HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PLED-2018-01-10
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
City of Ithaca
Planning & Economic Development Committee
Wednesday, January 10, 2018 – 6:00 p.m.
Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 108 East Green Street
Minutes
Committee Members Attending: Joseph (Seph) Murtagh, Chair; Cynthia Brock,
Donna Fleming, Stephen Smith, and Laura
Lewis
Committee Members Absent: None
Other Elected Officials Attending:
Staff Attending: JoAnn Cornish, Director, Planning and
Development Department; Megan Wilson,
Senior Planner; Nick Goldsmith, Sustainability
Coordinator; and Deborah Grunder, Executive
Assistant
Others Attending: Alderperson McGonigal
Chair Seph Murtagh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
a) Call to Order/Agenda Review
JoAnn Cornish stated she would have an announcement later in the meeting that
is not listed on the agenda.
b) Special Order of Business
a) Public Hearing – Parks and Recreation Master Plan
Alderperson Smith moved to open the public hearing; seconded by Alderperson
Brock. Carried unanimously.
Betsy Darlington, 204 Fairmount Avenue. The City needs more parks not fewer.
They provide a multitude of benefits. Much research has shown that adding
street trees and parks helps control crime.
Elizabeth Martyn, 306 Ithaca Road, spoke on the proposed elimination of some
of the current City parks. The City should take a closer look.
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
Michael Ryzewic, 306 Ithaca Road, the small pocket parks throughout the
neighborhoods are still assets to the City. We really do care about these parks
and really cherish them. If more work is needed to maintain them, our
neighborhood could help.
Alderperson Brock moved to close the public hearing; seconded by Alderperson
Smith. Carried unanimously.
b) Public Hearing – Planned Unit Development Overlay District
Alderperson Brock moved to open the public hearing; seconded by Alderperson
Smith. Carried unanimously.
Theresa Alt, 206 Eddy Street, she realizes that this plan is in the planning stages,
there is talk of 915 units of housing. Will the City make sure they are workforce
housing? Affordable to people who earn maybe $30,000 or less like many, many
of our residents do.
Tessa Rudan, 62 Woodcrest Avenue. She doesn’t want to see the PUD in
Collegetown. It took a particular long time to get the Collegetown zoning plan in
place. She would hope that this PUD would not take the place of the current
Collegetown plan. She suggested that a new committee be formed to look at this
issue. She would like to see the Collegetown area remain as is.
Sheryl Swick, 321 N. Albany Street, most PUD are established to concentrate the
use of land for a specific reason. It’s important to make parts of these areas
protected.
Alderperson Brock moved to close the public hearing; seconded by Alderperson
Smith. Carried unanimously.
c) Presentation – Green Building Policy
Nick Goldsmith, Sustainability Coordinator, explained policy to the group. The
rationale for this policy is Ithaca has strong history of sustainability efforts and
climate action is more important than ever. This project focuses on new
development and is a grant-funded project for both the City and the Town. This
will lead to a sustainability plan.
The project started in 2016 with Stream Collaborative serving as the project
consultant. The Green Building Advisory Committee was formed in May 2017. A
building stock and development forecast survey was established in November
2017.
The criteria for this project is affordability, impactful, flexible, and achievable. It is
meant to not increase costs to a developer. A certain number of credits must be
reached to be eligible to be considered a ‘green building.’ Five (5) points are
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
needed which can be given based on location, home size, heat pumps, the
number of windows, etc. The anticipated results will be 40 -50% lower carbon
emissions and 70% better than existing building stock.
The draft of the policy guide will be done in February 2018. More information is
available at their website ithacagreenbuilding.com.
c) Public Comment and Response from Committee Members
Theresa Alt, 206 Eddy Street, spoke regarding 323 Taugh. Blvd. after attending the
IDA meeting on CIITAP. There is a problem with CIITAP – there needs to be
housing. Common Council doesn’t get a vote for these applications.
Chair Murtagh thanked all who came to express their feelings a nd desires to keep
the neighborhood parks in tack. It is very important to the people of these
neighborhoods.
Alderperson Brock thanked all who came to speak.
d) Announcements, Updates, and Reports
JoAnn Cornish stated that the 2017 accomplishments and 2 018 goals have been
created and sent out to Council for comment. It will be brought back in February
for further discussion.
She then asked what should be the sequence of the neighborhood plans.
