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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-P&DB-1996-07-22 i PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE July 22, 1996 MINUTES Present: Committee Members: Susan Blumenthal,Chair, Rick Gray;John Johnson;Jane Marcham. Non-Voting Committee Member: Alan J. Cohen,Mayor. Other Council Members: John Efroymson,Pam Mackesey. Staff: H. Matthys Van Cort,Director of Planning and Development; Doug Foster,Paul Stevenson. Others: Guy Gerard,Paul Glover,John Schroeder,Charlie Trautman, Cynthia Yahn, members of the media. Committee Members' Reports Rick Gray reported that a steep slope ordinance would be proposed by the Conservation Advisory Council for consideration and possible adoption by Common Council. Public Comment on Any Planning Issues John Schroeder presented a brief report to the Committee on an analysis he had done on parking in the West End before and after construction of the Route 96 project. He offered to return to the Committee later when this subject was brought up for discussion. 1. Brief Announcements and Updates a. Treman Marina-Final Environmental Impact Statement/Council Review. Blumenthal reported that the New York State Office of Parks,Recreation and Cultural Affairs-Fingerlakes Region would make a presentation to the Common Council Committee of the Whole on July 31 on the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Master Plan for the Treman Marina. b. SEQR/CEQR-Intern Analysis. Van Cort reported that Mark Little,a legal intern working in the office of Planning and Development,had prepared a report suggesting ways in which the City's Environmental Quality Review Act could be brought into conformance structurally and substantively with the State's Environmental Quality Review Act. This issue would be discussed at future Committee meetings. c. Site Plan Review -Intern Study on Guidelines. Blumenthal reported that a planning student was in the process of making a set of recommendations on guidelines for Site Plan Review. Planning and Economic Development Committee Minutes July 22, 1996 Meeting 2 d. Economic Development Plan. Blumenthal reported that the Mayor was in the process of drafting a letter which would set a time for the first meeting of an advisory committee which is to be established to work on the City's Economic Development Plan. 2. Sciencenter Blumenthal gave a brief history of the Sciencenter. She reported on two BPW meetings where the DPW expressed strong concerns about losing more land before the Board voted unanimously to support the land transfer. Blumenthal reported that the City Attorney recommended that the land be disposed of through the lURA. On a motion by Gray, seconded by Marcham,the Committee voted 3-0-1, (Johnson abstaining)to transferring the proposed Sciencenter site to the TURA for further disposition to the Sciencenter. The Committee directed that staff prepare a resolution for disposition incorporating the protections written into the first phase lease purchase agreement with the Sciencenter. 2. West End Business Owners' Meeting,July 18, 1996-Report Blumenthal reported that a meeting was held on July 18, 1996 to discuss problems caused by the Route 96 project for businesses and residents in the West End. Blumenthal distributed an incomplete draft"West End Octopus Construction Mitigation Plan"dated July 22 listing the suggestions proposed by business owners at the meeting. Committee members made comments on the suggestions in the draft. There was discussion of the Council's passing a resolution authorizing the Building Commissioner not to enforce the Sign Ordinance in the project area during the period of construction. There was similar discussion authorizing the Police Chief not to enforce parking regulations on West Buffalo between Meadow and Fulton. The Committee voted unanimously that the most significant suggestion was that a point person be established in City Hall to help solve problems caused by the construction. Blumenthal suggested that this be discussed at the Mayor's staff meeting,and the Committee suggested that the Mayor appoint someone by the July 31 COW meeting. 4. CDBG Reprogramming Paul Stevenson explained the availability of certain CDBG funds for reprogramming and described actions the IURA had taken toward reprogramming some CDBG funds for support of an economic linkage/import substitution project. L". Paul Glover described the proposal. Planning and Economic Development Committee Minutes July 22, 1996 Meeting 3 On a motion by Marcham,seconded by Blumenthal,the Committee voted unanimously to reprogram CDBG funds for the economic linkage and import substitution project. Stevenson was directed to prepare the appropriate resolution. 5. Adoption of Comprehensive Plan Components Blumenthal reported that much work had been done on several long-range planning studies and that Common Council should begin the process for adoption of the plans. a. Downtown Design Plan Van Cort told the Committee that the Planning Board at its June meeting had adopted the Downtown Design Plan as a part of the City's Comprehensive Plan. Most of the committee members had already seen a presentation of the Downtown Design Plan. The Committee discussed various aspects and implications of adopting the plan. On a motion by Marcham, seconded by Blumenthal,the Committee unanimously recommended that the Council also take action to approve the Downtown Design Plan. Van Cort was directed to draft the appropriate resolution. b. Southwest Area Land Use Study Van Cort said that a Southwest Area Land Use Study had been completed in 1994. One of the recommendations of the study was that a wetlands analysis be performed in Southwest Park. This was done leading to the official delineation of parts of Southwest Park as a wetland. This delineation would call for some modifications to the Southwest Area Land Use Study report,but there were other recommendations in the report which as far as staff were concerned could proceed immediately. Among those was the rezoning of a portion of the Southwest now zoned MH-1 to B-5. The recommendation of the Southwest Area Land Use Study was that all that area zoned MH-1 which was not now occupied by mobile homes be rezoned to B-4. The Committee discussed this proposal and on a motion by Johnson, seconded by Marcham,directed that the rezoning process be initiated and that staff write the appropriate concept memorandum for this zoning change. Van Cort was directed to make additional copies of the Northside Design Study for a future discussion at the Planning and Economic Development Committee. Planning and Economic Development Committee Minutes July 22, 1996 Meeting 4 6. Staff Presentation Doug Foster distributed an outline of the work he is doing in the department. The items included in his presentation were the Work Program,City GIS, MapInfo Program and Real Property Access. Work for other departments includes the Building Department,Water&Sewer and Community GIS development. Foster also discussed his work with computers in the City which included work on the City network, system management and assistance to others in using computers. Information management such as dissemination of census and other demographic information,map production and the map file index were also explained. Finally, Foster explained his work on Six Mile Creek land acquisitions and Inlet Island alienation and conversion.