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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PDB-1982-01-26 A MINUTES DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING 1982 PRESENT: Chair P. Rogers, S. Cummings, R. Moran, M. Sampson, R. Holdsworth ALSO: Appellant, appellant's representative, other interested parties, Mayor Shaw, J. Pierce, H. M. Van Cort, press. 1 . P. Rogers called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. and welcome to the Board for the first meeting of 1982. R. Holdsworth and P. Rogers are new members of the Board this. year. 2. Election of Vice Chairman: M. Sampson nominated S. Cummings for ViceiChairman, seconded by R. Moran PASSED unanimously. 3. Chairman's Comments: P. Rogers commented S. Cummings has been on the Board for many years. He would like to discuss the various committees and would contact each Board member within next few days to plan alignment of committees and strategy for this year. Pleased to be on Board; one of the more influential in City government. Plans to be very active and will;.'endeavor to do a good job. Meeting passed to Director, H. M. Van Cort. !CL-[rector's Comments: No comments at this time. Will make introductory remarks before Zoning Appeals are heard to explain function in zoning appeals of this Board and BZA. 5. Approval of December 1981 Minutes: Correction should be made to item #3 (Chairperson's Report) . Mr. Sampson's name should be deleted and Mr. Schlather's name inserted in its place. Second sentence should read, "She noted that Mr. Schlather was contacting representatives of the County Bar Association to discuss areas of concern. " MOTION by R. Moran to accept December Minutes as corrected. Seconded by M. Sampson. PASSED unanimously. 6. -- Committee Reports: Committees did not meet due to restructuring instead memos have been prepared which will be taken up under Old Business. a. Discussion followed regarding Boardman House County requested rezoning Boardman House and several other nearby, County-owned properties. Staff recommends Common Council rezone Boardman House and Building C to a B-lb zone which does not require any parking. Boardman House now is less marketable because there is no parking with the building and because office use is not �- permitted in P-1 zone. If rezoned to B-1b those problems are resolved. Also recommendingthat remaining County properties in that area be left in the P zone, but that the P zone be changed to allow some government office uses. Separate change in ordinance would be required but no change in the map. Board is re- quired to make a recommendation to Common Council with respect to this change in zoning ordinance. e ' -2- S. Cummings asked how does this affect other P-_1 areas? Answer, it would affect all P-1 areas. Therefore, all would be zoned for government offices. -Holdsworth asked what is legal procedure and time table. Common Council - 7--January meeting called for public hearing to be held in February (required part of process) and also referred topic to one of it's committees. The com- mittee asked for more time and so public hearing now will be held in March. / Comments made regarding Ithaca Landmarks Commission; Commission may make recommendations, but it is not believed they have power to recommend change in rezoning. (Refer to memo of 1/21/82) Draft resolution distributed to Board. Discussion followed with respect to rezoning to a depth of 125 ft. and how far back that would extend, H P1 W_;Van Cort will follow up on defining that footage and appropriate depth. Further discussion was had on P-1 zone`for governmental use. S. Cummings moved, seconded by M. Sampson: RESOLUTION - Rezoning of County Property WHEREAS Tompkins County has decided to sell Boardman House, a locally and nationally-listed landmark structure, and WHEREAS the County feels that the restrictions on permitted use under the current P-1 zoning of Boardman represent a substantial barrier to sale which will severely limit private sector interest in purchase and sensitive rehabilitation for adaptive re-use, ultimately working against longstanding efforts to save the building from destruction, and WHEREAS the County has accordingly determined that a zoning classification of B-lb for Boardman would permit uses which would be compatible with the character of the building and its surroundings, making Boardman attractive to buyers interested in quality historic rehabilitation, and -T 4HEREAS the County has requested that Boardman and all other contiguous County property be rezoned to B-lb, giving it the status of conforming permitted use, and WHEREAS the City of Ithaca Board of Planning and Development, and the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission, have independently considered the request and have concluded that justifications exist for rezoning Board- man and the adjacent County Office Building C to B-lb, but that continu- ation of legal nonconforming