Waterfront has been done, and we are currently working on the Southside
neighborhood.
Alderperson Brock announced that the NYS DEC received funding to collect water
and soil samples at Nates Floral Estates.
e) Action Items (Voting to send onto Council)
a) Planned Unit Development Overlay District
An Ordinance to Amend the City of Ithaca Municipal Code, Chapter 325, Entitled
“Zoning,” Article IV, Section 325-12, in Order to Expand the Area Permitted for
Planned Unit Developments By Creating a Planned Unit Development Overlay
District (PUDOD) – Declaration of Lead Agency
Moved by Alderperson Brock; seconded by Alderperson Smith. Carried
unanimously.
WHEREAS, State Law and Section 176 -6 of the City Code require that a lead agency
be established for conducting environmental review of projects in accordance with
local and state environmental law, and
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
WHEREAS, State Law specifies that, for actions governed by local environmental
review, the lead agency shall be that local agency which has primary responsibility for
approving and funding or carrying out the action, and
WHEREAS, the proposed zoning amendment is an “Unlisted” Action pursuant to the
City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) Ordinance, which requires environmental
review under CEQR; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Common Council of the City of Ithaca does hereby declare itself
lead agency for the environmental review of the proposed amendments to Chapter
325, Entitled “Zoning,” in order to expand the area permitted for planned unit
developments by creating a Planned Unit Development Overlay District (PUDOD).
An Ordinance to Amend the City of Ithaca Municipal Code, Chapter 325, Entitled
“Zoning,” Article IV, Section 325-12, in Order to Expand the Area Permitted for
Planned Unit Developments By Creating a Planned Unit Development Overlay
District (PUDOD) – Declaration of Environmental Significance
Moved by Alderperson Brock; seconded by Alderperson Lewis. Carried unanimously.
1. WHEREAS, The Common Council is considering a proposal to expand the area
permitted for planned unit developments by creating a Planned Unit
Development Overlay District (PUDOD), and
2. WHEREAS, the appropriate environmental review has been conducted, including
the preparation of a Full Environmental Assessment Form (FEAF), dated June 3,
2014
3. WHEREAS, the proposed action is an “unlisted” Action under the City
Environmental Quality Review Ordinance, and
4. WHEREAS, the Common Council of the City of Ithaca, acting as lead agency,
has reviewed the FEAF prepared by planning staff; now, therefore, be it
1. RESOLVED, That this Common Council, as lead agency in this matter, hereby
adopts as its own the findings and conclusions more fully set forth on the Full
Environmental Assessment Form, dated May 6, 2014, and be it further
2. RESOLVED, That this Common Council, as lead agency in th is matter, hereby
determines that the proposed action at issue will not have a significant effect on
the environment, and that further environmental review is unnecessary, and be it
further
3. RESOLVED, that this resolution constitutes notice of this negative declaration
and that the City Clerk is hereby directed to file a copy of the same, together with
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
any attachments, in the City Clerk’s Office, and forward the same to any other
parties as required by law.
An Ordinance to Amend the City of Ithaca Municipal Code, Chapter 325, Entitled
“Zoning,” Article IV, Section 325-12, in Order to Expand the Area Permitted for
Planned Unit Developments By Creating a Planned Unit Development Overlay
District (PUDOD)
ORDINANCE NO. 2014-____
Moved by Alderperson Brock; seconded by Alderperson Smith. Carried
unanimously with the change of the map.
WHEREAS, on July 2, 2014, the Common Council adopted legislation allowing for the
City to establish Planned Unit Development districts on any property in the City currently
zoned for industrial uses, and
WHEREAS, on August 2, 2017, the Common Council adopted new zoning for the
waterfront districts, which included a statement recognizing that the adopted zoning
may not allow for projects that could be beneficial to the commu nity and recommended
that the City consider adopting legislation to allow for PUDs throughout the City,
including in the waterfront districts, and
WHEREAS, A PUD is a tool that allows the Common Council to have flexibility to
approve projects that may not fit into the underlying zoning, but may have benefits for
the community that outweigh any impacts resulting from not complying with the pre -
established regulations for that district, and
WHEREAS, in order to allow for potential development that could bring significant
benefits to the community, staff has recommended the establishment of the Planned
Unit Development Overlay District, which would allow for PUDs in areas of the City
where additional development is anticipated, but would protect areas that have
established 1 and 2 family residential neighborhoods; now therefore
BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca that
Chapter 325, Article IV, Section 325-12. of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca be
amended as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 325, Section 325-5, Zoning Map of the Municipal Code of the City
of Ithaca is hereby amended to create a Planned Unit Development Overlay District
(PUDOD) to include properties located Within the boundaries displayed on the map
entitled “Proposed Boundary for the Planned Unit Development Overlay District
(PUDOD)-December 2017”,” a copy of which shall be on file in the City Clerk’s office.
