HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB 2024-01 CU Meinig Fieldhouse lead agency resolPB 2024-01-16 (Filed 01/19)
PB RESOLUTION 2024-01: SEQR Lead Agency Concurrence
Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse
City of Ithaca (TP No. 31.-1-1.2)
Town of Ithaca (TP No. 67.-1-13.2)
Town of Ithaca Planning Board, January 16, 2024
WHEREAS:
1. Cornell University is proposing the Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and
Recreation Center facility along Tower Road on the Cornell University Campus. The project
involves replacing the Robison Alumni Fields with a 90,000+/- square foot, 56-foot-tall
indoor fieldhouse building and new synthetic turf outdoor field hockey field, along with new
sidewalks and pedestrian connections, stormwater facilities, landscaping, lighting, and other
site improvements,
2. Approximately 80% of the Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and Recreation Center project
is located within the City of Ithaca. The overall project area totals 7+/- acres, with 5.8+/-
acres in the City of Ithaca (including the proposed outdoor synthetic turf field hockey field,
approximately 74,000+/- square feet of the proposed fieldhouse building, most of the
proposed paving, landscaping, lighting and stormwater management facilities) and 2.1+/-
acres in the Town of Ithaca (including approximately 16,000+/- square feet of the proposed
fieldhouse building, some paving, landscaping, lighting, and stormwater facilities),
3. Development of the project will require special permit and site plan approval from the Town
of Ithaca Planning Board, area variances from the Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals,
approvals from the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board, and potentially other
approvals from State and County agencies,
4. The Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and Recreation Center project is a
Type I action under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (6 NYCRR Part
617) and will be conducted as a coordinated review amongst the various agencies that have
discretionary decision authority to approve certain aspects of the project, and
5. In a letter dated December 21, 2023, the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board
indicated its intent to serve as the lead agency for the environmental review of the Cornell
University Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and Recreation Center project;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That the Town of Ithaca Planning Board hereby concurs with the designation of the City of Ithaca
Planning and Development Board as lead agency under the New York State Environmental Quality
Review Act (6 NYCRR Part 617) for the purpose of overseeing the environmental review of the
Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and Recreation Center project.
Moved: Bill Arms Seconded: Cindy Kauffman
Vote: ayes – Fred Wilcox, Ariel Casper, Liz Bageant, Kelda McGurk, Cindy Kauffman, and Bill
Arms
Nays: None