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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PLED-2018-06-13Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting City of Ithaca Planning & Economic Development Committee Wednesday, June 13, 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: Alderperson Nguyen, and Mayor Svante Myrick (6:25 p.m.) Staff Attending: JoAnn Cornish, Director, Planning and Development Department; Lisa Nicholas, Deputy Director, Planning and Development Department; Jennifer Kusznir, Senior Planner; Nels Bohn, Director, Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency; and Deborah Grunder, Executive Assistant Others Attending: Ari Lavine, City Attorney; Tom Parsons, Ithaca Fire Chief, Michael Thorne, Superintendent of Public Works; and Mike Niechwiadowicz, Director of Code Enforcement. Chair Seph Murtagh called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. 1) Call to Order/Agenda Review No changes were made to the agenda. 2) Special Order of Business There was no special order of business to report. 3) Public Comment Theresa Alt, 206 Eddy Street, spoke on affordable housing in the CIITAP program. 10 percent is not enough. Use inclusionary zoning and 20 percent everywhere. 50 percent if the City owns the land. Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting William Reed, representing David Lubin and the Harold Square project, is now part of the closing on the playground. He questioned the fee charged to the project of $5,000 to purchase the playground so that the building can be built and risks are managed. No Council members had comments to the public comments made. 4) Announcements, Updates, and Reports No announcements, updates, or reports were provided. 5) Action Items (Voting to Send onto Council) a) Commons Playground Chair Murtagh explained why this topic has come to this committee. It was discussed at the June Common Council meeting then referred to the Planning Committee to discuss further. Alderperson Nguyen explained. The developers have stated that the project will be complete and the playground open in March 2019. People wonder why the playground has to be closed. A construction site is dangerous. If people can walk near the construction site, why is that any different to children playing on the playground? The children stay longer and are smaller than those passing through the area. Mayor Myrick joined the meeting at 6:25 p.m. Mike Niechwiadowicz stated that if it were up to him to make the decision, he would not reopen it. There are times that it is more risky than others. The answer to why is it okay for people to walk by and not allowing the children to play on the playground is the fact that a child is more apt to be injured than an adult. Niechwiadowicz continued stating that a building that isn’t completely closed is a risk. Can a box be built around the playground? To do that there would be a number of codes that need to be met. Anything done would have to be engineered and would be costly and time consuming. Alderperson Brock stated that there are definitely areas that she is completely in agreement with staff recommendations to close the playground. We recognize we want to keep anyone safe. There’s no question that safety is the upmost goal. W e shut down roads, etc. when necessary. This shouldn’t be handled any different. She agrees that the impact on a small person is much greater than an adult. Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting Alderperson Fleming stated she’s very shocked or surprised that Ithaca isn’t as resilient as she thought. It’s really hard for her to believe that many people are not visiting the commons because their children cannot play on the playground. Alderperson Lewis agrees with Alderperson Fleming. She does think that there is an economic impact due to the closure. She has heard that the mobile playground is geared more to toddler children. She thinks that the developer should be paying a fee for the use of Commons space that is not available to the public. She suggests opening in the fall months. Mike Niechwiadowicz stated that the work being done right now is the risky part. Alderperson Lewis asked whether the timetable could be altered some. Alderperson Fleming asked whether a permit fee is being charged. Michael Thorne stated that will be happening. It was the consensus of the group that the developer pay the fee. Alderpersons Brock and Fleming both agree that they would never vote against senior staff as they are the experts. Alderperson Nguyen stated that after hearing that the playground will only be closed for one summer he feels better about the closure. Alderperson Lewis would prefer using spring 2019 rather than March 2019. This resolution provided in the packet was not moved. Authorization for the Re-Opening of the Commons Playground – Resolution WHEREAS, the Commons playground has been closed for a number of months due to the ongoing construction of the Harold Square development site; and WHEREAS, the Commons playground is a valued public asset, creating a social meeting place for parents of young children in the core of our community; and WHEREAS, the