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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PLED-1997-04-16Planning and Development Committee Minutes April 16, 1997 Present: Susan Blumenthal, Chair, John Johnson, John Efroymson, Diane Sams, Pam Mackesey, Tom Hanna, Roey Thorpe, Rick Gray, Mayor Alan Cohen Committee Members Report Efroymson reported that the department head evaluation process is moving forward. A truncated review process may start beginning in May. Sams requested that a copy of the review process be sent to the Affirmative Action Committee. Public Comment A mass communication student from Cornell requested Council members to participate in a research project designed to solicit views on the proposed Ithaca City School District budget. 1. Reports/Updates Staff reported that a Request for Qualifications for the Urban Design Study for Inlet Island would be issued within the next two weeks. Cynthia Yahn said that the Fulton Street Committee has prepared a letter to Governor Pataki requesting that parking be restored on Fulton Street during off peak hours. The letter is awaiting Senator Seward’s signature who is also expected to forward the letter to the governor. Staff reported that Jeannie Lee, a recent graduate of the CRP program at Cornell, has started the parking demand analysis for the Fulton Meadow Street Corridor. 2. Interim Use of City Owned Property on Inlet Island Terry Ciaschi requested City approval to use a portion of Brindley Park for a deck addition to the Station Restaurant. The property line between the Park and the Station Restaurant runs along the edge of the restaurant. The proposed deck would extend some distance into the proposed Brindley Park. In response to a question from Sams, staff explained that this is still part of the area of land that is subject to the alienation and conversion process. While the city ability to grant use of this land is constrained by the conversion process, staff explained that the City does allow private use of parkland on a license basis. A comparable situation exists adjacent to Newman Golf Course where the BPW has annually granted a license that is revocable on 30-day notice to an individual who then rents boat slips for the summer season. The Committee could consider a similar approach with this request. In response to a question from Sams regarding State involvement in this decision, staff stated the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation will still need to approve this use since the alienation/conversion process is still not completed. Committee members expressed concern that there were no site plans available that show the size and location of the area in question. Members also had questions regarding the involvement of adjacent property owners in the proposed combined parking east of the restaurant. Mr. Ciaschi reported there has been no discussion with any adjacent property owners. He suggested it might be better for the City to contact these owners. Efroymson moved to allow Ciaschi use of a an area of Brindley Park behind the Station Restaurant for the construction of a deck with Ciaschi to submit to staff before the Council meeting a site plan for the deck and staff to present an outline of the license agreement. Discussion followed regarding whether the sense of the Committee required a resolution. Hanna offered a resolution establishing the sense of the committee that, conceptually, it approves of the proposed use. Thorpe seconded this motion. All present voted in favor. 3. Exterior Property Maintenance Ordinance Phyllis Radke explained that the Exterior Property Maintenance Ordinance has a twelve-month sunset provision and the ordinance will soon expire unless extended by Council. The terms of the original ordinance required an evaluation of how well the ordinance achieved its objectives. Radke reported that since the Enforcement Officer position for the ordinance has been vacant for seven of the twelve months the ordinance has been in existence, this data is not available. Committee members commented on how important the ordinance is to maintaining the quality of the City’s residential neighborhoods. Mackesey moved to extend the ordinance for another twelve-month period. Efroymson seconded the motion. Discussion followed regarding more direction from Council relative to staff conducting an outcome based evaluation, the need to make this ordinance permanent, the salary range for the position being too low to retain qualified staff and the need to recruit protected class candidates for the position. Efroymson moved to amend the original motion making the ordinance permanent. Discussion followed but no second to the motion was offered. Efroymson withdrew the motion upon the realization that the existing ordinance would expire during the process of making the ordinance permanent. All voted in favor of extending the ordinance for another twelve-month period. Efroymson moved to hold a public hearing in June on permanent adoption of the property maintenance ordinance. The motion was seconded, and all voted in favor. 4. Department Reorganization Blumenthal summarized the conclusion of the last sub-committee meeting on the reorganization of the Planning Department. The sub-committee agreed on the overall structure of the department and Johnson moved that the Environmental/Landscape Planner position be filled. Thorpe seconded the motion. Discussion followed concerning the budget impact of this decision. Staff reported that, depending on when the hire is complete and the new person starts in the position there may be no impact given the amount of funding put into the contract line for site plan technical assistance. This will be looked at more closely before the B & A Committee meeting. All present voted in favor of filling this position. The next meeting of the reorganization subcommittee will be on May 2. The topic of discussion will be the Economic Development Director and Planning Systems Specialist positions. 5. Economic Development Plan Several Committee members commented on the need for the sub-committee appointed to make a recommendation on the consultant proposals to meet before the full Committee is asked to make recommendation. Other Committee members were interested in discussing the consultant’s proposal. Staff was requested to provide an overview of what transpired between the two consultants under consideration since the last Committee meeting. Staff reported that discussions were held with both consultants in an effort to work out a joint proposal that would combine the skills of East-West and Tom Niederkorn in one proposal. However, East-West, after reviewing the revised proposal submitted by Neiderkorn and concluding that their role is merely to facilitate meetings declined to be further involved in this process. The Committee reaffirmed its desire to have the sub-committee appointed to review this proposal meet to develop its recommendation before the full Committee or Council is asked to decide to proceed. The sub-committee will try to meet before May 7 in an effort to move this decision forward.