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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PDB-1975-08-26 PLANNING BOARD MINUTES City of Ithaca Regular Meeting August 26, 1975 7:30 P.M. PRESENT: Chairman Doney, Mrs. Benson; Messrs. Hildreth, Moran, Saggese and Stein. ALSO: Director of Planning Van Cort; Mayor Edward J. Conley; Councilwoman Anne T. Jones and Councilman Donald Slattery; Building Commissioner Edison Jones; City Engineer Philip Cox; Planning staff members Emanuel Carter, Richard Farley, Rosalind Williams and Richard McDougall; Mr. William. Zikakis, Owner of Zikakis Imports; Citizen William Batt and members of the press and radio.. ABSENT: Mrs. Nancy Meyer. Chairman Doney called the meeting to order at 7:40 P.M. MINUTES of the Regular meeting of July 22, 1975 were approved as published. ZONING: a. Appeal 9-2-75. This was an appeal for a variance to the Sign Ordinance which would enable Zikakis Chevrolet to erect a pylon sign in excess of the size permitted in the Sign Ordinance (162 sq. ft. as opposed to 50 sq. ft. allowed). The sign will display the Mazda logo on a 41x10' background, mounted within the frame as originally proposed, instead of on top. Volvo and Subaru logos will also be dis- played within the frame. The frame will be about 22-23' high by 11' wide, with the bottom of the lowest element, 'Bill Zikakis Imports' , about 9' above ground. The product signs will be internally illuminated, and the colors blue and white. No signs are presently proposed on the building. The sign would be located 30 ft. off the roadway, almost to the building. The Planning staff recommended as follows: "In view of the consideration shown by Zikakis and Mr. Seeley [Manager of Zikakis Imports] in this matter, in the absence of set guidelines for sign design in the Elmira Road Project area, and recognizing the desirability of individual advertising of major products, we recommend approval of the increased sign area." The Planning Board recommended the design of the sign be revised so that all logos will be within the proposed frame for a better appearance, to which Mr. Zikakis agreed. Mrs. Benson MOVED, and Mr. Hildreth seconded, "the Board approves the increase in the sign area with the condition that no signs be allowed on the building." The motion CARRIED unanimously. b. ,Appeal 9=1-75. This was an appeal for a variance to the Sign Ordinance which would allow Auto Electric Service to erect signs in excess of the size permitted -2- in the Sign Ordinance (64 sq. ft. on the building plus 12 sq. ft. on a pole sign, as opposed to 5- sq., ft. permitted). The Planning staff commented as follows: 1. The sign(s) are already erected. 2. No plot plan or location sketch was provided; other information was sketchy. 3. The hanging sign on the pole may encroach on the public right-of-way. 4. No indicationwas given if the sign is lighted. 5. The building was last used by Montgomery Ward's auto service; it is commercial in nature. 6. The building has frontage on S. Cayuga Street,.and S. Titus Avenue; signs would be allowed on both sides. 7. The lower level of the building contains Lee's garage. 8. The upper level of the building formerly housed Montgomery Ward's Automotive Department, so non-conforming use is permitted by continued use. 9. The building already has many signs on it. It's cluttered appearance is detrimental to the residential neighborhood in .which it is located. 10. Auto Electric Service was formerly located on Green Street. 11. The building is approximately 70'x30' , so 64 sq. ft. sign would be permitted in a commercial zone, but it is too much here. The staff recommended denial on the basis of size and lack of permit. Mrs. Benson MOVED,. Mr. Saggese seconded, a motion "that the Appeal be referred to the Codes & Ordinances Committee for review after more information is obtained." CARRIED unanimously. Therefore, the Board made no recommendation at this time. OLD BUSINESS: b. Elmira Road Improvement Project - status report. With the permission of the Board the Elmira Road was moved to the front of the agenda. The Board and others present moved to the department's temporary offices in the City Hall Annex for the Elmira Road presentation. Director Van Cort made introductory comments as follows: He explained that the Board had in several previous years requested capital improve- ment money for the Elmira Road area and that it had also done several studies of the road over the preceding years. As a result of these efforts and pressure from the area businessmen, $30,000 was put in the city's 1975 budget for improvement of the road and the Planning Department had been subsequently authorized to use approximately $10,.000 of that money to make recommendations on the kinds of improvements to be made on the road which would then be referred to the Board of Public Works for implementa- tion. The study is to make- recommendations on land use, economic development, circulation, urban design, and landscaping. To do this a interdisciplinary team of 2 planners, an urban designer, a landscape architect and a