HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes 2025-01-16Town of Ithaca Planning Committee
Thursday, January 16, 2025
3:00 PM Aurora Conference Room and on Zoom)
Minutes
Committee members present: Rich DePaolo, Chair; Rod Howe &Margaret Johnson
Board/Staff members: Director of Planning C.J. Randall; Director of Codes Marty Moseley; Town
Town Senior Planner Mike Smith; Town Civil Engineer Justin McNeal.
Guests. none
1. Persons to be heard: None.
2. Committee announcements and concerns: None
3.Approval of November meeting minutes: Rich moved the minutes for discussion, Rod seconded. A
few minor changes were made to the draft November minutes. A red-lined version showing the changes
will be distributed for consideration again at the next meeting.
4. 2025 Meeting Schedule. The committee agreed to continue the 2025 Meeting schedule on the third
Thursday at 3:00 pm, with the exceptions of May and June. The May meeting will be 5-29-25 and the
June meeting will be 6-26-25.
5. Finalized NYS Freshwater Wetlands Regulations. The committee discussed the e-mail received
from the Attorney for the Town with a link to the NYS DEC webinar on the Freshwater Wetland
regulation changes which went into effect on 1/l/2025. Codes Director and Planning staff attended the
webinar and Senior Planner Mike Smith summarized the changes to the committee. He mentioned the
DEC previously used paper maps of the wetlands to determine the ones they would regulate, and those
paper maps have been eliminated.A GIS electronic mapping system for the State was created for
informational purposes and to use as a starting point. A jurisdictional determination process is in place
online to make formal determinations, and the DEC has 90 days to respond. This time frame could slow
down construction projects with delays in building permits. If the determination is a No,there is no
further DEC action and if it is a Yes, Field work and specific mapping per site will need to occur. There
are eleven criteria factors that can trigger wetlands, "urban areas" and"adjacent to" could lead to
different interpretations and any development can be affected, large construction and small additions,
swimming pools, etc. Specific municipal training is forthcoming from the NYS DEC. The electronic
mapping was released at the very end of 2024 and there has not been detailed comparison by Town staff
to the 2012 LiDAR elevation data, however Tompkins County Planning has offered to coordinate a
countywide training session with the local DEC for individual localized potential problems.
Rich asked who is responsible for bringing the potential wetland to the attention of the DEC? C.J.
replied that it is the individual property owner. Marty confirmed and noted certain board actions could
trigger the review on the Town side. Mike added the online form is a few simple questions for the initial
part and seemed user friendly and the State noted they hired five new people statewide to review the
submission. The Town would have to include the question in the permit/pre- application process and
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flags would be added into the Town's internal system for tracking as well. Marty noted the NYS DEC
would be doing the determination, field work and follow up and enforcement with the property owners.
C.J. concluded the Town's Freshwater Wetland regulations have not been updated since the last NYS
DEC updates so there is an opportunity now to consider amendments or additions along with reference
to the current DEC Regulations. Town staff will work closely with County Planning and the NYS DEC
to better learn and understand the regulations as they come into play throughout the year. The local
office is in Kirkwood and has been responsive with Town interaction when needed in the past.
6. Continued discussion of potential amendments to Short-term rental uses in Town Code Chapter
270-219.74 (Zoning). The committee continued to discuss potential modifications to the short-term
rental law. There are current bonuses in the number of days allowed in the existing regulations in some
zones where lot sizes are larger and less disruption from a rental is presumed. The committee asked for
mapping in the Conservation Zones showing parcels over a certain size where dwelling units currently
exist and minimum setback are met. Rich asked if the committee was interested in the possibility of
coupling in a potential owner occupation waiver within the other parameters such as the larger lot size
and setback requirement, for dwelling units with existing valid STR operating permits. There were no
objections to exploring adding that into a potential modification. Eliminating all owner occupancy
requirements and allowing new permits without the owner occupancy condition was not favored by the
committee for numerous reasons.
C.J. shared the GIS map created for this internal discussion and helped the committee see the layers and
parcels that were within the parameters previously requested. To view the setbacks, a layer for building
footprint was added and a measuring tool can be used to see if it meets the current minimum. A layer
was not created to show the parcels with existing STR operating permits, but that information can be
added. She noted all Town Board members have an account set up to access the Town's ArcGIS online
viewer with interactive map at any time. Rod asked C.J. to send that log in information out to Town
Board members again after the study session as a reminder on the available access. She offered to
provide static maps if the committee preferred as well.
