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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PDB-1972-03-28 1 PLANNING BOARD MINUTES City of Ithaca Regular Meeting March 28, 1972 7:30 P.M. PRESENT: Chm. Doney, Vice Chm. Shaw, Messrs. Austin, Burns, Schmidt and Stein. ALSO: Planning Director Meigs, Mayor Conley, Building Commissioner Jones; Mrs. Jones, Mr. Slattery and Mr. Spencer, members of Planning & Development Committee of Council; Carol Epstein and Susan Carson, WVBR; Janet Cantrell, Southside Assoc. ; Fred Yahn, Ithaca Journal; Messrs. Swartwood and Herron, representing Mobil Oil Corp. ABSENT: Mr. Ewanicki. The Minutes of the last Regular meeting of the Board, February 22, 1972, were approved as published. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: None. COMMUNICATIONS: a) Consultant's Invoice - Director Meigs presented an invoice from Raymond, Parish and Pine, Inc. in the amount of $4,674 for services rendered through Feb. 29, 1972, and recom- mended approval of the invoice which brings the amount paid-to-date to $20,000, out of a $67,700 contract total. It was MOVED by Mr. Shaw, seconded by Mr. Burns, "the invoice for services rendered by Raymond, Parish & Pine, Inc. be approved for payment." CARRIED. b) (Item not on Agenda) - Director Meigs read a letter from Bernard and Sally Carpenter who reside at 1+41Floral Ave. , expressing interest in purchasing a portion of land presently owned by the City of Ithaca adjacent to their property (approximately 45' x 2301 ), on which they propose to construct a two-car garage. The portion in question is part of a larger lot, and a drainage ditch separates the portion they wish to purchase from the remainder. It was noted that it is the policy of Common Council not to discuss sale of a specific piece of city property until they have received a listing of all city-owned properties from the Department of Public Works, and the Planning Board has made its recommendation. The Department of Public Works is currently working on the project, but it may be some months before completion due to many reasons, such as confusion of deeds. Chm. Doney directed Mr. Meigs to request a preliminary map or listing for use of the Board until the final one is ready. Mr. Austin observed that if the Board approves the sale of one portion of the lot, perhaps a Pandora's Box will be opened, and other adjacent property owners will wish to purchase portions also. Mr. Meigs recommended the Carpenter request be referred to Committee since the Board of Public Works has made its recommendation concerning the matter to the Common Council and it is expected the Council will refer it to the Planning Board for its recommendation. Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "Mr.. Meigs be directed to acknowledge the Carpenter letter and action be tabled until the Board receives the property listing from the Department of Public Works,." Seconded by Mr. Burns. In further discussion, Mr. Stein suggested an amendment to the motion, "if the pre- liminary property listing is received from the Department of Public Works, the matter be referred to the Community Facilities & Services Committee for review and report back their recommendation at the subsequent meeting of the Planning Board." The amendment was accepted by Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Burns, and CARRIED. COMMITTEE REPORTS: a) Executive & Liaison Committee - Chm. Doney referred to the February Planning Board meeting at which the appointment of Mr. Meigs to the position of Planning Director was approved, after which Alderwoman Jones transmitted the information to Common Council at its March 1, 1972 meeting. The Council, in Executive Session, resolved that the Human Services and Planning & Development Committees of Council be requested to meet with the Planning Board and discuss the qualifications of Mr. Meigs as Planning Director and report back to: Council. After an Executive Session of the Planning Board, its resolution was forwarded to Common Council, "MOVED, Mr. Jonathan Meigs be appointed Director of Planning effective February 18, 1972 at an annual salary of $12,083." Chm. Doney explained that the figure of $12,083 was contained in a Compensation Plan published by the Finance Department which, it has since been learned, was erroneous. However, during the discussion which followed, it was noted that Mr. Meigs has been performing the duties of the position of Director since before the beginning of the year and that, because of non-residence in the city it was not possible to appoint him Director at that time. However, had it been possible to do so, he would have received a raise the beginning of the year. Therefore, the Board wish to re- affirm their above motion. It was suggested by Mr. Stein that the Board transmit an explanation of the reasons for their stand to Common Council. OLD BUSINESS: a) Wilcox Press bill - Director Meigs reported he had transmitted to Wilcox infermatiiin worked up by Junior Planner Lawrence with an accounting of the amount of changes we feel are our responsibility, or were caused by our errors, changes, additions, etc. Their representa- tive agreed to review the information and, if possible, contact Mr. Meigs prior to the Planning Board meeting of March 28, but Mr. Meigs has not yet heard from him so it is expected he will contact Mr. Meigs within the next few days. The Board directed Mr. Meigs to follow through on the matter. b) CRP - Director Meigs informed the Board that the surveys done over a period of a couple of