playground also creates tremendous economic value throughout downtown, drawing families downtown to dine and shop, including at child-themed businesses in close proximity to the playground; and WHEREAS, building regulations require that an overhead protection zone be established in the area that is most likely to be impacted in the unlikely event that an object is dropped during active construction from activities overhead; and WHEREAS, that overhead protection zone includes none of the main playground structure, and only a small portion of the west edge of the playground, approximately ending at the silver sphere; and Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting WHEREAS, Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines 5.3.9-10 in the Public Playground Safety Handbook recommend, but do not require, an access zone around playground equipment, which zone (as applied to the main playground structure) may overlap with the overhead protection zone by a small amount, and may therefore, in the discretion of staff, be kept open to the public, which decision would require the installation of a single piece of staging to provide overhead protection in this small area; and WHEREAS, the majority of the construction process of the Harold Square development should pose no risk of harm to children playing on the adjacent playground, outside the code-specified overhead-protection zone, examples of such portions of the process including working in the ground, working on the rear tower section and not on the front, or working within the interior of the building while the façade is mostly enclosed; now, therefore be it RESOLVED, That the Superintendent of Public Works, the Director of Planning, the Director of Engineering, and the Director of Code Enforcement, are hereby directed to take all necessary actions—including revocation or amendment of permits necessary to the same—to effectuate no later than June 15, 2018 the reopening of, at a minimum, that portion of the playground not encompassed by the required overhead protection zone, subject to the remainder of this Resolution and not inconsistent with legal or regulatory requirements; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the entire playground may be or remain closed by the developer or its contractors or agents, pursuant to appropriate permitting, only on such day(s) as one of or more of the following types of work is being actively performed on each such day: 1. Erection of the structural frame on the Commons façade. 2. Substantial exterior work to close in the Commons façade. 3. Substantial exterior work to install finishes on the Commons façade; and, be it further RESOLVED, That for purposes of this resolution, substantial exterior work shall be defined as work performed from the exterior of the building involving personnel or material lifts with a minimum duration of four hours during any one work day; and, be it further RESOLVED, That such days of closure shall not include any weekends or holidays unless the scheduling of said work on a weekend or holiday is, in addition to satisfying the above criteria, approved by the Director of Code Enforcement as reasonably necessary to progressing the development of the Harold Square project site. Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting b) CIITAP Boundary Expansion and Affordable Housing Requirement Chair Murtagh read into the record the memo provided by Teresa Halpert Deschanes which is attached to these minutes. Alderperson Fleming asked for an answer to this memo. Nels Bohn provided the answer. Alderperson Nguyen stated that he is incredibly weary of provided incentives for affordable housing. Mayor Myrick provided information on a similar program in CIITAP in Portland, Oregon. Alderperson Fleming stated that she feels that this 10% should be paid by all across the board not just the developers. Mayor Svante Myrick left the meeting at 7:50 p.m. Draft Resolution—Expansion of the CIITAP Boundaries and Mandatory Inclusion of Affordable Housing Moved by Alderperson Smith; seconded by Alderperson Lewis. Carried 4-1 (Brock) Alderperson Brock expressed the view that tax abatements should be merit based, limited to projects and aspects of projects that the City seeks to incentivize rather than applying to the entire project as a whole, and not based on locations on a map. She requested that the tax abatement for affordable housing be limited to the housing component of the development. She moved the inclusion of the following into the 2nd resolved:  The affordable units shall be mixed with, and not segregated in any way from, market- rate units.  No phasing plan shall provide that the affordable units are the last built in the development.  The exterior and interior appearance of affordable units shall be made similar to market-rate units by the provision of building materials and finishes substantially the same in type and quality.  The floor area of a typical affordable units must be no less than 80% of the floor area of a typical market-rate unit of the same type." This motion was seconded, and approved, but I don't recall who seconded. moved to add the required language she sent via email earlier today. Her edits will be included in the resolution that will be discussed at the July 5, 2018 meeting. Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting 1. WHEREAS, On July 5, 2000, the Common Council unanimously requested that the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency (“IDA”) undertake a program to provide financial incentives for development of multi-story buildings within a density target area encompassing the downtown Central Business District, the West State Street corridor, the West End, and Inlet Island, the program was in effect for 5 years and delivered incentives to 6 projects, and 2. WHEREAS, in 2006, the City endorsed the continuation of an IDA program of local tax abatements as a tool for encouraging appropriate real estate and business investment in the urban core of the city; and further requested the IDA establish the Community Investment Incentive Program (CIIP) ― through which, projects would be reviewed by the community and evaluated by Common Council, and (if endorsed by Common Council) proposed for recommendation by the Mayor to the IDA as eligible for tax abatements, and 3. WHEREAS, the CIIP program was in effect from 2006-2012 and delivered incentives to one project, and 4. WHEREAS, in 2012, the City voted to simplify the CIIP program, remove the checklist of requirements and created the Community Investment Incentive Tax Abatement Program (CIITAP) which provides financial incentives based on a size, a location, and a density requirement, and 5. WHEREAS, the CIITAP delivered incentives to 5 projects between 2012-2015, and 6. WHEREAS, in 2015 the City amended the CIITAP program to add living wage, local labor, and diversity requirements, and the amended CIITAP delivered incentives to two additional projects between 2016-2017, and 7. WHEREAS, in November of 2015, the Planning and Economic Development Committee of the Common Council directed Planning Staff to begin working on a waterfront development plan as a part of phase two of the Comprehensive Plan, and Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting 8. WHEREAS, in order to develop recommendations for the plan and for the zoning, the City established a waterfront working group made up of 17 members of the public and City Planning Staff, and 9. WHEREAS, the Waterfront Working Group drafted new zoning for the waterfront area that encouraged mixed commercial and residential development, and 10. WHEREAS, the Waterfront Working Group also recommended that the City consider expanding the boundaries of the CIITAP to include the waterfront area as an incentive to encourage new development in this area, and further recommended that the City consider adding an affordable housing requirement for any new residential projects, and 11. WHEREAS, staff has reviewed the recommendation to expand the boundaries of the CIITAP and prepared map of a proposed expanded City of Ithaca Density District to include appropriate locations in the waterfront area, and 12. WHEREAS, in order loss in potential revenues affordable housing, providing that the CIITAP provide additional tax incentives for projects that include affordable housing, therefore, be it now 1. RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca Common Council understands that the City’s Community Incentive Investment Tax Abatement Program continues to be a vital tool to encourage density in targeted development areas of the City, and be it further 2. RESOLVED, that the City hereby expands the Community Investment Incentive Tax Abatement Program to have a requirement that in order to receive City endorsement any project including 10 or more rental residential dwelling units must meet the following requirements:  Must have a minimum of 10% of their housing units be affordable to households earning up to 75% of the Area Median Income (AMI)  The percentage of affordable units of various sizes should be the same percentage of units of each size for the entire project  Developer must agree that affordable units Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting will only be rented to households earning no more than 80% of AMI for at least a 30-year period, and be it further 3. RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca does hereby request the continuation of the IDA’s density incentive program and requests that the boundaries of the Density District be expanded to include the waterfront areas, as shown on the map entitled Expanded City of Ithaca Density District –April 2018, and be it further 4. RESOLVED, that the City requests that in order to partially offset the loss in revenue to a developer for providing affordable housing, the IDA provide additional abatements to residential projects containing affordable units, in the amount of an additional 15% abatement for a 30 year period, unless it would reduce the existing tax base, and be it further 5. RESOLVED, that the CIITAP Review Committee, which consists of the Mayor, the Director of Planning andDevelopment, and the Director of Community Development for the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency, be given authority to consider endorsing