DEVELOPMENT IN
THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE TOWN FOR A PERIOD OF TWO
HUNDRED SEVENTY (270) DAYS
Be it enacted by the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca as follows:
Section 1. Findings and Purpose. The Town Board of the Town of Ithaca finds:
A. The 1993 Town of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan, as amended (“Comprehensive
Plan”), designates certain lands in the Town of Ithaca as appropriate for
“Conservation/Open Space.” The Comprehensive Plan states that the
“Conservation/Open Space” areas “indicate natural areas that should be protected from
inappropriate development. They may contain wetlands, steep slopes, mature woodlands,
or other natural features. Portions of some areas shown as Conservation/Open Space may
be suitable for development. Individual site evaluation will be necessary to determine
suitability for development.”
B. The Comprehensive Plan designates certain lands in the northeast corner of
the Town as appropriate for “Conservation/Open Space.” This designation includes
“wetlands in Sapsucker Woods” and “the Briarwood wetland.”
C. The Comprehensive Plan map titled “Anticipated Land Use Patterns,” last
amended February 27, 2001, shows the lands in the northeast corner of the Town
appropriate for “Conservation/Open Space.” These include Cornell University’s
Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary, adjacent lands to the west and to the south of the Bird
Sanctuary, and additional land south of the Bird Sanctuary in the approximate vicinity of
Birchwood Drive North, Briarwood Drive, north of Hanshaw Road, and west of homes
on Sapsucker Woods Road (approximate location of the Briarwood wetland)
D. The 1997 Town of Ithaca Park, Recreation and Open Space Plan (“Open
Space Plan”) states: “\[T\]o avoid the adverse environmental impacts of growth, the Town
of Ithaca must protect its natural resources. As the Town develops, the identification and
preservation of critical plant and animal habitats and migration corridors between these
habitats, will become increasingly important. Such ‘biological corridors’ will help
prevent the fragmentation of wildlife and plant habitats into areas that are too small to
sustain certain species.”
E. The Open Space Plan shows “Areas Recommended for Conservation Zoning”
on Map 8-1 to protect environmentally sensitive or significant natural areas in the Town.
The Open Space Plan states that areas recommended for conservation zoning include,
among other things, areas of significant woodlands and wetlands, and it recommends the
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Town take appropriate actions to minimize future losses in plant and wildlife habitat and
biodiversity due to development.
F. Open Space Plan Map 8-1 recommends conservation zoning for lands in the
northeast corner of the Town that correspond to the lands designated as
“Conservation/Open Space” in the Comprehensive Plan. The Open Space Plan notes
Sapsucker Woods is a major bird habitat, the areas around Sapsucker Woods and two
other locations have the largest concentration of wetlands in the Town, and reptiles are
found in the Sapsucker Woods wetland areas.
G. The Tompkins County Environmental Management Council has compiled a
Unique Natural Areas inventory (“UNA Inventory”), last updated in 2000, which
identifies areas in Tompkins County of outstanding environmental qualities. The
Environmental Management Council has stated that municipalities should use the UNA
Inventory to, among other things, determine conservation zones.
H. The UNA Inventory includes UNA-106, “Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary,”
which is located in the northeast corner of the Town of Ithaca and contiguous lands in the
southeast corner of the Village of Lansing and along the western boundary of the Town
of Dryden.
I. The boundaries of the irregularly-shaped portion of UNA-106 located in the
Town of Ithaca are the Town of Ithaca/Village of Lansing municipal boundary, Town of
Ithaca/Town of Dryden municipal boundary, west of the homes on Sapsucker Woods
Road, north of the homes on Hanshaw Road, east of the homes on Briarwood Drive, and
east of the homes on Salem Drive.
J. The UNA Inventory states the characteristics of UNA-106 include a birding
site, quality example of plant community, diverse fauna, a state-designated wetland,
wetlands identified on the National Wetlands Inventory, important teaching site, a
designated natural area/preserve, rare or scarce animals, scenic/aesthetic value and
recreational value. The UNA-106 Inventory also indicates that the main threat to the site
is from its increasing isolation due to adjacent development, that this isolation threatens
to decrease the number of bird species using this area, and that this site does not have an
adequate protective buffer.
