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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin-10-17-07TOWN OF ITHACA CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE 215 North Tioga Street Ithaca, New York 14850 (607) 273-1747 MEETING OF OCTOBER 17, 2007 – 7:30 P.M. AGENDA 1. Member Comments/Concerns. 2. [Minutes of September 19, 2007 Meeting Not Yet Available.] 3. Review of Revised Draft of Stormwater Management Law. 4. Report on Comments Received Regarding Draft Revised Lakefront Residential Zone (Dock) Regulations. 5. Introduction to State Mandated Regulations Regarding Illicit Discharges into Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems. 6. Other Business. 7. Next Meeting Date and Agenda: (No meeting has been scheduled for November. The next scheduled meeting is December 19, 2007. The Committee should consider whether a meeting in November will be needed.) Town of Ithaca Planning Department October 10, 2007 CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 17, 2007 PRESENT: Herb Engman, Pat Leary, Fred Wilcox, Eva Hoffmann, Kirk Sigel, Diane Conneman. OTHERS: Jonathan Kanter, Director of Planning; Dan Walker, Director of Engineering; Susan Brock (Susan), Attorney for the Town; Sue Ritter (Sue), Assistant Director of Planning; Kristin Taylor, Civil Engineer; Stephan Wagner (Guest). Chair Herb Engman called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Agenda Item No. 1 - Member Comments/Concerns: Herb reported that Cathy Valentino would probably not be attending Committee meetings for the remainder of the year. Herb added that Bill Goodman and Eric Levine, both candidates running unopposed for the Town Board, are interested in the Codes & Ordinances Committee, and would like to attend meetings this year. Diane indicated that the Conservation Board has received the draft Wind Energy Facilities law, and will forward comments to the Committee after they review and discuss the law. Agenda Item No. 2 – Approval of Meeting Minutes: (None available). Agenda Item No. 3 – Report on Lakefront Residential Zone Amendments (Dock Regulations): Jonathan reported that Chris Balestra was not able to make it to the Committee meeting. Jonathan asked Committee members to review the materials that had been distributed with Chris’s cover memo (dated October 5, 2007) and be prepared to discuss this at the next meeting. Herb mentioned that we received many interesting comments on the amendments, some of which the Committee may not have been expecting. The Committee agreed to defer this item until the next meeting. Agenda Item No. 4 – Continuation of Review of Draft Stormwater Management Law: Herb referred to the revised stormwater law draft (10/10/07) that Sue and Susan had worked on. The Committee discussed the following sections of the law: Page 5 (Definitions): Herb pointed out that intermittent and perennial stream definitions were added. Page 6 (Definitions): Sue handed out a sheet with some additional definitions and modifications. New definitions for “redevelopment” and “redevelopment project” were added. Kirk suggested that a reference to “soil disturbance” should be added to the definition of redevelopment. Sue clarified that the new regulations are intended to be applied when additional soil disturbance occurs. The Committee agreed. 2 Page 8 (Definitions): Sue mentioned that she is working with DEC (NYS Department of Environmental Conservation) on wording to address the 303(d) designation of the southern Cayuga Lake basin as impaired (to be added to section C.1). This would apply to lakefront uses that directly discharge stormwater to the lake (e.g., Cornell Sailing Center project). Page 9, E.4: Herb said that 300 feet disturbance as a threshold for ditch or swale disturbance is too large a trigger for requiring a Simple SWPPP. The Committee agreed to change this threshold to 30 feet because that would be a typical distance involved with simple driveway or curb-cut work. Page 10, Section 227-7 Exemptions: Kirk suggested adding mailboxes and similar fixtures as exemptions. The Committee agreed. Sue referred to the handout with a modification suggested for logging activities. Sue indicated that DEC had recommended requiring an “approved timber harvesting plan” in order to exempt logging activities from the stormwater law requirements. Herb said that he would be concerned with including landing areas and log haul roads in the exemption (included in the original wording) because these areas can involve significant land disturbance. The Committee agreed to re-instate the wording in the logging exemption to the effect that landing areas and log haul roads would be subject to SWPPP requirements in order to ensure that these areas remain stable. Susan mentioned that section C under exemptions had been deleted, but after discussing this with Sue, they felt that it would be better to put it back in (referring to land development activities for which a permit or final