months have been completed and are being prepared for forwarding to an agency for . computer processing. Upon checking prices it was found that the Office of Computer Services at Cornell University will do the job for approximately $200 which Mr. Meigs feels is reasonable; therefore, -he will have the job done by that agency. Mr. Austin asked if it is . the responsibility of the Board to hire this done and Mr. Meigs answered that it is* Mr. Stein observed that the Planning Board obviously has responsibility for the CRP but that in carrying out this responsibility the Board does not have adequate information concerning the CRP, does not know what is really going on, and he believes a greater degree of communication would be beneficial to everyone. Mr. Meigs was directed to arrange with the consultant that he be present at the next Regular meeting of the Board, April 25, 1972, Mrs. Jones asked if there shouldn't be a member of the Planning Board on the CRP Advisory Committees Mr. Stein was designated as representative of the Board on the Commit- tee. 2 Mr. Meigs was asked to give copies of the Design Study to Mr. Schmidt, and any others on the Board or Committee who do not already have it. c) Letters of Appreciation to former Chm. Richard Putney and former member Raymond Hemming for services on the Board were approved and signed by t1hose members who had worked with them and will be mailed to them. d) Junior Planner positions - Director Meigs informed the Board that the applications received for the positions have been screened and those applicants who appear to be best qualified have been contacted for the purpose of arranging interviews. Four persons have been interviewed to date, two others will be interviewed later in the week, and at that point there should be enough information available for the Board to choose a person to fill the position currently vacant. It was then noted that Junior Planner Lawrence plans to leave the city in mid-June, therefore there will be another vacancy. It was the feeling of the Board that two junior planners should be hired as soon as possible in order to allow one to phase into Mr. Lawrence's position, and to augment the Department's capability to carry out work on the CRP and other major programs at hand. e) Weiner Trailer Park - Director Meigs informed the Board that in its Regular meeting, Feb. 22, 1972, the Planning Board approved in concept the development of mobile homes on the Weiner site and directed that the report of its Housing & Redevelopment Committee be forwarded to Common Council for its discussion and action. Later, the Planning Board's Executive Committee met with industrial neighbors who had questions concerning the pro- posal and results of this meeting were forwarded to Common Council. The proposal for development of a mobile home park on Dr. Weiner's property south of West Clinton St. was considered at the March 1 meeting of Common Council with the result that the Charter & Ordinance Committee were requested to develop a mobile home park Ordinance and present it to Council at its earliest convenience. In addition, the proposal was referred to the Charter & Ordinance and the Planning & Development Committees for joint study and report. It is expected that when an ordinance is completed and adopted for use by the City, it will operate in a manner similar to that of the Subdivision Regulations, thus allowing the Planning Board an opportunity to review the proposals. f) Sale of City Land - Station Restaurant - Director TMeigs informed the Beard that the owner of the restaurant would like to purchase some adjacent city-owned property which he proposes to use for parking. Appraisals have been made by two realtors who have indicated to Atty. Gersh that a fair market value would be $10,180 and a fair rental value $1,108 per year. At its March 8th meeting, the Board of Public Works resolved that the matter be referred to the Building & Grounds Committee for further study, and that the City Attorney continue his negotiations for sale of the two strips of land involved. Mr. Meigs informed the Board that the matter involves land purchased with B.O.R. funds; if the city realizes a return on the land, it must be paid back to the Federal government or an equivalent amount of land at some other location must be exchanged. The Board questioned the City Attorney being asked to negotiate the sale of the land if it is going to be put up for public bid. They feel they should look at the land and study its eventual use before they can make a recommendation. (By a previous decision of Common Council, the Planning Board is required to make a recommendation on proposals for sale of city-owned property. ) 3 Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "the Planning Board withhold action until further study of the matter has been made by the Planning; Director." Mr. Stein suggested an amendment, "the Planning Director send communication to the appropriate person(s) that the Planning Board wish to study the matter, and until the Board have accomplished this and made a recommendation, they request that further action be delayed; further, the matter is referred to Community Facilities & Services for study." The amendment was accepted, seconded by Mr. Burns and CARRIED. g) S. Tioga St. Closing;/DPW Traffic Study - Director Meigs read the conclusions of the Supt. of Public Works concerning the traffic study made of the proposed closing of the 100 block of S. Tioga St. in connection with the urban renewal project for the development of the hotel block. According to the study, "the closing of the 100 block of S. Tioga St. would: 1) Dictate that the 300 block of E. State Street be made one-way eastbound. 