K. In 2004, the Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary owned by Cornell University
was rezoned to Conservation Zone as part of the comprehensive revision of the Town of
Ithaca Zoning Ordinance and map. The Town’s Codes and Ordinances Committee
considered rezoning the Briarwood wetland to Conservation Zone as well but decided at
that time that other mechanisms could be used to protect that wetland.
L. Since 2004, the Town has received new information about UNA-106. Some
of this information has been received as part of the Town of Ithaca Planning Board’s
consideration of a proposed subdivision on lands in the central and southern part of the
UNA. Other information has been submitted or presented to the Ithaca Town Board.
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M. Some of this new information includes additional information about
endangered and threatened birds and bird species of special concern that breed in or
adjacent to, or may be found in and near, UNA-106; additional information about scarce
plant species found in UNA-106; information about plants present in UNA-106 that are
important larval food for a butterfly listed as a species of significant concern for the
region; information about amphibians found in UNA-106 and their travel patterns;
information about a turtle found in UNA-106 listed as a New York State species of
special concern; and the importance of UNA-106 as a biological corridor connecting the
Sapsucker Woods area to the Monkey Run UNA and the long biological corridor
extending along Fall Creek from the eastern Tompkins County border to downtown
Ithaca.
N. The Town Board has also received new information about the hydrology in
the northeast corner of the Town of Ithaca. Some of this information was provided by
Professor Todd Walter of the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering
at Cornell University. Other information was provided by Milone and MacBroom,
consultants hired by the Town Board in the spring of 2007 to prepare a Drainage Study
Evaluation of the northeast corner of the Town.
O. Dr. Walter and Milone and MacBroom both conclude that the infiltration
capacity of the area around Sapsucker Woods is very low because of a shallow
impermeable soil layer that Milone and MacBroom refers to as the “fragipan.” Dr.
Walker’s research shows that a perched groundwater condition above the fragipan layer
is typical in this area. This leads to saturated soil conditions and surface flooding,
problems that may get worse in the future since precipitation data over the past 30 years
show that rainfall intensities in the local area are increasing. Among other things, Milone
and MacBroom recommends minimization of the amount of impervious surfaces to
reduce the frequency of soil saturation.
P. The Town Board will review the foregoing plans, documents, information and
conditions and perform a study to:
1. Determine whether conservation zoning should be extended to the
undeveloped above-referenced properties;
2. Consider whether revisions to the Comprehensive Plan and Open Space
Plan, as they relate to these lands and conditions found on these lands, are
appropriate; and
3. Consider whether other zoning mechanisms and other zoning ordinance
revisions should be implemented to protect the natural features and biological and
ecological qualities of these lands and mitigate the impacts of their development.
Q. It is anticipated that the Town Board’s review, study and consideration of
these issues can be completed, and legislation and revisions to plans, if needed, drafted
and properly adopted within nine months of the effective date of this local law.
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R. The Town Board is concerned that any new legislation and plan revisions
would be significantly subverted if development proposals were to be entertained and
possibly approved before the Town Board completes the review and study process and
considers legislation and plan revisions.
S. Accordingly, to protect the public health, safety and welfare, it is the intention
of the Town Board to prevent the consideration and approval of certain types of
development during the limited time the Town needs to complete such review and study
and adopt such legislation and plan revisions.
Section 2. Prohibited Actions. For a period of two hundred seventy (270) days
from the effective date of this local law, the Town Board hereby declares a moratorium
prohibiting each of the following actions on Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels 70-10-3.5 (24.16
+/- acres); 73-1-2.2 (29.35 +/- acres); 73-1-8.1 (2.40 +/- acres); and 73-1-8.22 (23.34 +/-
acres), regardless of the submittal or receipt of any application prior to the effective date
of this local law, unless permitted under Section 3 hereunder:
A. Acceptance, consideration, preliminary approval or final approval by the Town
of Ithaca Planning Board of any plan or application for subdivision of any parcel into two
(2) or more lots.
B. Acceptance, consideration, preliminary approval or final approval by the
Town of Ithaca Planning Board of any site plan or special permit.
