HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB 2024-020 CU Meinig Preliminary and Final Site Plan Approval and Special PermitPB 2024-020 Filed 10/25
PB RESOLUTION 2024-020: Preliminary & Final Site Plan, Special Permit
Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse
Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 67.-1-13.2
Planning Board, October 15, 2024
WHEREAS:
1. This action is consideration of Preliminary and Final Site Plan Approval and Special
Permit for the proposed Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and
Recreational Facility, located at Robison Alumni Fields on Tower Road on the Cornell
University central campus. The project involves replacing the Robison Alumni Fields
with a 90,000+/- square foot, 56-foot-tall indoor fieldhouse building and a new
synthetic outdoor field hockey field along with new sidewalks and pedestrian
connections, stormwater facilities, landscaping, lighting, and other site improvements.
Cornell University, Owner; Kimberly Michaels, TWM, a Fisher Associates Landscape
Architecture Studio, Applicant/Agent,
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 1.2+/- 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. The project is a Type I action under the New York State Environmental Quality
Review Act (6 NYCRR Part 617), for which the City of Ithaca Planning and
Development Board, acting as Lead Agency, issued a negative determination of
environmental significance on September 3, 2024,
4. The Town of Ithaca Planning Board, at a Public Hearing held on October 15, 2024,
reviewed, and accepted as adequate a Basic Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan,
along with an application submission titled “Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and
Recreation Facility, Site Plan Review Materials Submission,” prepared by Fisher
Associates and dated September 20, 2024; said materials were supplemental to
previously-submitted application materials and drawings dated December 15, 2023,
April 19, 2024, and June 10, 2024, and other application materials, and
5. Project plans, and related information, were duly delivered to the Tompkins County
Planning and Sustainability Department per New York State General Municipal Law
§§239-l et seq., and such Department responded in a January 16, 2024, letter from
Katherine Borgella, Tompkins County Commissioner of Planning, pursuant to §§239-l,
-m, and -n of the New York State General Municipal Law, determining that the
proposed action will have no significant county-wide or inter-community impact;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
PB 2024-020 Filed 10/25
1. That the Planning Board hereby finds that the Special Permit standards of Article XXIV
Section 270-200, Subsections A – H, of the Town of Ithaca Code, have been met,
specifically that:
A. The project will be suitable for the property on which it is proposed, considering the property’s
size, location, and physical site characteristics.
• The project is located on the Cornell University campus and will be constructed over two
existing sports fields. The property’s size, location, and physical site characteristics can
accommodate a fieldhouse building and associated amenities.
B. The proposed structure design and site layout are compatible with the surrounding area.
• The structure design is modern and will be located among other modern and historic
structures on the Cornell University central campus. The structure and site layout are
compatible with the surrounding college campus area.
C. Operations in connection with the proposed use do not create any more noise, fumes, vibration,
illumination, or other potential nuisances than the operation of any permitted use in the zone.
• The proposed project will produce temporary noise, vibration, and other nuisances associated
with construction. Such nuisances will cease upon completion of the project. Proposed
illumination will comply with the Town Outdoor Lighting Law (Town Code, Chapter 173).
D. Community infrastructure and services, such as police, fire and other protective services,
roadways, schools, and water and sewer facilities are currently, or will be, of adequate capacity to
accommodate the proposed use.
• The proposal is largely located within the City of Ithaca, which contains its own community
infrastructure and services. The services in the Town of Ithaca portion of the project are of
adequate capacity to accommodate the proposed use.
E. The proposed use, structure design, and site layout will comply with all the provisions of the
Town Code and with the Town of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan, except where the Zoning Board of
Appeals are considering area variances/appeals.
F. The site layout, with proposed vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian access, traffic circulation, and
parking and loading facilities, is sufficient for the proposed use and is safely designed for
emergency vehicles.
• The small portion of the site layout that will be in the Town of Ithaca includes a widened
walkway that is specifically designed to accommodate multiple modes of transportation,
including emergency vehicles.
G. The project includes sufficient landscaping and/or other forms of buffering to protect surrounding
land uses. Existing vegetation is preserved to the extent possible.
• The surrounding land uses are college campus uses, which are the same as the proposed use.
Most of the tree loss associated with the project will occur in the City of Ithaca. The
fieldhouse building will be constructed over an existing disturbed site. The project includes a
robust and sufficient landscaping plan surrounding the building and site.
H. To the extent deemed relevant by the Planning Board, the proposed use or structure complies with
all the criteria applicable to site plan review set forth in Chapter 270, Zoning.
PB 2024-020 Filed 10/25
2. That the Town of Ithaca Planning Board hereby grants Preliminary and Final Site Plan
Approval for the proposed Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and Recreation Facility, as
described in the materials listed in Whereas #4 above, subject to the following conditions:
a. Before issuance of a building permit, receipt of any necessary variances from the Zoning
Board of Appeals,
b. Before issuance of a building permit, and per the memo written by David O’Shea, Emily
Rodgers, and Justin McNeal, Town of Ithaca Engineering Department, dated October 4,
2024, revision of the SWPPP Volume 1 narrative to include the following additional
comment: “If any fill sites are located within a designated MS4, the MS4 must approve
the site and sign onto the SWPPP as an additional MS4,”
c. Before issuance of a building permit, and per the memo written by David O’Shea, Emily
Rodgers, and Justin McNeal, Town of Ithaca Engineering Department, dated October 4,
2024, addition of winter stabilization procedures and specifications to the construction
drawings, in accordance with the Construction General Permit and the NYS Standards
and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control, and
d. Before issuance of a building permit, submission of a fully executed (signed)
Agreement Between the City of Ithaca and the Town of Ithaca for Building Permitting,
Inspection, and Related Services for the Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse Project,
which must specify responsibility for all building permits, certificates of occupancy,
certificates of compliance, and all code-related inspections.
Moved: Liz Bageant Seconded: Bill Arms
Vote: ayes – Bageant, Arms, Wilcox, Kaufman, Cameron and Stewart