Rich noted the initial expectation of a simple 3-layer map and Rod concurred that initially the GIS map
was a lot of information to look at. After C.J. removed the layers not in play and showed the onscreen
tools with assistance from Justin helping identify location and other town specific relevance, the
committee all agreed that the lot sizes chosen for potential impact did not seem to be largely significant
or overly concerning. The exact number of parcels was not able to be determined that evening (need
orange color designation only but add in which properties have valid STR permit). Proceeding with the
proposed potential changes as discussed appeared to still be warranted after the discussion and Rich
offered to begin to wordsmith the potential changes that the committee has discussed so far after sitting
back down with and confirming again with Marty and C.J. In summary, an increase to the number of
days allowed to short-term rent dwelling units in the Conservation Zone, lots over three (3) acres, where
Low Density Residential lot line setbacks are met, existing and valid STR operating permit properties
not/no longer required to be owner occupied as well as a version with no grandfathering. This would
ideally align with the existing bonus section and add in the owner occupancy waiver as well if the
committee chooses that route.
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7. Institutional Zoning. C.J. distributed a memo to the committee that included an excerpt from the
2014 Town Comprehensive Plan related to the goal and priority "to create new institutional zoning for
Cornell University, Ithaca College, and other area institutions." The relevant implementation status
section of the memo was from the recent 10-year Comprehensive Plan implementation lookback
presented to the Town Board in November.
C.J. gave a high-level overview of why this type of zoning is important and why not having it in the past
has been more complex. Marry added that Zoning variances are needed for every project related to
unique buildings, height, and similar common items for institutional buildings. The committee was in
favor of a more streamlined process for institutions without giving up all town regulatory rights and land
use goals. It was agreed that now is a good time to have a scope of work developed by Planning staff for
the creation and implementation of Institutional Zoning in the Town of Ithaca that would begin with an
assessment on how the projects go through the existing process and would include the existing
agreements with the institutions that are in place and the funding sources determining local authority
review or not as outlined in the Research and Assessment-Initial Phase in the memo,to be prepared for
Planning Committee review in April, It was noted the City of Ithaca has that zoning classification and it
may be worth reviewing their language as well as other nearby communities utilizing this zoning class
The priority level was discussed and time frame. C.J, suggested the Scope of Work be presented to the
Codes & Ordinances Committee per their 2025 work plan, after the subdivision regulations are wrapped
up. Specialized help may be sought in addition to staff and COC work and the language could come
back to the planning committee as well if they choose. Margaret added that the Cornell School of
Architecture, Art, and Planning may have students willing to help with the zoning project as well.
8. Staff updates and reports.
C.J. updated on the following: Conifer/West Hill TND Charrette 92 was held and attended by some town
staff and board members. These meetings are a requirement of the Town's New Neighborhood Code.
The turnout and public engagement was good and the consultant is preparing a debriefing report to
summarize the event. The project's design team plans to attend the Public Works Committee meeting in
February to discuss infrastructure before moving to the late concept review phase and back to the
Planning Committee after that. The project has good momentum, and the design team seems to
understand the environmental review and GEIS process. That section of NYS Rt. 79 was identified as a
priority during the Safe Streets For All regionally initiated highway safety improvement project. The
project team has reached out to the NYS DOT regional planning department early in the project
discussions.A dedicated project website is live for the proposed project and C.J. will forward that link to
anyone who would like to know more.
The town is required to update the Flood Damage Prevention Law as the Flood Insurance Rate Maps
FIRMs)have been updated and are anticipated to be effective June 18, 2025.A model local law for the
updates has been provided to Towns; Marty and C.J. will draft the changes to be presented in February
and March to the committee. County Planning has been involved and offered to coordinate a municipal
training for support in late February, the City of Ithaca is heavily impacted and some minor areas of the
Town. Staff will attend the training.
9. Next meeting date and upcoming agenda items: Thursday February 20, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
The Town of Ithaca Planning Committee meeting concluded at 4:23 p.m.
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