projects for the CIITAP program that may have a higher percentage of units (40% or more)that are affordable to 90% of AMI. c) Grant Authorization for City Harbor Promenade Project Request for Authorization to Apply for New York State Consolidated Funding Application Grants for the City Harbor Promenade Project Resolution In attendance for the City Harbor Promenade Project this project were Jason Crane, Lincoln Morse, and Stacey Murphy. Per Stacey’s request, in the second to the last resolved the resolution the amount was changed from $693,059 to $900,000. Alderperson Fleming stated her concern of all the pavement. Lincoln stated that many of the parking will be used for Guthrie, but they will also allow use of the parking for the Farmers’ Market and other areas nearby when Guthrie is not open. Moved Alderperson Brock; seconded by Alderperson Smith. Carried Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting unanimously. WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca Planning & Economic Development Division in partnership with City Harbor LLC would like to apply for two grants through the 2018 New York State Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) – the Department of State Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LW RP), and the New York State Canal Corporation (Canal Corp) Grant Program – for the City Harbor Promenade Project on behalf of the City of Ithaca; and WHEREAS, City Harbor LLC has been developing plans to redevelop the former Johnson Boatyard site at 101 Pier Road into a waterfront neighborhood to include apartments, restaurant space, a medical office building for Guthrie Clinic, enhanced boating and marina functions, and a public promenade along Cascadilla Creek, and WHEREAS, the Ithaca waterfront is widely recognized as a valuable public asset, but currently there is insufficient public access to Cayuga Lake and the Inlet, and WHEREAS, this project will increase public access to the waterfront by creating a public promenade along Cascadilla Creek which will connect to the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, along with nine boating slips dedicated for public use and a public paddle craft launch, and Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting WHEREAS, City Harbor LLC is pledging an easement to the City of Ithaca which will guarantee public access to the waterfront along the promenade, and WHEREAS, City Harbor LLC is pledging 100% of the required local matching funds towards the public amenities to be supported through these grants, requiring no investment of City funds to create these new public facilities, and WHEREAS, the grant funds would enable the City to partner with City Harbor LLC to increase access to the waterfront for all members of the public, which is a goal of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Plan Ithaca, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the Director of the Planning, Building, Zoning and Economic Development Department is hereby authorized to file an application for funds in an amount not to exceed $693,059 $900,000 through the LWRP Program and $150,000 through the Canal Corp for the City Harbor Promenade Project from the New York State CFA, and upon approval of said request the Mayor, upon the advice of the City Attorney, is hereby authorized to enter into and execute a project agreement with the State for such financial assistance to the City of Ithaca for the City Harbor Promenade Project; and be it further RESOLVED, That the City of Ithaca is authorized and directed to agree to the terms and conditions of Master Contracts with the appropriate State agencies for such City Harbor Promenade Project. d) Grant Authorization for 2018 NY Main Street Program Grant Gary Ferguson stated this is their 5th program grant application. Support for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance’s application for a 2018 New York Main Street Program Grant Moved by Alderperson Lewis; seconded by Alderperson Brock. Carried Unanimously. Chair Murtagh asked that the State Street address include Martin Luther King Jr. Street. WHEREAS, the Downtown Ithaca Alliance (DIA) has requested the City’s formal support for its proposed 2018 application to the New York Main Street (NYMS) Program, and WHEREAS, the DIA has a strong record of success in applying for, securing, and administering four other NYMS grants in past years in partnership with the City, and WHEREAS, the DIA will be proposing a multi-building application that include both housing and commercial units; will be designating a target area that Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting includes the traditional downtown (the BID) plus the West State Street corridor; and has identified four projects in the proposed grant target area — a 12-unit housing project by Visum Development in the West State Street corridor, a commercial and housing project at 108 West State, and two commercial projects at the historic Clinton House and Boardman House, and WHEREAS, this collection of projects would be eligible for a grant totaling $322,500, and WHEREAS, these projects collectively represent a valuable opportunity to contribute to downtown revitalization in the City of Ithaca, and WHEREAS, if successful in receiving the grant, all matching requirements will be met by the private sector projects included in the application, administration of the grant will be the responsibility of the DIA, and therefore there is no further City obligation pertaining to this grant, and WHEREAS, The NYMS application process requires that the elected body of the local municipality adopt a resolution of support for the application prior to its submission on or before July 27, 2018, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the City of Ithaca Common Council hereby wholeheartedly supports the Downtown Ithaca Alliance’s 2018 grant application to the New York Main Street Program. 