C. Acceptance, consideration, preliminary approval or final approval by the
Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals of any special approval.
D. Acceptance, consideration, preliminary approval or final approval by the
Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals of any application for variance in connection
with any activity prohibited hereunder.
E. The issuance of building permits by a Town of Ithaca Code Enforcement
Officer in connection with any activity prohibited hereunder.
F. The creation or extension of any new Town or private street.
G. The issuance of any permit for the extraction or deposit of fill and related
products pursuant to Section 270-217 of the Town of Ithaca Code.
Section 3. Exemptions.
The following actions are exempt from the above-described moratorium to the
extent set forth herein:
A. Issuance of a building permit by a Code Enforcement Officer for the
construction of one dwelling (one-family or two-family) on each tax parcel listed above.
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B. Any subdivision of land, site plan, special permit or special approval that has
received conditional final approval from the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals
prior to the effective date of this local law.
C. The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals may continue to consider
and review any proposal or appeal otherwise prohibited hereunder, and make
determinations under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) regarding
such proposals and appeals, subject to the following terms and conditions:
1. The applicant has submitted a valid application as of the effective date
of this local law.
2. The applicant assumes the sole risk of pecuniary or other loss,
including without limitation the costs of technical and legal consultation and the
costs of preparation of any submittals, reports or information required by the
Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals pursuant to the Code of the Town of
Ithaca, SEQRA or other applicable laws or regulations, arising out of such
continued consideration and review during the pendency of this moratorium.
3. Applications processed under this subsection 3(C) will, unless
otherwise stated herein, be determined by the provisions of the Comprehensive
Plan of the Town of Ithaca and the Code of the Town of Ithaca in effect at the
time of such determinations, and not as of the date of this local law.
4. Applicants are hereby informed that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca is considering changes to such Comprehensive Plan and Code which may
address or affect the issues raised by their applications, and which may alter the
determinations thereon by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals, as
applicable, from those which might have occurred in the absence of such changes.
5. The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals shall not issue any
preliminary or final approval of any application subject to the moratorium during
its term.
Section 4. Waivers.
A. Any property owner may appeal to the Town Board for a waiver of the above
prohibitions, and the Town Board shall have the power on good cause shown to grant
such relief, or so much relief as said Board may determine to be necessary and
appropriate. In determining the suitability of a waiver under this section, the Town Board
shall consider the following factors:
1. Unnecessary hardship to the petitioner, which hardship is substantially
greater than any harm to the general public welfare that would result from the
granting of the waiver (for the purposes of this local law, unnecessary hardship
shall not be the mere delay in receiving an approval, the granting of which is
otherwise stayed, during the period imposed by this local law); and
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2. The project’s harmony (or lack thereof) with the existing character of
the community as a whole and the area of the community in which the property is
located; and
3. Whether the application for which the relief is requested is consistent
with any interim data, recommendations, or conclusions which may be drawn at
the time of the public hearing from the aforementioned review and study; and
4. Whether the application for which the relief is requested is consistent
with proposed new or amended laws, ordinances or regulations, if and as such
may exist at the time of the public hearing.
B. Waiver procedure. Such petition shall be the subject of a public hearing
before the Town Board. Upon submittal of a written petition to the Town Clerk by the
property owner seeking a waiver of this moratorium in a form to be provided by the
Town Clerk, and supported by such documentation as the applicant deems relevant, the
Town Board shall, within forty (40) days of receipt of such petition, conduct a public
hearing on said petition upon five (5) days public notification in the official newspaper of
the Town. At said public hearing, the property owner and other parties wishing to present
evidence on the proposed waiver shall have an opportunity to be heard. The Town Board
shall, within forty (40) days of the close of the public hearing, render its decision in
writing, either granting or denying the petition for a waiver from the strict requirements
of the moratorium.
C. It shall be within the discretion of the Town Board to grant in whole or in part,
grant with conditions, or deny, the petition for relief from the terms of this moratorium.
Any subsequent consideration and approval by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of
Appeals, or subsequent permit issuance by the appropriate Town official, must comply
with the Town Code provisions in effect at the time of such approval or issuance,
including any applicable provisions which the Town Board may adopt pursuant to the
aforementioned review and study.
