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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PLED-2016-11-09 Approved at the January 11, 2017 PEDC Meeting City of Ithaca Planning & Economic Development Committee Wednesday, November 9, 2016 – 6:00 p.m. Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 108 East Green Street Minutes Committee Members Attending: Joseph (Seph) Murtagh, Chair; Graham Kerslick, Ducson Nguyen, Josephine Martell, and Cynthia Brock Committee Members Absent: None Other Elected Officials Attending: Alderperson George McGonigal Staff Attending: JoAnn Cornish, Director, Department of Planning, Building, Zoning, and Economic Development; Lisa Nicholas, Senior Planner; Jennifer Kusznir, Senior Planner; Megan Wilson, Senior Planner; Deborah Grunder, Executive Assistant Others Attending: Tom Knipe, Tourism Director; Mike Niechwiadowicz; Form Ithaca Chair Seph Murtagh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 1) Call to Order/Agenda Review No changes were made to the agenda. 2) Public Comment and Response from Committee Members David Gallahan, 511 Spencer Road, spoke on the exterior property maintenance ordinance. His tenant had snow tires on the property. Gallahan was away when the ticket was issued and the rates escalated while he was away. Many of his friends have had similar situations happen to them. Tessa Rudan, thanked the committee for the changes that have been made to the Collegetown plan. She further stated that the Collegetown plan should be used in other areas of the City. Approved at the January 11, 2017 PEDC Meeting M. Blodgett, 549 Spencer Road, received fourteen tickets over 20 days. They can give the same ticket every day, but the homeowner doesn’t receive the tickets for two weeks or better. Neil Golden, 208 College Avenue, spoke on the exterior property maintenance ordinance. It needs to be reviewed and changes need to be made. T he fees grow quickly. JoAnn Cornish clarified that the Collegetown Area Form District Code is a City Code; the Character Code was done by an outside group that received a grant to do so. Alderperson Brock stated she has received numerous calls regarding the odd and even parking rules. She would like the committee to look into implementing more residential parking permits and the odd/even parking rules. JoAnn Cornish stated she would look into who the appropriate person is to work on this. Alderperson Kerslick stated that neighborhoods can ban together and request the permit process for their neighborhood. It was further stated by Chair Murtagh and confirmed by JoAnn Cornish that there are only certain areas in the City with neighborhood parking permits. 3) Special Order of Business a) Presentation: Tompkins County Tourism Program Tom Knipe, Tompkins Country Tourism Director, provide a thorough presentation on how tourism dollars help local municipalities especially the City of Ithaca. He offered to send the presentation to anyone who is interested. 4) Updates, Announcements, Reports a) Dredging Update Lisa Nicholas, Senior Planner, came back with the answers to the questions asked at October meeting. Ice jams was asked about as well as would dredging six mile creek benefit the Titus Tower area? Nichols stated due to the dry year, we don’t have the data to calculate. The projected time line is out to late 2017 and 2018. Murtagh asked if there’s a lot of stuff in the creek; dredging the creek seems to be the right thing to do. Nichols stated there is more to it. There is lot more to look at such as velocity, etc. and how the water levels are created from the lake. Approved at the January 11, 2017 PEDC Meeting b) Exterior Property Maintenance Ordinance Mike Niechwiadowicz and Robert Sarachan updated the group on this ordinance as to how it is working and what still needs to be done to improve it. A 24-hour waiting (warning) period is given without a ticket being issued. This is not sent to the court but the homeowner is notified via an email n otification. Sarachan stated the original accusatories have gone down because people are responding to their emails. Alderperson Brock stated that not all people are set up for the email notifications. How do we get this information out to people? Mike Niechwiadowicz stated they tried the “tag” system twelve plus years ago. There were many issues – the inspectors have been threatened, chased off their properties, etc. Tags do not work. The property owner may not get the tag because it is a tenant property, etc. The only violation not offered a 24-hour warning is snow removal. There are 5,500 properties in the City of Ithaca. Everyone who sees Robert Sarachan are advised by him to sign up for the email notifications program. He feels the system is working so much better. He recommends that a warning for shrubs and grass in the sidewalks be granted the 24-hour warning. Alderperson Kerslick asked how we satisfy those that get all these tickets. Alderperson Brock asked if there is a process in place to make sure the boundary lines are noted correctly. The answer to that is the City's GIS system. 