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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PDB-1976-30-23 s w BOARD OF PLANNING & nLvvELOPMENT MINUTES City of Lthaca Regular Meeting March 23, 1976 7:30 P.M. PRESENT: Chairperson .Benson, Ms.. Meyer, Messrs. . Fuller, Hildreth,. Saggese and Stein ALSO: Dir.' of Pl... &, Dev. H. M. Van .Cort; pep.• Bldg. Comm'r. E. Jones; Mayor Edward J. Conley, Alderperson E Holman, citizen James. Bilinski and members of the media.; ABSENT: Mr. Moran Chairperson Benson called the meeting to order, and asked for comments on the 'minutes of the special meeting of .March 12, and the last regular meeting of he 24. The minutes of the February 24 meeting were .approved as read. The minutes of the special meeting were held until later in the meeting for approval, and were then. approved with the following correction: - Mr. Saggese, who had erroneously been listed as absent from the meeting, was noted as having been present CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT Chairperson Benson appointed Ms. Meyer liaison for East Hill and the Tri-County Solid. Waste organization. Mr. Fuller was appointed as liaison to South Hill , Mr. Hildreth. to" Southside, Northside and t Elmira Road,, and Mr. . Saggese o the Fall Creek area. Ms. Benson then offered details of the most recent Southern Tier East Regional Planning Meeting, at which Ithaca's CD funds were given final approval She stated that. Southern Tier, communities ;were disturbed by a, potential drop in rail service. Conrail has been designated to pick. up...Southern Tier. service, but i.t is likely they will not pick up all service. . Piggyback service especially is in jeopardy. Ithaca will be affected by the .drying up of shipping opportunities for the entire Southern Tier. The Lehigh Valley service may be stopped, but coal servicewill. continue. This means that industry will be more difficultto attract to the area, and that more trucks. ..,,. will be passing through Ithaca As a member of the County Board of Representatives, Chairperson Benson thinks there is a possibility of working together on trans-, . , portation planning- , Mr. Liguori will make a presentation to the Board of Planning and Development . at :the next meeting with respect to the Communities Plan. In regard to health issues, the County is ,,, 2 - moving ahead with plans for coo'pe ation, and a Health Alliance has been formed to work on this. The Chairperson also spoke of the Small Towns -Conference to be held at Cornell April 9 and 10 and' reccmmended that .Board members attend. DIRECTOR'S REPORT In response to a question by Ms. M yer, the Director reported on a request for right of way across a arcel of land between Floral and Chestnut north of West Village. T ere is a piece of City land between Floral Avenue and the parcel in qu stionr the owner would like right of way .across the City's property, and wants to know if the City will put that parcel- up for sale. The question has been referred by the BPW to Council, and from Council t3 the Planning Board. Van Cort said that staff work was proceedinj on this referral. In answer to Ms. Meyer's request o last month, Director Van Cort said that he had investigated the property at 201 Prospect Street This property had been cleared by " HP for a parking lot which had been' found not to be in conformanc with the Zoni:iig Ordinance except for use by area residents. Consequently, RHP had invest - gated the possibility of buildingousing on the site. In response to a question by Alderperson Holman, Director Van Cort explained that the site in question was zoned R-3 because it acted as a buffer between the B-1 and R-2 zones which it separated. A discussion of the zoning of South Hill followed. ZONING (a). Appeal 1110 by James Bilinski lor an Area Variance to allow , conversion of 207 Stewart Avenue t< a '2 family dwelling. The lot ._ is under the required size for the R-3 zone and has no on-site parking. Mr. Stein stepped down from the Bo rd for the duration of the discus- sion of 1110, since he is personal yinvolved. The Board agreed that it would like to see the proposed outside stairs placed some where other than the north side of the house, as proposed,' but acknowledged that this might not be feasible because of the interior layout of the building. It was noted that attempts had been made to sell the property as a one-family unit, and evidence of such attempts was presented. Mr. Stein said that the appeal was for an area variance rather than use. He stated that the house. is too large for the Bilinski's and that onstruction of a second unit was necessary in order to make it fina cially possible for them to buy and live in the house. There are six houses across the street, none of which has a lot as large as the lot in question. There is no way off-street parking could be added to the property because of the steep slope of the land up fro the street. Mr. Stein noted that the only alternative was to co vert the building to student