6) Discussion Chain Works District Planned Unit Development (PUD) – Area Requirements Review At its June 13th meeting, the Planning Committee will be reviewing the proposed area requirements for the Chainworks District PUD. Please find attached a revised Draft PUD in its entirety with tracked changes to reflect current edits. Area requirements are in Section G, H & I on pages 23-27. Please also refer to the revised Section D: Sub Area and Character Intent on pages 8 & 9. This section includes a new subarea, CW3C, serving as a buffer between the project and the adjacent established neighborhood. The project team is also preparing a digital 3- D model for the meeting to illustrate how the proposed buildings in the CW3C relate to the adjacent neighborhood. A diagram of the environmental review process showing our current status is also provided with the agenda materials. The development team provided another diagram to review with the group. The group went through the documents and asked questions and made comments. They will be back to this committee at a later date to review other items as the project progresses. Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting 7) Review and Approval of Minutes a) May 2018 Moved by Alderperson Brock; seconded by Alderperson Smith. Carried unanimously 8) Adjournment Moved by Alderperson Lewis; seconded by Alderperson Brock. Carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:52 p.m. Approved at the July 11, 2018 PEDC Meeting Teresa Halpert Deschanes 209 S. Geneva St. Ithaca, NY 14850 I wanted to comment briefly on the proposal to add a requirement for affordable housing to CIITAP in exchange for further tax abatements. I think it's great that you are looking for ways to increase the supply of affordable housing. However, I suspect this effort would be vastly more successful (and perhaps ONLY successful) if done through inclusionary zoning. To take an example, suppose you flat-out require 10% of all the units of each size to be affordable to 75% AMI. I imagine that 10% of the one-bedroom units might then be built with minimal bedroom sizes, intra-level appliances, might be facing the dumpsters, and so on. I would applaud this, since you are mandating that the developer build a certain number of safe, comfortable, but relatively modest units for people of more modest income. If the building has HVAC, then these units will have it too, and the building code will dictate that they are livable and up to code, even if more modest. They will be in the same desirable, walkable location that the well-heeled renters are seeking. I imagine that there are already different price points for one-bedroom units depending on whether they are top-floor corner units with balconies and wrap-around windows versus interior units near the street. That's as it should be. Whatever the umarket rate" is for the premium units, it will be lower for the less fancy ones. Now imagine instead that you give a tax abatement for the developer to ugive up" his potential market-rate rent of $1602 a month and instead charge only $1263 for a one- bedroom unit. I imagine that these units will also have minimal bedroom sizes, cheaper appliances, smaller windows with noisy unpleasant views, etc. But now the developer is getting a subsidy for a unit that would not have rented for $1600 anyway. Why do I think they won't all rent for $1600? There really is a limit to the number of these uClass A" units that our market can absorb. If you do the math on the Estimated Market Rate New Construction in your example, you need a $64,000-a-year income to afford a one-bedroom, and a $90,000-a-year income to afford a two bedroom. Look at the Household Income Distribution data in the American Community Survey and compare Ithaca, Tompkins County, and New York State. We don't have the bell curve around median income that New York State has. We have a sort of bimodal distribution. Tompkins County is slightly more regular, but you would have to assume that all the high-income people who live outside the City are waiting to move downtown, and we know that is not the case. What we really need is to figure out how to get rents that match the income distribution we actually have. I don't think this proposal would touch that. I can't guarantee that inclusionary zoning will succeed, but the numbers we have suggest that it has a better chance than inclusion tied to tax abatements.