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
Section 2. Chapter 325, Section 325-12.B, entitled “Purpose and Intent”, is hereby
amended in order to change the allowable location for a potential PUD, and should read
as follows:
§325-12.
B. Purpose and intent.
(1) This legislation is intended to institute procedures and
requirements for the establishment and mapping of PUDs, which
may be placed in any location approved by the Common Council,
as long as it is located within the Planned Unit Development
Overlay District (PUDOD), the boundaries of which can be seen
on the attached map, “Proposed Boundary for the Planned
Unit Development Overlay District (PUDOD) -December
2017”. The PUD is a tool intended to encourage mixed -use or
unique single use projects that require more creative and
imaginative design of land development than is possible under
standard zoning district regulations. A PUD allows for flexibility in
planning and design, while ensuring efficient investment in public
improvements, environmental sensitivity, and protection of
community character. A PUD should be used only when long -
term community benefits will be achieved through high quality
development, including, but not limited to, reduced traffic
demands, greater quality and quantity of public and/or private
open space, community recreational amenities, needed housing
types and/or mix, innovative designs, and protection and/or
preservation of natural resources.
(2) Section 325-12 is intended to relate to both residential and
nonresidential development, as well as mixed forms of
development. There may be uses, now or in the future, which are
not expressly permitted by the other terms of this chapter but
which uses would not contravene the long-range Comprehensive
Plan objectives if they adhere to certain predetermined
performance and design conditions. The PUD is intended to be
used to enable these developments to occur even though they
may not be specifically authorized by the City zoning district
regulations.
(3) The PUD is intended to be used in any area located within the
PUDOD. Should a proposed project offer community-wide
benefits, the Common Council may establish a PUD in order to
permit uses not explicitly allowed by the underlying zoning.
(4) Areas may be zoned as a PUD by the Common Council. The
enactment and establishment of such a zone shall be a
legislative act. No owner of land or other person having an
interest in land shall be entitled as a matter of right to the
enactment or establishment of any such zone.
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
Section 3. Chapter 325, Section 325-12.C, entitled “Establishment and Location”, is
hereby amended in order to remove the sentence that states that the PUD is intended
to be used in industrial zones, and should read as follows:
C.
Establishment and location.
(1) The intent of a PUD is to create self -contained, architecturally
consistent, and compatible buildings, many times with diverse
but related uses. The creation of a PUD must entail sufficient
review to assure the uses within the zone will have negligible or
no significant adverse effects upon properties surrounding the
zone. In reaching its decision on whether to rezone to a PUD, the
Common Council shall consider the general criteria set forth in
this chapter, the most current Comprehensive Plan for the City,
and this statement of purpose.
(2) No PUD shall be established pursuant to Subsection G (13) of this section
unless it is located within the boundaries of the PUDOD. .
Section 4. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion
of this ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent
jurisdiction, then that decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of
this ordinance.
Section 5. Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in
accordance with law upon publication of notices as provided in the Ithaca City Charter.
Alderperson McGonigal asked whether this would have to be looked at again after a
certain period of time. His concern is whether it’s the right tool.
It was suggested that some of the boundaries should be changed—Collegetown area
and the area near Beverly J. Martin (B.J.M.) School.
Alderperson Smith asked whether the PUD would hinder the historic districts.
It would not. Historic districts are pretty well protected.
Chair Murtagh stated he is comfortable to move it on to Council with the change near
BJM.
Alderperson Brock concurred.
Alderperson Fleming is very hesitant on this. She is concerned that with the
Collegetown guidelines just being put in place that this PUD is just too much.
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
6) Action Items (Voting to Circulate)
a) Planning Board – Special Permits
Re: Proposal to Authorize the Planning and Development Board to approve the
granting of Special Permits. (Currently the Board of Zoning Appeals has this
authority.)
