HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-P&DB-1997-05-21 PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
MINUTES
MAY 21,1997
Present: Susan Blumenthal, Chair;John Efroymsom;Rick Gray;Tom Hann;Pam Mackesey;
Diann Sams, Sarah Shenk;Roey Thorpe;Mayor Alan Cohen;County Representative Barbara
Blanchard,Bill Kanpe;Rick Eckstrom,Linda Falkson,Attorney;Thys VanCort
Also: Doria Higgins; Cynthia Yahn
Committee Members Reports:
1. Efroymsom reported that he wanted to distribute the experimental Department Head
Evaluation Form. He stressed that the procedure whereby the Department Heads would be
evaluated was being attempted this year on trial basis only. The intention was to improve the
performance of City Departments. This was not to be the basis for salary adjustments for
Department Heads. The Mayor said he would discuss the form and the process with Senior
Staff on Friday at Senior Staff meeting.
Public Comment:
Doria Higgins attacked what she termed the"so-called"Tompkins County Waterfront Plan. She
said it was not a plan and rather a study. Ms.Higgins said that not all the people who had
attended the public meetings on the plan were in favor of all its recommendations. Van Cort
responded by saying that any plan with which everyone could agree in every detail would need to
be so general and wishy-washy as to be meaningless. VanCort said that he thought it was a plan
and could be adopted by the City if either the Planning Board or the Common Council chose to
do so.
Economic Development Plan:
Susan Blumenthal spoke briefly on the work done to date toward hiring a consultant to prepare an
Economic Development Plan for the City. Barbara Blanchard then briefed the Committee on the
Tompkins County Area Development(TCAD) Corporation's plans regarding an Economic
Development Plan for which TCAD has been contracted to prepare for Tompkins County.
A spirited discussion followed. Among the statements made were the following:
The proposed Niederkorn Plan was not broad enough. It focused too much on sites
rather than broader planning issues. It was only a technical exercise that did not
discuss a vision for the City. There is a draft Vision Statement that was prepared by a
subcommittee of the Economic Development Forum following the meetings on the
City's Economic Development Plan held last summer. Blumenthal explained that this
draft was to be reviewed by the entire forum group and that once revisions had been
made, it could be adopted by forum members.
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There were several comments regarding whether a visioning exercise should precede
the gathering of facts in the plan. Some felt that a background of factual information
should be gathered; others felt the City should begin by preparing a Vision Statement.
Roey Thorpe suggested that the Niederkorn Proposal was a good place to start.
Barbara Blanchard,VanCort and Sieverding were asked to modify the Niederkorn
Proposal into a scope of work which could then be finally reviewed by the Committee
and referred to Council. All of those present agreed that this was a good way to
resolve the issue. Some reserved the right to make final judgment regarding what was
in the scope of work.
At the end of the meeting Rick Gray asked to be included in these discussions regarding
scope.
Home Occupation/Principal Residency:
Rick Gray explained that at present there was a loophole in the City's Zoning Ordinance which
allowed people to rent apartments in the City and to use them as a place in which to conduct a
home occupation. He recommended changes in the ordinance which would limit home
occupations to a person's principle residence. The Committee unanimously agreed with this
recommendation. It was also suggested that the ordinance be modified to make it clear that
electronically-based businesses were permitted as home occupation. Eckstrom was asked by the
Committee to prepare the appropriate resolutions for consideration by Common Council.
Department of Planning and Development Reorganization:
The Committee unanimously approved referring the proposed new ED Planner position to the
Budget Administration Committee for funding.
Waterfront Plan:
The Waterfront Plant was held over until an upcoming meeting.
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