occupancy. Mr. Van Cort noted that. Mr. Bilinski 's proposal would 3 ----_ __Work- toward the preservation of the neighborhood. Ms. Meyer agreed that owner-occupancy is 'a boon to upkeep ofEast Mr. Saggese MOVED that the Board recommend approval of the variance. Mr. Hildreth seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED. Mr. Stein abstained. (b) Appeal 1111 by H. & E. Perry for a Use Variance' to allow construe- tion of an ,apartment at 120-140: Brindley Street in-'ah industrial zone, which does not permit residential uses. The appeal was made by the owner of a 24-hour wrecking service who would like to have the business' night man live on the premises. Ms. , Benson noted that she did not s:ee that this was a hardship case, and thought the night person could live close by FAthout being in the industrial district. Other Board members were sympathetic. but agreed that residential buildings currently in the I zone were not working well. They felt that further residences .were not a good -idea. The area in question is in the waterway area and borders on the,only industrially developable land in the City. Mr. Jones pointed out that one of the principals of the business was expecting to live on the premises, and that that might be made a condition for granting the variance. He noted that a small number of residences in the `area would cut down on vandalism. Mr. Stein stated that a 24-hour resi- dence is actually part of the business; It was noted that while it is important to preserve the area for industrial development, wrecker services are not welcome. in residential areas because of the late-night noise.their work :entails'. Mr. Stein MOVED that the Board recommend approval with the contingency that the apartment be permitted only as an integral part of the business and restricted to- use by an, employee -of the business. Ms'. Meyer seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED unanimously. (c) Appeal 1112 by Mary Leary for an interpretation- of -,the Zoning ,Ordinance principally with respect to the definition of 'home occupation' as it applies to the current use of R=3 property at 325 N. Albany Street. The. lot is non-conforming in some aspects, but that has nothing to do with the case at hand. It might be possible to have off-street parking. It would be tight, but it could be done. , Ms. Leary claims that the pet store is not accessory tohome use, but is primary. The pet store actually takes up slightly more than 3/4 of the first floor. The rest of the house, consisting of a basement, second floor and a quarter of the first floor, is residential. Ms. 'Leary argues that a pet . shop is not something that is customarily run as a home occupation. In Ithaca there is one pet shop in a business zone, another carried .on as a home occupation, which is in a residential. zone, previously zoned B-4. There was some discussion of whether the pet shop could be considered a cottage industry, as cages are made on the preaises. Mr. Van Cort recom- mended that the Ordinance be rewritten if no retail operations are desired in residential_ ne_ighborh"ds. The phrase "but not limited to" could be deleted. Mr.* Jones tated that the Planning Board was required to make a recommendation on this case. Mr. Stein noted that it is not up to the Planning Board to decide the legality of the case, and that it should disc ss the planning aspects. He said the place currently looks like a store with a sign outside and night lighting. The Mayor stated that �r. Enders had gotten permission for the sign and was within his 1 gal rights. Mr. Van Cort stated that the Board of Zoning Appeals will interpret the ordinance. The Mayor restated that the Planning oard was to decide what would 'be in the best interests of planningand that the legalities would be determined by the Board of Zoning IAppeals. Mr. Fuller remarked that the lights and sign are very intrusive in the neighborhood. Ms. Benson stated that the Planning and Development Board is concerned with making downtown a good place to live. Ms. Meyer suggested that the Board make recommendations to Mr. Enders on a courtesy basis regarding his sign and lights. Ms. Meyer MOVED that the BuildingCommission's interpretation be supported but that restrictions be placed on occupation so that it does not look like a commercial establishment. Mr. Saggese seconded. Discussion followed. Mr. Stein stated he was not sure of the definition of home occupation. Mr. Hildre.th said he feared large animals would be a nuisance. Ms. Holman noted that when she passed the house on a recent Sunda night, the neighbors' porch lights were as bright as Mr. Ender "° , Chairperson Benson called the question and the motion CARRIE There were three votes in favor, Stein and Fuller opposed. t was suggested that particular attention be paid to parts of the rdinance dealing with unseemly glare. h4r. Stein will represent the Board's decision at the next meeting of' the Board of Zoning App als. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS The, Chairperson proposed the following resolution, originally adopted by the Southern Tier East Regional Planning Development Board, for adoption by the Ithaca Board of Planning and Development. Further, the Board would send a letter. to C mmon Council, recommending that it adopt the resolution. RES OLLU ION WHEREAS, the proposed acquisition of the Erie-Lackawanna, and the Reading Railroad by the Chessis System is critical to the Northeast in general and New York ctate in particular, and WHEREAS, the proposed Chessie acquisition would preserve mainline free services to hundreds of industries as well as to _ J _ guarantee competition to key rail centers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New England, and WHEREAS , it would protect the future industrial potential and enhance the possibility of future economic development, and WHEREAS, the proposed unified Con Rail System is projected to =lose 334 million dollars in operating expenses during the first year of operation, and WHEREAS, the proposed Chessie acquisition will. -significantly reduce these losses, and WHEREAS, the above mentioned industries as' well as individual taxpayers will be forced to absorb the losses of a government subsidized monopoly as well as accepting inferior services. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Congress of the United States of America is urgently and respectfully requested to adopt appropriate legislation to assure the proposed Chessie acquisition will be finalized, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United 'States Secretary of Transportation, William T. Coleman, and the United States Secretary of Labor, W.J. Usery, Jr. , commit the influence of their good offices to assist Congress of the United States of America, the International Brotherhoods and the Chessie System in accomplishing the goals of the Rail Reorganization Act as v° 11 as finalizing the Chessie acquisition of the Erie-Lackawanna and Reading Railroads. RESOLVED THIS TWENTY-THIRD DAY OF MARCH 1976 BY THE BOARD OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, CITY OF ITHACA. LeGrace Benson, Chairperson Board of Planning and Development City of Ithaca Ms. Benson explained that if proposed legislation were enacted, the Con Rail system would be the only system servicing New York. The Southern Tier East Board is asking Secretaries Usery and Coleman to get the unions back into negotiation with the Chessie system. Loss of Chessie would be severely detrimental to Southern Tier industry,.. many railroad jobs would be lost. Ms. Benson noted that 300 railroad employees in. Hornell alone had been given notice of pend- ing termination. i Mr. Stein MOVED the resolution. Meyer seconded. Discussion followed. Mr. Fuller requested clarification of the union situation. The Mayor explained that the Erie- ackawanna is bankrupt, and there is a movement to get the Chessie s stem to take it over. There are thirteen different unions involved, all but three of which have agreed to bargain. The Erie-Lacka anna had seven terminals in this area. Chessie''s takeover will red ce the number to two. The unions are anxious to keep present jobs. Con Rail can relocate those whose jobs are endangered and subsidize ahem for their loss. The Erie- Lackawanna is a private business ad cannot do this. Takeover by Con Rail would probably eliminate ervice from Ithaca and greatly increase truck traffic through theIpproximately City. The proposed addition to .Millikan Station would require 155 trucks per day; another 50 would be necessary to rplace current rail service. With no rail service to Ithaca, it woult be even more difficult to attract industry. The motion was CARRIED unanimously, COMMUNICATIONS: None COMMITTEE .REPORTS: None tl OLD BUSINESS: None G NEW BUSINESS Mr. Stein MOVED that the Codes and rdinances committee recommend a revision that will clarify the part of the Zoning Ordinance pertaining to density and lot size equirements in R-3 zones. Ms. Meyer seconded. Motion CARRIED unanimously. It was agreed that the chairperson of the committ e should put the question of density on the committee 's agenda. The Mayor asked to be brought up to date on a former proposal to change one side of State St. to R-1 zoning. Charity Janerette has been working .on this. Ms. Meyer asked about' the progress f the Bikeways project. Pair. Van Cort replied that a report on Bikeways would be made at the next. Board meeting. 7 - Mr. Saggaco, c�7 catc�c3 that there shotald be someplace for Ithaca residents to launch their boats free of charge. The State now charges $2. 00 to launch boats and $2 . 00 to park. He noted that before the State took over the boat launching area there was no charge for launching. Mr. Van Cort noted that the Waterways Study is due for completion on June 30, but that the Planning and Development Office would be requesting a three-month extension. The meeting was adjourned at 9 -.40 P.M. Respectfully submitted, H. Platthys Van Cort Director, Planning & Development 4.22.76 1.. I fR 11 �I j 0