5) Action Items (Voting to Circulate) a) Adding Brewpubs/Microbreweries to Zoning The purpose of this memo is to provide information regarding a proposal to establish definitions for Brew Pub, Microbrewery and Tavern and to establish them as permitted uses in specific zones. The City recently received a proposal for a use that included on-site brewing and serving of alcohol and food. Staff ultimately determined, that given the small scale of the facility, it would be of no greater impact than that of a restaurant and should be considered a tavern, which is an allowable use in the requested district. However, in order to prevent confusion in the future, staff is proposing to amend Approved at the January 11, 2017 PEDC Meeting Chapter 325 of the City Code, entitled “zoning”, to include the following definitions for microbrewery, brew pub, and tavern: Brew Pub - An establishment that produces ales, beers, meads, hard ciders, and/or similar beverages to serve on ‐ site. Sale of beverages for off‐ site consumption is also permitted in keeping with the regulations of the New York State Liquor Authority. Service of brewed beverages must be in conjunction with the service of food. Brew pubs may not produce more than 5,000 barrels of beverage annually. May also include the distribution of beverages for consumption at other sites. A brew bub, may NOT contain external tanks for storage of raw materials or beverages. Microbrewery - A limited production brewery that may produce no more than 15,000 barrels annually. Microbreweries may sell to licensees, however, they may NOT sell to the general public without a NYS brewer's retail permit. A Microbrewery may have a restaurant in or adjacent to it, only if it has obtained a NYS an on-premises retail license. Tavern - an establishment for the sale of beer and other drinks to be consumed on the premises, sometimes also serving food. In addition, staff proposes to add brew pub as an allowable use in the B -2a district, and microbrewery as an allowable use in the B -5 district. Enclosed for your consideration is a draft ordinance containing the proposed amendments. If the Committee is in agreement, staff will draft an environmental review of this action and circulate it along with the draft ordinance and return next month with any comments that are received. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at 274-6410. - The issue here is the scale of the establishment. If we make this an allowable use in B2, it is also in the B-2a and B5 districts as well as the CDB districts. - Chair Murtagh stated he visited a mini brewery in the middle of downtown Cortland. He suggests reaching out to them for information on how they regulate it. - It was suggested to identify this an urban brewery. - Alderperson Kerslick moved to circulate; seconded by Alderperson Martell. Carried unanimously. Approved at the January 11, 2017 PEDC Meeting ORDINANCE NO. ____ BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca that Chapter 325, Zoning, be amended as follows: Section 1. Section 325-3B, entitled, “Definitions and Word Usage”, is hereby amended to add the following definitions: Brew Pub -An establishment that produces ales, beers, meads, hard ciders, and/or similar beverages to serve on ‐ site. Sale of beverages for off‐ site consumption is also permitted in keeping with the regulations of the New York State Liquor Authority. Service of brewed beverages must be in conjunction with the service of food. Brew pubs may not produce more than 5,000 barrels of beverage annually. May also include the distribution of beverages for consumption at other sites. A brew bub, may NOT contain external tanks for storage of raw materials or beverages. Microbrewery - A limited production brewery that may produce no more than 15,000 barrels annually. Microbreweries may sell to licensees, however, they may NOT sell to the general public without a NYS brewer's retail permit. A Microbrewery may have a restaurant in or adjacent to it, only if it has obtained a NYS 3 on-premises retail license. Tavern- an establishment for the sale of beer and other drinks to be consumed on the premises, sometimes also serving food. Section 2. Section 325-8 of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca, entitled District Regulations, is hereby amended in order to add Brew Pub as an allowable primary use in the B2-a district and Microbreweries as an allowable use in the B-5 district. Section 3. The City Planning and Development Board, the City Clerk and the Planning Department shall amend the district regulations chart in accordance with the amendments made herewith. Section 4. Severability. Severability is intended throughout and within the provisions of this local law. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this local law is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion. Section 5. Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in accordance with law upon publication of notices as provided in the Ithaca City Charter. Approved at the January 11, 2017 PEDC Meeting 6) Action Items (Voting to Send onto Council) a) Minor Amendments to Collegetown Area Form Districts An Ordinance to Amend The Municipal Code Of The City Of Ithaca, Chapter 325, Entitled “Zoning” To Make Minor Revisions to §325-45, Collegetown Area Form Districts WHEREAS, there has been confusion over the application of the façade length requirement of the Collegetown Area Form Districts, as adopted in 2014, and WHEREAS, the proposed revisions would clarify the intent and application of various regulations; now, therefore, ORDINANCE NO. ____ BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca that Chapter 325 of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca be amended as follows: Section 1. The CR-3 Activation Table shown in Chapter 325, Section 325-45.2E(3) of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca is hereby amended to read as follows: ACTIVATION STREET FAÇADE A) Building façade length, primary street, max 45’ Section 2. The CR-4 Activation Table shown in Chapter 325, Section 325 -45.2F(1) of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca is hereby amended to read as follows: ACTIVATION STREET FAÇADE A) Building façade length, primary street, max 1. Row house 100’ 2. All other structures 45’ Section 3. The MU-1 Activation Table shown in Chapter 325, Section 325-45.2G(1) of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca is hereby amended to read as follows: ACTIVATION STREET FAÇADE B) Building façade length, primary street, max 3. Row house 150’ 4. All other structures 75’ Approved at the January 11, 2017 PEDC Meeting Section 4. Chapter 325, Section 325-45.2B(10) of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca is hereby amended to read as follows: (10) Recessed Entry (a) Definition: A functioning entry that is set back a minimum of 12” 5’ from the front façade of the building. Section 5. Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in accordance with law upon publication of notices as provided in the Ithaca City Charter. The action being considered is whether to approve the ordinance provided in the packet for approval or the updated version of 11/9/16 provided at the meeting for circulation. Alderperson Brock motioned to circulate; seconded by Alderperson Kerslick. Carried Unanimously. JoAnn Cornish stated that it is the goal that the Collegetown Form Based Code be used throughout the City. The Character Code is a good body of work, but is different that the direction that the City has been focused on. She further stated this character code document came to the City as a surprise. The City did work with this group on the State Street corridor, but the character code was not under the City’s directive. Chair Murtagh stated that there is a lot of overlap of the two plans. Alderperson Brock stated that there seems to a bit of confusion within the community that this was something requested by the City which is not the case. b) Form Ithaca Character Code Resolution Moved by Alderperson Martell; seconded by Alderperson Kerslick. Carried unanimously. Alderperson Kerslick made a friendly amendment to replace Planning and Economic Development Committee with Common Council. He further stated that supporting this doesn’t mean we are supporting it in its entirety but used as a reference. WHEREAS, Mayor Svante Myrick co-signed a letter of support in August of 2013 with then-Town Supervisor Herb Engman on behalf of the City and Town designating Better Cities & Towns of the Form Ithaca project team as the lead applicant for a NYSERDA’s Cleaner Greener Communities grant to jointly update our zoning ordinances, and WHEREAS, the Common Council is committed to dense urban development in the core of downtown, as is expressed in Plan Ithaca, Phase I of the City’s Comprehensive Plan which was adopted by Common Council in September of 2015, and Approved at the January 11, 2017 PEDC Meeting WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca’s successful adoption of a hybrid form-based code in Collegetown has resulted in higher quality development that has had a positive impact on the character of the neighborhood, and WHEREAS, the Form Ithaca project is led by the nonprofit Better Cities & Towns, dedicated to promoting sustainable, walkable communities; architects and landscape architects STREAM Collaborative; and urban planners Randall+West; and the team brought in leading urban design, development, transportation, and form-based code consultants who offered their valuable expertise to the City, and WHEREAS, the Form Ithaca project team has worked with City Staff, civic leaders, developers, State and County Agencies, and other stakeholders, completed four reports, and organized a four-day charrette in the City of Ithaca, June 3rd through 6th, 2015, and these documents and the public process informed the development of the draft City of Ithaca Character Code and Regulating Plan, and WHEREAS, the draft City of Ithaca Character Code was circulated to Planning and IURA staff in August of 2016, and a new draft, dated October 11, 2016, was prepared that incorporates many of the submitted comments, and WHEREAS, City staff recognizes the importance of maintaining a human scale along the street, especially in transitional areas where commercial zones are located near residential districts, and supporting development of a substantial amount of underutilized land, particularly in the W. State St. / MLK Jr. Corridor; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Planning and Economic Development Committee Common Council accepts the City of Ithaca Character Code and Regulating Plan for review and consideration of adoption. 7) Review and Approval of Minutes a) October 2016 Moved by Alderperson Kerslick; seconded by Alderperson Brock. Passed unanimously with suggested changes. 8) Adjournment Moved by Alderperson Kerslick; seconded by Alderperson Martel. Passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8 :05p.m.