Currently, the Board of Zoning Appeals has the power to review and grant requests for special
permits. The criteria used to evaluate whether or not to grant a special permit in the City Code,
Chapter 325-3, Definitions and Word Usage is; “SPECIAL PERMIT, The written authorization
by the Board of Appeals to permit, in a given district, a property use which, because of its
nature, location or effect on the surrounding neighborhood, warrants special evaluation of each
individual case.”
The Planning Board, when reviewing site plans, uses much the same criteria as is used by the
BZA to evaluate special permits. During site plan review, the PB looks at impacts a project will
have on the immediate neighbors, the neighborhood, and the greater community. In accordance
with the City Code Chapter 276, Site Plan Review, §276-7 Project review criteria. A. General
criteria: the Planning Board is charged with weighing the impacts of a project by;
(1) Avoidance or mitigation of any negative impacts. The following shall be emphasized in
particular:
(a) Erosion, sedimentation and siltation control in accordance with Chapter 282 of the City
Code.
(b) Protection of significant natural features and areas, including but not limited to trees, views,
watercourses or bodies of water and land forms, on or near the site. The protection of existing
mature vegetation, especially trees over eight inches DBH (diameter-breast-height) may be
required unless a justification for their removal can be made by the applicant.
(c) Protection of, and compatibility with, other nearby features and areas of importance to the
community, including but not limited to parks, landmarks, neighborhoods, commercial areas,
and historic districts.
After numerous discussions with Gino Leonardi, the Zoning Administrator for the City, it was
thought that the Planning Board was the more appropriate body to review applications for special
permits since the review criteria was so similar to the site plan and environmental review criteria.
We would like to move this idea forward by circulating it for comment. We will bring any
concerns, comments, or suggestions back to the Planning Committee in February for a decision
on whether or not to move this onto Council for a vote.
I have attached the entire section of the Code, so that you can review the section on special
permits as well as the proposed changes.
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
If you have any concerns or questions regarding any of this information, feel free to contact me
at 274-6566.
Alderperson Lewis asked whether there is a sense of how many special permits
we are talking about.
JoAnn Cornish answered that there aren’t many – maybe 10 at the most.
Alderperson Brock would like clarification that by making this change we aren’t
forgetting something that might slip people up.
Alderperson Smith moved to circulate; seconded by Alderperson Lewis. Carried
Unanimously.
7) Discussion
a) Parks and Recreation Master Plan
No action will be taken tonight. Megan Wilson provided an update to the group.
Some of them will address some of the comments made already. They are
currently working on the actual writing of the plan to address some grammatical
issues and hopefully that will make it easier to read. She appreciates all the
comments, edits, etc.
She was hoping to focus on the big picture and the content. Next month a revised
version will be brought back for further review.
Some of the suggested changes are:
Under-Utilized Parks – this section of the under-utilized parks will be looked at
again with the consultant. She totally agrees with the comment made tonight as to
the amount of time went into the plan and there is only two sentences on the topic
of the under-utilized parks. A justification as to how and why some were marked
as such. It is a very lengthy process. There will be opportunity for more input.
Adopt a Park Program – We would like to add volunteer involvement to help
maintain the parks. The ‘adopt-a-park’ program that currently exists in the City
since 2005 will be further investigated.
Ecologic values of the parks. What park and open space does for the
environment.
We are working on the level of service mapping. There are some corrections that
need to be done. They are in the process of updating this section.
We are also working with the GIS department to where we have parks and where
we don’t and how to get to them.
Approved at the
March 14, 2018 PEDC Meeting
This will be brought back to the February 2018 meeting for further review and
comment.
Alderperson Brock stated she was very happy with this plan and also the ability to
comment and incorporate changes.
8) Executive Session to Discuss Possible Acquisition of Real Property
Moved by Alderperson Smith to enter into executive session; seconded by
Alderperson Brock. Carried unanimously. The group entered into executive
session.
Moved by Alderperson Smith to move out of executive session; seconded by
Alderperson Brock. Carried unanimously.
9) Review and Approval of Minutes
a) December 2017
Moved by Alderperson Brock as amended; seconded by Alderperson Smith.
Carried unanimously.
10) Adjournment
Moved by Alderperson Fleming; seconded by Alderperson Brock. Carried
unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.