HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PDB-1971-01-25 PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
City of Ithaca
Regular Meeting January 25, 1971 7:30 P.M. .
PRESENT: Chairman Putney, Vice Chairman Doney, Messrs. Austin, Burns, Conley, Shaw and
Schmidt
ALSO: • Acting Director Meigs, Planning Tech. Lawrence; A. Spano, D. Slattery, Mrs. A.
Jones (members of Planning Board Committee of Council); Bldg. Commissioner Jones;
J. Marchitto, Att'y H. Amdur, J. Matilaine, J. Bentkowski, T. Curtis, Mr. Gardner,
M. Howard (WVBR), J. Horstman (Ithaca Journal) and P. Crissey (WTKO).
MINUTES of the last Regular meeting of the Board, December 21, 1970, were approved as pub-
lished.
SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS:
a. Approval of new meeting date and time--The Board discussed a new meeting date,
because of a conflict with the MCAC which meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month, and Mr.
Schmidt MOVED, "the official meeting date and time, starting in_February, will be the
fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m." Seconded by Mr. Doney. CARRIED.
b. Introduction of new Board members--Chairman Putney introduced the new members of
the Board, Messrs. Edward W. Austin and Milton R. Shaw, who have been appointed-to fill the
two vacancies on the Board.
c. Introduction of members of Planning Board Committee of Common Council--Acting
Director Meigs introduced the new Planning Board Committee of Common Council, A. Spano,
E. Conley, D. Slattery and Mrs. A. Jones.
COMMUNICATIONS: None.
COMMITTEE: REPORTS: Acting Director Meigs presented each Board member and Council Committee
member a copy of a Review of 1970 Planning Office Projects as of 31 Dec. 1970.
OLD BUSINESS:
a. Encumbrance for Zoning Ordinance--Mr. Meigs informed the Board that he had been
unable to encumber funds from the 1970 budget for the printing of the Zoning Ordinance,
but that if and when the ordinance is ready for printing in 1971, the Board may request
funds from the General Fund at that time.
b. Park & Recreation Study_- Progress Report--G. Lawrence of the planning staff pre-
sented drawings of the 3-acre South Hill School site recreation area which he and Mr. Nourse
of the Youth Bureau have been studying, and explained the existing facilities and the
changes or additions they recommend, which is amplification of the 1968 Recreation Plan.
The South Hill School P.T.A. have approved the plan. Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "the Planning
Board tentatively approves the plan and recommends it for approval to the Youth Board and
other powers." Seconded by Mr. Conley. CARRIED.
C, Planning Board Budget - Status--For the information of the new members of the Board,
Mr. Meigs explained briefly the status of the proposed Planning Department budget for 1971,
which to date has been revised twice due to cuts in the salary budget; also, of the
decision of the Board at its December meeting, in response to a request from Common Council,
that, on their direction, the Board will conduct an investigation on a fact-finding basis,
in conjunction with the County Planning Department, regarding the combining of the city and
county planning bodies.
Regarding the December 10th Memorandum addressed to city clerk Blean and Chairman of
the Finance & Accounts Committee Rundle, it appears that neither one recalls receiving the
memo. Mr. Burns MOVED, "that future communications be signed for at the time of delivery
by the department head or person accepting same." Seconded by Mr. Conley. CARRIED.
d. Cornell-Mitchell Sts. Rezoning Status--Acting Director Meigs informed the Board
that a public hearing will be held in the Council chambers on Wednesday, February 3, 1971,
at ;:30 p.m. , for the purpose of determining the zoning district of the Cornell-Mitchell
Streets area.
e. Mr. Meigs informed the Board that Mr. Friedlander, staff member of the consulting
firm of Raymond, Parish & Pine, expects to come to Ithaca on Friday, January 29th, for the
purpose of meeting with the Board in a work session on the contract and work schedule for
the Community Renewal Program. Mr. Putney requested that the meeting be set up with the
Committee of the Whole Board and the Planning Board Committee of the Common Council. When
the time of the meeting is decided upon, the secretary of the Board will notify all members
of the Board and the Council Committee.
NEW BUSINESS:
a. Full-time eD21oyment of G. Lawrence--Acting Director Meigs informed the Board that
Planning Tech. George Lawrence, who has worked as part-time junior planner in the department
for the past couple of years, has now completed his studies at Cornell, and Mr. Meigs ex-
pressed the desire to hire him as full-time junior planner in the department to work with
the staff on the CRP program. Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "the Board recommend to Common Council
that it approve appointment of George Lawrence as Junior Planner at base rate salary to be
determined." Seconded by Mr. Conley. CARRIED.
MISCELLANEOUS:
a. Zoning Cases--
1. Request for Variance and Exception to the zoning ordinance at 300 Hancock St.
(corner of Adams and Third Sts. ) - BZA Case #912. A previous appeal in the form of a
request for an exception and a variance was denied by the BZA in November 1968. The
Victory Markets, Inc. have come back to the Boardjdue to the firm not getting a
reasonable amount of return from the property, with the request for variance and
exception; they wish to install a self-service gas station on the Adams Street side
of their parking lot.
The request for a Variance to Section 7, Cols. 2 and 4 of the Zoning Ordinance was
discussed briefly by the Board. Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "the Board refer the case to the
Codes & Ordinances Committee, the City Attorney and the Fire Chief for review."
Seconded by Mr. Shaw. CARRIED.
Mr. Conley asked to be excluded from the review by the Codes & Ordinances Committee,
due to a conflict of interests.
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2. Request for a Variance to the Zoning Ordinance at 227 Linden Ave. - BZA Case
#913. The request was made by Linden Hills Apartment, Inc. and radio station WVBR.
Previous appeals have been made at least four times for variance in connection with
use of this building. Attorney Amdur appeared as representative for WVBR; J. Bentkowski
presented the appeal for Linden Hills Apt. Inc. Inasmuch as a variance cannot be
approved for a part of a building, it was decided to recommend a conditional variance.
The request for a Variance to Section 7, Col. 2 of the Zoning Ordinance was reviewed
in accordance with Section 12-C and Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "the Board recommend approval
of variance for offices, professional use, off-street parking, residential and radio
studio." Seconded by Mr. Conley. CARRIED.
MEETING ADJOURNED at 9:30 P.M.
Respectfully `submitted,
t--Jonathan C. Meigs
1.27.71 Acting Planning Director
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