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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-P&DB-1996-04-15 PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE April 15, 1996 Regular Meeting, 7:30 p.m., Common Council Chambers MINUTES Present: Committee Members: Susan Blumenthal,Chair, Rick Gray;Tom Hanna; John Johnson; Jane Marcham. Non-Voting Committee Member: Alan J. Cohen,Mayor. Staff Leslie Chatterton,Mariette Geldenhuys,William Gray,Jon Meigs,Herman Sieverding,H Matthys Van Cort. Others: Lance Barr,George Frantz,Guy Gerard,Marilyn Gray,Doria Higgins,Carol Reeves,Lou Withiam,Cynthia Yahn. L Planning Staff Presentation. Leslie Chatterton,Historic Preservation/Neighborhood Planner, gave the Committee a briefing on her duties in the Department of Planning and Development, summarized as follows. She is the chief staff person for historic preservation,providing staff support for the ILPC,including technical assistance with designation of historic resources and with design review. This year the Commission has adopted a work plan drafted by Chatterton. In addition to regulatory activities,the plan lays out initiatives in planning,education and training. Some activities included in the plan are developing a data base of the City's historic resources in connection with the City's GIS, preparing a list of properties eligible for local designation,preparing a slide presentation on local historic and architectural resources and preparing written materials for public distribution on the City's historic resources. Commission training includes an upcoming Workshop on Economic Hardship organized by Chatterton. She has also prepared a bibliography for the Commission on historic preservation sources. She is the chief staff person for the City's Certified Local Government Subgrant Program. Projects completed under this program include maps of the City's historic districts and,nearing completion,a system of signs indicating designated historic districts in the City. Over the years she has built a strong relationship with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in Albany. Planning and Economic Development Committee Minutes April 15, 1996 Meeting 2 Chatterton provides a number of other historic preservation related services such as required reviews of Community Development projects. Recently she has been working with Alternatives Federal Credit Union to develop an historic preservation loan program to assist private owners with rehabilitation and maintenance of historic properties. As Neighborhood Planner,Chatterton maintains a list of active neighborhood organizations and works with these organizations as requested. She was the chief staff person in the highly successful Neighborhood Connections meeting held earlier this year. She serves on the Mayor's Substance Abuse Task Force and is the administrator of the Neighborhood Improvement Incentive Fund,which she believes has been an important stimulant to strengthening neighborhood organizations. She serves on both the INHS and the MHA Board of Directors and is the Chair of the INHS House Rehabilitation Committee. She has provided staff support for the Fulton-Meadow Street Design Study, the final draft of which is expected to be completed toward the end of April. Chatterton also acts as the City's Americans with Disabilities Act,(ADA), Coordinator. She has completed facilities and program surveys for the City and is in the process of assisting City departments with elimination of barriers to people with disabilities. Policies and procedures based on survey findings will be developed by Chatterton for review and adoption by the Common Council. A question and answer period followed. • Agenda Review. Chair Blumenthal said that adjustments had already been made to the agenda and then explained what the order would be on the remaining items. • Committee Members' Reports. Hanna said he wanted to talk about the City budget at some future time. • Public Comment on Any Planning Issues. Doria Higgins spoke to the Committee about a proposal she had made to Common Council regarding Alan H.Treman State Park. Van Cort asked Higgins for a copy of her statement. Guy Gerard spoke to the issue of State and City EQR commenting that the City's ordinance now separates CEQR from site plan review, while the State's suggest that they should be combined. He recommended that this be examined when the City considers amendments to its local environmental review ordinance. IL B 1-a Zone Chart Change. After a brief discussion, the Committee agreed that the wording of these zoning amendments should be modified substituting the word"human"for the word Planning and Economic Development Committee Minutes April 15, 1996 Meeting 3 "social",thus it would read"human service agencies and centers,etc." With this modification,Hanna moved and Marcham seconded that the proposed zoning change be put on the agenda for a call for public hearing at the May meeting. Van Cort was directed to distribute to all Common Council members,the Mayor, members of the Board of Zoning Appeals and members of the Planning Board,the memo which sets forth the process by which zoning changes are considered in the City. III. Economic Development Plan. The Committee discussed the proposed economic development plan using Chairperson Blumenthal's previously distributed memorandum of April 10 on this subject as a starting point. Johnson suggested that public schools be added to the list of membership categories. Hanna