transportation planner/ engineer was put together. Director Van Cort concluded his remarks. by introducing Emanuel Carter, the project chief. Mr. Carter described the progress of the study to date. The team was working closely with land owners, merchants and the Department of Public Works. He said that they had begun by gathering data through interviews with businesses on the Elmira Road, an extensive questionnaire, machine and hand traffic counts, still photography, 8 mm movies of problem traffic areas, aerial photographs of the entire Elmira Road corridor and interviews with the police traffic safety officer. Analysis showed that much of Elmira Road's problem is due to the fact that it serves three distinct functions, i.e. , it is a major arterial for traffic not destined for the Ithaca area, it serves commuter traffic going to and from the City, and it serves as a local access street for businesses located on the strip. It hasn't nearly the capacity on a two-lane road to accomplish these three functions with the volume of traffic that is presently using the road. Also, each of the functions has different requirements for road design. As a result, Elmira Road is the highest traffic area in the City and Mr. Carter pointed out that there are probably hundreds of near misses for every accident; the most frequent are near-end collisions. Many of these are caused by people looking for a particular business establishment and stopping or decelerating suddenly when they get to it. They are then hit from the rear by other drivers who are also not looking. Given the con- ditions on the road it is remarkable that there are not many more. The through and commuter traffic peaks strongly in the morning and afternoon. The heaviest peak is in the afternoon, at which time the commuter traffic peak coincides with a peak for many of the businesses which generate the heaviest traffic such as McDonald's, Ponderosa, Lum'sj Carvel, etc. This situation is aggravated by the jumble of signs, which instead of informing the driver, tend to confuse him by their very number. Studies have shown that a human being can visually perceive not more than 20 bits of information per second and that a good driver can perceive 10 while the average only 3. It is obvious, therefore, that the redundancy of signs only confuses drivers. The situation could be improved by controlling the number and type of signs, controlling curb cut's and by the removal of utility poles from the roadway. Economic analysis of the City performed by the department this summer has shown that if the City's sources of revenue do not improve in the next decade, the City's economic health will decrease considerably. It has also been shown that the City's sales tax is an extremely important revenue tax for the City and that the Elmira Road produces over half of the sales tax presently collected. It is therefore essential that any solution for the traffic on Elmira Road be sensitive to the needs of the businesses located along it. Many of the businesses on the road are directly dependent on the traffic. Mr. Carter then explained four different solutions which had been examined by the study team. A good deal of time was spent on the recommended solution which involves construction of a new road to the northwest of the existing Elmira Road which would serve establishments on the strip and would aid in trucks making U-turns, Also included in the-;scheme are suggestions for shared parking for the businesses on the strip. Van Cort noted that while it might seem logical to use Spencer Road as an access route to the south, this is not recommended because Spencer Road is now zoned residential and is in fact a viable residential neighborhood. While some inroads are being made into this residential area, the department's recommendation -3- -4- at this time is that it be protected to the extent possible. Mr. Carter explained that the recommended scheme had been presented to the merchants and businessmen and that a summary of the presentation was being mailed to each of the landowners and businessmen for their examination and comment. Mr. Carter also noted that the scheme had been presented to the Department of Public Works and that•-:the DPW's reaction had been generally favorable. The DPW's 3-lane improvement could be considered to be a first-phase, later to be upgraded to 5 lanes with a raised, channelized median. Mr. Carter concluded his presentation by explaining that contact had been made with Newyork State Department of Transportation regarding the possibility of substituting .an Elmira Road improvement on the existing alignment. for the previously proposed new Route 13 on a new alignment. The study team felt that a new 13 would be harmful in several ways: First, it would take away much of the traffic necessary for the economic health of the businesses on the strip, and secondly it would unnecessarily use land which could be put to better use. It was noted that the original estimate made in the early 60's for this improvement was in the neighborhood of $4 million and that it was already up to $18 million and that it would surely go much higher since it was not proposed to be built before 1985. For these and other reasons the DoT seemed to be open to discussing the use of State funds for improvement of the existing Elmira Road. Discussion followed. At the conclusion of the discussion, Mrs. Benson MOVED and Mr. Moran seconded "that the Elmira Road study team be -commended for their efforts." CARRIED unanimously. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: None. COMMUNICATIONS: a. Landmarks Preservation. At its August 6 meeting Common Council voted to give legal notice of a public hearing on a proposed change in the City Landmarks Ordinance. The Planning Board was asked to make a recommendation on a proposed change to Chapter 32 of the City Code, Section 32.6. Van Cort explained that the change was intended to clarify the ordinance regarding non-commercial properties since there is recent New York State case law which affects the conditions under which non-commercial properties can be disposed of or demolished. Discussion followed: Mr. Doney questioned the meaning of the words "excessive cost" and "serious expenditures". He asked if these had some legal meaning and suggested that they might be construed to be rather vague. There was some question as to whether the Board could recommend changes in the proposed amendment without delaying Common Council action. At the conclusion of, the discussion Mr. ,Stein MOVED, Mrs. Benson seconded, that "the amendment be approved in principle, but that the question of changes in language be referred to the Codes & Ordinances Committee of the Board with the power to act." b. Lumberyards. At its August 6 meeting Common Council referred to the Planning Board for recommendation a proposed change to the zoning ordinance regarding the definition of lumber yards: "WHEREAS, The Ithaca Fire Department recommends that the storage of substantial quantities of lumber and other forest products in business districts is a serious fire hazard, and WHEREAS, There has been some confusion between building supply retailers and lumberyards and some ambiguity in where each of these enterprises may be permitted in the Zoning Ordinance, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That Article 30.3 shall be amended by adding the following definition: 30.3 (new material 'at end of section) 92. Lumber- yard shall mean any establishment maintaining on its premises for sale to the public more than 100,000 board feet of lumber or other forest products. AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the word "lumberyards" shall be inserted in Article 30.23 District Regulations Chart in the section I-1 so that I-1 will read as follows: 2. Any use not permitted in any other district, including industrial, ware- housing, wholesaling, storage of bulk goods, lumberyards, and agriculture except that no animals may be kept within 50 feet of any property line, AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Clerk is instructed to provide to all interested parties due legal notice and to advertise for a public hearing on the proposed zoning law change to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, 1975, in the Common Council Chambers. AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Ithaca City Planning Board is requested to make its recommendation on the proposed change in the zoning law at their August meeting. CARRIED" Director Van Cort explained that the proposed regulation would define as a lumber yard any establishment which maintained on its premises for sale to the public more than 100,000 board feet of lumber, and that it would not control smaller operations such as hardware stores, and that it would confine the large operations to I-1 zone. He further noted that there had been some feeling on the staff that the proposed regulation would not directly affect the operation of Empire Building Supplies which under the new regulation would be too small to be considered a lumber yard. The only two establishments affected would be Robinson & Carpenter and Eighty-nine Lumber. However, the proposed regulation does coincide with the definition in the fire code and will prevent smaller operations from expanding in other than I zones. Van Cort told the Board that after discussion with the fire chief the staff had decided to support the proposed change. Mr. Moran asked why 100,000 board feet was chosen as the limit. Mr. Van Cort said 100,000 bd. ft. was the number prescribed by the U.S. Fire Underwriters. Mr. Moran asked what the effect would be of those lumber yards not in the I-1 zone. Mr. Van Cort said that those establishments not in the I-1 zone, having over 100,000 board feet, would be non-conforming uses and as such would not be able to expand without a variance, but could continue to do business as they had in the past. Mr. Stein asked whether a business storing 90,000 board feet of lumber or other forest products would be hazardous in a B zone. Van Cort conceded that under the present regulations hardware stores and other establishments selling lumber were permitted as retail stores in the B-2 through 5 zones and that in his opinion a busi- ness such as that described by Mr. Stein would cause a problem in these zones, -5- -6- especially the B-2 or 3 zones. Van Cort stated that he felt that perhaps the zoning ordinance should be amended to make provision for a category of retail activity to be described as heavy retail which might include small lumber yards, etc. Mrs. Benson MOVED, Mr. Saggese seconded, that "the Planning Board recommend approval of the amendment as proposed by'Common Council." The motion CARRIED with 4 Ayes; Messrs. Moran and Stein voted Nay. COMMITTEE REPORT: a. Codes & Ordinances (See Communications:::) b. Executive & Liaison. 