status for the remaining County property will permit County government to function as necessary, .be it RESOLVED that this Board recommends rezoning that portion of the County property fronting on East Buffalo Street, to a depth of approximately 125 feet, on which are located Boardman House and County Office Building C, from P-1 to B-lb, and be it FURTHER RESOLVED that this Board recommends that consideration be given to amending the Zoning Ordinance to permit certain governmental uses in P-1 zones. CARRIED unanimously. b. Use of Vacated Schools - Special Permits Joey Pierce spoke regarding use of vacated schools which would require an amendment to the zoning ordinance.. Special permit process seemed most appropriate. (See memo of 1/20/82) City attorney reviewed topic and reported it is perhaps an inappropriate and illegal use of a special permit. Case law indicated that special permit is to control specific uses within a specific=`zone. 01. Other alternatives were reviewed by Planning Department and special permit seemed best alternative. However, City attorney believes if case went to liti- gation it may not be upheld Discussion followed regarding possible case law from other states since this is a nationwide problem. Legal services in Albany suggested setting up a special permit process for P-1 zones but it would apply . 3- j all P-1 properties. Must be uniform within entire zone,. We should try come up with a category of uses that would be appropriate to allow by special ,n`d try to ,assess what the impact on other P-1 properties would be. +- � r, _.-thanked J. Pierce for work accomplished and requested he continue irking on the matter. J.. Pierce said further memos would be forthcomi.ng. �ajority Sampson referring to memo of 1/20/82 stated that written response from of tenants would be almost impossible and suggested it be changed ,to written response from majority of property owners. Notification to tenants jbut no requirement that there. be response from them. Old Business: a. Boardman _lrezoning discussed under 6. - Committee Reports Ib. Special . Permits discussed under 6. - Committee Reports c. Zoning Studies: Survey Report regarding Zoning Appeals Process was dis- tributed. Student who compiled report will be here for February meeting. Please read over report before next meeting when discussion will be held. Northside Zoning: Analysis of occupancy changes in Northside is in progress. Report should be ready in February or March. d. Rt. 96: Mayor Shaw, Phil Cox, Andy Yale, Thys Van Cort, Frank Liguori , and PetLovey who are on the Rt. 96 design committee attended-a meeting in Syracuse DOT to discuss new route and how to expedite the matter. DOT is re- questing again that we list our concerns. They will send the Mayor a decision schedule. Project should move along in the next year and we will be talking -Ai��them frequently. 8. Zoning Appeals See attached. I9. New Business: a. Tioga Street Bridge: Report by Herman Sieverding regarding traffic and safety issues in Fall Creek was distributed. Alternatives were outlined. Design and construction on one of the alternatives needs to begin as soon as possible in order to prepare for next winter. Random sample of neighbor- hood was conducted and overwhelming response was for replacement of the vehicular bridge raising it to a higher level which would alleviate the flood problem to some extent. Study also revealed dangerous intersections at two or three locations which should be investigated. Discussion followed con- cerning aesthetics of bridge and S. Cummings would like to see amendment to the extent that efforts be made to duplicate the character of the original bridge so that it is in keeping with the environment of the neighborhood. MOTION: S. Cummings moved to recommend the constructiono f a new brid ge' to safeguard against future damage requesting specifically retention of the character of the existing bridge so that it is in keepingwiththe neighboring bridges and with the architecture in the neighborhood. S. Cummings suggested that the Design Review Board be consulted. Seconded by R. Moran. Unanimously approved. ---------------------------------—-- -- -4- b. Fall Creek Hydropower project: Memorandum by Joey Pierce was discussed re-a.-rding history and current developments in Hydropower project for Fall eek. It will be the first of many memos dealing witn concerns, technical Opects, costs, etc. should the City care to get involved. Some discussion followed regarding the environmental impact which will be a major concern, licensing procedures, City's wishes relating to their involvement, etc. City could use power for their own use or could sell power which would probably be more advantageous. Noise pollution was mentioned as well as operational cost per year which would amount to less than $20,000 per year. Questions regarding this project should be directed to Joey Pierce for researching and response. Adjournment: 10 p.m.