suggested that the last paragraph on the first page be amended adding the words"foster and support"after the words"the City could implement." Gray suggested that equity and fairness be made goals of the plan. Hanna said that he thought benchmarks for implementation should be set forth in the plan. Sieverding suggested that Mr. Bill Casolara invited to make a presentation to the Planning Committee at its May meeting. He is experienced in group discussions and decision making and has organized several major planning efforts in the area. The discussion concluded with the direction that Blumenthal's memo be amended and distributed to Common Council. Blumenthal agreed to make the appropriate changes in the memorandum. IV. West Buffalo Street On-Street Parking. The reason for this item being on the agenda is that there is continuing concern regarding the impacts on the 600 Block of West Buffalo Street when on-street parking is removed. Van Cort was directed to talk to DoT representatives to see if there were other sites in the project area that could be used for interim parking. Van Cort mentioned that he had talked to Stan Birchenough of NYSDoT regarding the parking lot which is to be constructed at the corner of Fulton and Court Streets. Van Cort has asked Birchenough if this block could be completed before the parking is removed from West Buffalo. The Committee requested that Bill Gray talk to Larry Fabbroni about these concerns to see whether Fabbroni could work with the contractor and DoT so that they would be sensitive to the needs of businesses and residents during the construction project. Someone suggested that Greenstar make their lot available to area residents during off business hours. Lastly, the question was asked whether the city could keep one lane for parking until a long-term solution is found. Planning and Economic Development Committee Minutes April 15, 1996 Meeting 4 V. Cliff Street Parking. Van Cort briefed the Committee on the status of this proposal. Marcham said she was strongly in favor of this project since the City had ignored the wishes of the residents of Cliff Street in choosing the Route 96A alternative,and that the problems of the Cliff Street residents had to be addressed in some way. In response to a question by Carol Reeves,Mariette Geldenhuys said that there • were no legal impediments to creating a publicly owned neighborhood parking area. The Committee discussed the possibility of establishing a local area benefit district for maintenance of the facility. Johnson said he would like to have the BPW express their opinion regarding the proposed parking lot and walkway to Cass Park. After some further discussion,Hanna moved and Johnson seconded that the Committee support the proposed parking lot and walkway in concept and refer financial questions including both capital and operating issues to the B&A. The Committee noted that the cost of engineering should be included in the project. The Committee made reference to the drawing prepared by George Frantz which places the new parking lot on 701 and 705 Cliff Street. The idea of shifting the facility to the north on 705 and 711 was rejected by the Committee. It appeared that creating a new homesite on the land south of the proposed parking facility would not be financially feasible because of the instability of the soils. The resolution passed unanimously. Van Cort said he would continue to work with the other city departments and Mr. Gillogly to try to reduce the cost of the proposed facility. VL SEQRA/CEQR. Geldenhuys said that the State has recently approved significant amendments to the State Environmental Quality Review Act. These amendments not only make substantive changes in the SEQRA law such as modifications to the Type I and Type II lists,but they also significantly modified the structure of the law and the regulations. The result of these changes is that there are significant differences between the requirements of State and the City of Ithaca's Environmental Quality Review Laws. Geldenhuys proposed two alternatives. One is to appeal the City's law,relying on State SEQRA during the period when the City's law is being rewritten. The other alternative is to try to make some changes to the local law now while working on more extensive modifications. The problem with the latter alternative is that the changes to the State regs are so extensive that minor modifications to the local law will not bring them into compliance with the State's. On the other hand,repealing the City's law would put more projects in the unlisted category giving slightly wider discretion to lead agencies in making determinations of significance. Planning and Economic Development Committee Minutes April 15, 1996 Meeting 5 After some discussion,Johnson moved and Marcham seconded that the City's EQR law be repealed and that the City rely on State EQRA during the period when City EQR is being rewritten. Geldenhuys was directed to write a memorandum regarding the process by which this repeal could be enacted and to advise the Planning Committee at their next meeting. VII. Waterfront Revitalization Grant Application. Jon Meigs presented a proposal to seek partial State funding for construction of a public pier at Steamboat Landing. The estimated budget for this project is $30,000. The application date is April 23, 1996. After some discussion,Johnson moved and Gray seconded that the City submit the application to the appropriate State agency for such funding.