1) Tentati1ve Department Budget for 1976: Chairman Doney informed the Board that the Executive Committee had met with the Planning Director on the proposed budget for 1976, and that the document distributed to the Board members was based on departmental recommendations as revised by the Executive Committee." Included in the package was a breakdown of Community Development and non-Community Development expenditures. It was explained that the proposed budget .included staff expenditures for non-planning functions and the new functions required of the department by the recently passed Administrative Code. Chairman Doney noted that a sizeable percentage of the budget was reimbursed from the City's Community Development grant. Mr. Stein MOVED, Mrs. Benson seconded, "that the proposed budget be submitted to the Controller and Common Council." CARRIED unanimously. (See official Planning Board Budget file. ) 2) Reorganization of Planning Positions: Chairman Doney explained that pursuant to a -request of the Budget & Administration'Committee of Common Council the department had prepared a reorganization of professional positions for the Department of Planning & Development. The major changes are that a planning technician has been added below the junior planning level and that a top planning job below the director has also been added so that instead of junior planner, assistant planner and director, the department will have titles for a planning technician, planners 3, 2, and 1 and a director. The reorganization also makes recommendation on entry level salaries and ranges for these positions. The proposed salaries are compared to salaries for similar positions in the immediate area and region. Mr. Van Cort noted that while the reorganization makes recommendations for higher entry level salaries, these are nonetheless considerably below the median for the area and for the region. OLD BUSINESS: a. Recommendation on location of proposed civic sculpture. Mr. Van Cort . explained to the Board, that pursuant to regulations recently enacted by Common Council the Board was being asked by sculptor Marja Vallila to select a location for a work of sculpture that she is offering to donate to the city. The preferred location to the south of the entrance to--Stewart Park was shown on an enlarged photo on which the sculpture had been superimposed. Three other alternative locations were shown on slides.. Mr. Van Cort told the Board that the sculptor had chosen the preferred location because she wanted to be sure that the work would not dominate the site on which it was located and would be in keeping with the surroundings. After brief discussion Mr. Stein MOVED, Mrs. Benson seconded, "that the location next to the entrance and the alternative near the zoo be approved as acceptable locations. CARRIED unanimously. b. Elmira Road Improvement Project - status report - (See above. ) c. Veterans Memorial - recommendation on design and location - No report. NEW BUSINESS: a. Parkland exchange. Director Van Cort explained that the department had for some time been considering the possibility of exchanging Southwest Park for land located to the south along the edge of Cayuga Inlet. It is the opinion of the staff that the Southwest Park land could be better used for industrial or other commercial purposes while the land to the south is better suited for recreation, both because of large existing stands of trees and because part of it is in the flood plain. Since Southwest. Park was purchased with BOR money the process of exchanging it for other land will be somewhat involved. The Elmira Road Study and the Economic Development Study which were in process this summer confirm the feeling that the swap would be to the long-range benefit of the City. Van Cort asked the Board's approval on continuing the investigation of the parkland exchange. Mr. Moran MOVED, Mr. Hildreth seconded, "that the Director continue to investigate the possi- bility of a parkland exchange involving Southwest Park. CARRIED unanimously. b. Sewage Treatment Plant Expansion. Director Van Cort informed the Board that the firm of O'Brien & Gere was in the process of preparing a Comprehensive Sewage Plan for the Ithaca area. While their report was not yet published, they indicated publicly that their preferred site for a tertiary plant in the Ithaca urban area was on the