2) Require signalization and improvement of the Tuning Fork. 3) Overload the intersection of E. Seneca Street and N. Aurora Street. As an alternative a new and complete route must be found for traffic now using the 100 block of S. Tioga Street." It was resolved by the Board of Public Works that the study be referred to its Parking_ & Traffic Committee, the Planning Board and the Planning & Development Committee of the Council for review and report. Mr. Meigs reported that he had asked the Department of Public Works for a copy of the study and upon reading it, feels it has planning; implications which should be considered in going further with proposals for both the parking garage and the mail. He feels the Planning; Board should take an interest and have some discussions on the matter, Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "Planning Board pledge its support to the Downtown Businessmen's Association and to all groups working for the improvement of the Central Business District." Seconded by Mr. Austin. CARRIED. Mr. Stein observed that the Board should make some response to Mr. Dingman's report, that the nature of the planning considerations should be outlined, together with problems raised for which Common Council would like to have solutions recommended. Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "this report be referred to Community Facilities & Services Committee to review for planning implications and report back at the April meeting of the Board." Seconded by Mr. Stein. CARRIED. h) (Item not on Agenda) - Williams Glen Rd. - Director Meigs informed the Board that at the March 22nd meeting; of the Board of Public Works, James D. Parkes, 105 Williams Glen Rd. y presented and read a petition signed by eight residents and property owners on Williams Glen Rd. requesting the City to join with the Town of Ithaca to cooperatively improve Williams Glen Road up to a standard acceptable for its dedication to the City. This matter , has been presented to the Planning Board for information. He noted a similar petition was being presented to the Town since a large portion of this street was in the Town. The Board of Public Works referred the petition to its Highway Committee for study and report. NEW BUSINESS: a) HUD - Director Meigs reported to the Board that his meeting of March 15th with HUD officials covered several areas including the city's application for Recertification of 4 the Workable Program, the CRP, the matter of new communities, and neighborhood facilities. He now has an understanding of requirements which still exist and which the city must satisfy in order to get the Workable Program recertified. He summarized for HUD the current status of the CRP. He, Building Commissioner Jones and HUD representatives toured the north and south sides and southwest area of the city to determine which areas of the city might be appropriate for new communities, NDP or code enforcement programs and got an insight into what can be done under the various programs. A subsequent meeting attended by the Mayor, Urban Renewal and Planning Board repre- sentatives and the CRP consultant discussed these matters further, and it was decided to continue investigation of the feasibility and desirability of the programs with HUD and other agencies. Mayor Conley spoke briefly to the Board regarding the various programs and his desire to have the planning staff, with assistance from Urban Renewal staff and others who may be involved, initiate applications for participation in these programs, if further determined that they are desirable for the city. He urged that this determination be made as soon as possible in order to meet the needs which may be shown to exist, and to take advantage of the funding resource while it exists. MISCELLANEOUS: a) Zoning Appeals - 1) BZA Agpeal 975. - .Request by Mobil Oil Corp. for an Exception to install two 25'2" x 251211 x 141 high flat canopies at 540 W. State St. at N. Meadow St• , in a B-1+ dis- trict - The request to install the canopies in conjunction with proposed pump island rehabilitation for the purpose of converting to self-service operation was reviewed th the Board. Mr. Austin MOVED, "the Exception be approved by the Planning Board."' Seconded by Mr. Burns. CARRIED. 2) BZA Appeal 969 - Request by Rhomac Aviation, Inc. for a S ep cial Permit to use a pre.. existing wall sign at 210 Center St. , in an R-3 district - The Board RECOMMEND this, appeal be denied. The Board strongly condemns a process by which a Special Permit is used to legitimize an action which has already been taken without first obtaining the necessary legal approvals from the city. This procedure is completely contrary to the goals of planning and the intent of the Zoning Ordinance which is aimed at providing an orderly framework for change, growth and development of the city. It is noted that, in addition to the pre-existence of the sign to the date of considera- tion by the Planning Board, it is also in excess of the 5 sq. ft. allowed by the Zoning Ordinance in a residential area. Further, it is illuminated which is not permitted in a residential area. Mr. Schmidt MOVED, "Planning Board recommend disapproval of BZA Appeal 969 for the above reasons." Seconded by Mr. Austin. CARRIED. MEETING ADJOURNED 10:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jttdthan C. Meigs 4.3.72 Planning Director 5