Section 5. Statement of Authority and Supersession.
A. The Town Board adopts this local law pursuant to authority in the New York
State Constitution, Article IX, Section 2; section 10 of the New York Municipal Home
Rule Law; section 10 of the Statute of Local Governments; the relevant provisions of the
Town Law of the State of New York; the laws of the Town of Ithaca; and the general
police power vested with the Town of Ithaca to promote the health, safety and welfare of
all residents and property owners in the Town.
B. During the time that this law is in effect, it shall take precedence over and
shall be considered controlling over contrary laws, ordinances and provisions. It is the
intent of the Town Board, pursuant to authority under section 10, subdivision 1(ii)(d)(3),
and section 22 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, to supersede inconsistent provisions of
the New York State Town Law and the Code of the Town of Ithaca.
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1. In particular, it is the intent of the Town Board, pursuant to authority
under sections 10 and 22 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, to supersede
inconsistent provisions of the New York State Town Law and the Code of the
Town of Ithaca relating to time limits in connection with zoning and planning
determinations. Without limitation, the instant local law hereby supersedes the
following provisions of the Town Law of New York State:
a. Subdivisions 7 and 8 of section 267-a, relating to time limits for
Zoning Board of Appeals hearings and decisions, respectively
b. Subdivision 8 of section 274-a, relating to time limits for
hearings and Planning Board determinations on site plan applications
c. Subdivision 6 of section 274-b, relating to time limits for
hearings and determinations on application for special use permits
d. Subsections 5(d)(i)(1), 5(d)(i)(2) and 5(e)(i) of section 276,
relating to time limits for public hearings on preliminary plats
e. Subsections 5(d)(iii)(1), 5(d)(iii)(2), 5(e)(iii)(1) and 5(e)(iii)(2)
of section 276, relating to time limits for Planning Board determinations
on preliminary plats
f. Subsections 6(d)(i)(1)(a) and (b), and 6(d)(ii)(1) of section 276,
relating to time limits for public hearings on final plats
g. Subsections 6(b), 6(d)(i)(3)(a) and (b), and 6(d)(ii)(3)(a) and (b)
of section 276, relating to time limits for Planning Board determinations
on final plats
2. For the duration of this moratorium, the Town Board also intends to
supersede, and the instant local law hereby supersedes, all provisions of the Ithaca
Town Code which impose time limits on applications for approvals subject to the
instant moratorium, including without limitation Ithaca Town Code sections 234-
4.A, 234-15.A, 234-16.A and C, and 270-236.D and E relating to hearings and
determinations on subdivision applications; Ithaca Town Code sections 270-185.E
and G, 270-191, and 270-236.D and E relating to hearings and determinations on
site plan applications; Ithaca Town Code sections 270-198.C, 270-201, and 270-
236.D and E relating to hearings and determinations on special permit and special
approval applications; Ithaca Town Code section 270-235.E relating to Zoning
Board of Appeals hearings and determinations, and Ithaca Town Code section
125-4.D relating to issuance of building permits.
3. For the duration of this moratorium, the Town Board also intends to
supersede, and the instant local law hereby supersedes, section 262 of the Town
Law of New York State to the extent that the provisions of said section are
inconsistent with any provision herein.
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Section 6. Penalties. Any person or entity that develops, constructs or establishes
any project or structure in violation of this local law shall be subject to the penalties set
forth in Section 268 of the Town Law of the State of New York. In addition, the proper
authorities of the Town may institute any appropriate action or proceeding to enjoin,
prevent, restrain, correct or abate such violation of this local law.
Section 7. Term. This local law shall be in effect for a period of two hundred
seventy (270) days from its effective date, provided, however, that the penalty section
shall remain in full force and effect after such date for the purpose of prosecuting any
violation which occurred during the effective period of this local law.
Section 8. Validity. In the event that any portion of this law is declared invalid
by a court of competent jurisdiction, the validity of the remaining portions shall not be
affected by such declaration of invalidity.
Section 9. Effective Date. This local law shall take effect upon publication of the
local law or an abstract of same in the official newspaper of the Town, or upon its filing
with the New York Secretary of State, whichever is the last to occur.
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