Cayuga Inlet. along the edge of Cascadilla Creek to the west of the existing City of Ithaca sewage plant. Van Cort told the Board that several weeks ago he had written to O'Brien & Gere asking that they prepare cost estimates for using the preferred site as compared to the other vacant and available parcels in the area,. and that to facilitate the investigation he had made available to them aerial photo- graphs of the sites flown for the Department of Planning & Development earlier in the summer in conjunction with the Elmira Road Study. He said that to date he. had not received an answer from O'Brien & Gere but was led to believe they were recom- mending their preferred site without having done an extensive investigation of the others. Van Cort said that he could understand that locating the entire plant on one vacant parcel would be cheaper but it was worth comparing the costs of other sites because of the waterfront parcel's great value for housing and recreation. Without the cost comparisons it will be very difficult for the department to make an informed judgment as to whether the site should be retained for recreation and housing, or for sewage treatment. He reminded the Board that it and Council had gone on record as favoring recreation and housing for that site. MISCELLANEOUS: a. Southside Playground. Director Van Cort presented the completed Southside Playground plans to the Board explaining that they were virtually unchanged from the design drawings except for the needs of a small basketball area. In response to a -7- question he indicated that the basketball court had been included at the request of the Southside. Mr. Moran MOVED; '.Mr: :Hildreth seconded, "WHEREAS, the Planning Board has recommended construction of a playground next to the Southside Community Center; and WHEREAS, Council has allocated money for construction of the playground; and WHEREAS, the Planning Board has caused to be prepared designs for the playground, and WHEREAS, these designs are now completed; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Planning Board approves the design and construction drawings as prepared by Robert Boehlecke, Architect, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Planning Board recommends to Common Council that the park be constructed; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That it recommends that the Board of Public Works be, requested to bid and construct the park at the earliest possible date. CARRIED unanimously. b. Conway Park. Director Van Cort informed the Board that there was a problem with Conway Park in that barberry bushes had been planted and that they have thorns which cause infections and were considered to be unsuitable for use next to an active play area. He further explained that there was money left in the Conway Park Capital Improvement budget and that a planting plan had been prepared which could be accomplished within this budget. This plan would cost approximately $2350. Mr. Moran asked whether additional play equipment might not be needed instead and Director Van Cort explained that during the planning for this park the Housing Authority had agreed that it would provide play equipment for small children within the housing project and that Conway Park was to be used for older children's active play, not for sitting areas. Mrs. Rosalind Williams stated that 6 pieces of play equipment , had recently been installed. Mr. Moran MOVED, Mrs. Benson seconded, "that the recommendation for removal of existing bushes and planting of new bushes according to the plan prepared by White's Nurseries be referred to the Board of Public Works for implementation. CARRIED unanimously. Mr. Moran then asked whether the City had its own nursery. Director Van Cort said that to -the best of his knowledge the City purchased the trees and bushes which were installed in the City but he was not sure. Mr. Moran asked that an inquiry be made to the Board of Public Works as to whether they maintained their own nursery. c. Civic. Sculpture - proposed donation by Lawrence Green. Mr. Green's offer of donation of a large sculpture to the City 5 months ago provided the impetus for Council's recent action on donations of sculpture. Director Van Cort explained that Mr. Green had not yet received approval for a grant application for construction of.the sculpture and indicated that the N.Y.S. Council on the Arts, to which the application had been made, had inquired whether the City would be willing to pay for part of the site preparation cost. Mr. Van Cort reminded the Board that the legislation passed by Common Council made site preparation and maintenance the responsibility of the donor but had not legally excluded the possibility of the .City's participating in the cost of site preparation. Mrs. Benson suggested that the Director call the Council on the Arts and find out from them what their requirements were for approving the grant request. The Director agreed to do so. MEETING ADJOURNED at 10:30 P.M. Respec fully submitted, H Matthys V n Cort 9.18.75 irector., Planning & Development -9-