approval has been issued on or before the effective date of this law). Dan suggested adding a reference at the end of that exemption: “and substantial construction has commenced”. The Committee agreed to both of these suggestions. Page 10, section 227-8.A: Susan indicated that the Committee should decide which duties the Stormwater Management Officer (SMO) should have vs. the Code Enforcement Officer. Sue suggested that the Code Enforcement Officer is intended to be responsible for all enforcement actions, and that the SMO should do all technical reviews and approvals. Pages 12 – 13 (Performance and Design Criteria): Sue referred to the handout, and suggested that a new section 227-9.D.3 be added regarding redevelopment projects. This includes reference to “alternatives to the technical standards”, which includes options, such as reducing impervious surface areas, in lieu of certain normal stormwater mitigation measures (such as constructing a pond). The Committee agreed to add this section. Page 19: Herb mentioned that terminology regarding stormwater “practices”, “facilities” and “activities” can be confusing. Sue explained that the term “practice“ is the general, umbrella term that refers to all stormwater measures, and that the terms “facilities” and “activities” are sub-sets of practices. Kirk suggested that all references to “facilities” on pages 19 and subsequent pages should be changed to “practices”. The Committee agreed. Page 24: Susan indicated that Chapter 228 of the Town of Ithaca Code includes language regarding stormwater operations and maintenance agreements. Jonathan suggested that it might be desirable to repeal the current Chapter 228, and incorporate all of the requirements for operations and maintenance agreements in the new stormwater Chapter. Susan agreed that this would be a good approach, and that perhaps the Stormwater management Chapter could be numbered 228. The Committee agreed. 3 Page 28 (Penalties): Herb asked about the use of the terms “civil penalties” and “criminal fines”. Susan indicated that these refer to terms defined in State laws, but that they can be changed if the Committee wants. Susan added that she drafted the language in the law based on what the Committee had said it wanted in previous meetings. Dan asked whether it requires an attorney to file a court action. Susan said yes, it does. Susan added that the advantage of a civil proceeding is that the Town can obtain an injunction (to stop action). The Committee agreed to keep the language as suggested by Susan in the draft law. Having completed review of the revised draft law, Herb asked if the Committee was ready to send this on to the Town Board. The Committee agreed. Susan suggested sending the draft to the Town Board, including additional revisions agreed to at this meeting, and put it on the November regular Town Board meeting to forward the law to the Planning Board for a recommendation. Sue recommended that the Committee also hold a public information meeting to educate the public about the proposed law, and obtain preliminary comments from the public, prior to holding any formal public hearing. The Committee agreed. Agenda Item No. 5 – Introduction to State Mandated Regulations Regarding Illicit Discharges into Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems: Sue described the materials regarding the State mandated regulations on illicit discharges into storm sewer systems that municipalities will have to adopt by January 8, 2008. These are part of the Phase 2 stormwater requirements that DEC is implementing. Sue indicated that the red-lined draft that was distributed is based on the DEC model law and portions of the Town of Dryden’s draft law, which is farther along than the Town of Ithaca. Kristin explained that the MS4 designation in the stormwater regulations applies to certain more developed areas, and that the Town of Ithaca should consider applying the regulations to the entire Town. Sue added that the law should cover surface waters, ditches, and storm sewers. Several Committee members indicated that the term MS4 is confusing as it relates to the illicit discharge law, and it was agreed that it probably should not be used in referring to the illicit discharge law. In Section 1.5 of the draft, it was suggested that “fertilizers” be added to the list of improper discharges. Herb referred to Section 2.6 of the draft, and asked how a homeowner is to know if they have an illicit connection. Herb mentioned that it is common for owners not to know where drains or pipes are connecting. Susan added that there could be a problem with DEC’s requirement to make a previously existing drain or connection that does not comply with the new regulations illegal, and does not see how that can be done. The Committee discussed the general elements of the model law, and came to the conclusion that it will take some time to go through this law. Sue reiterated that DEC is mandating that municipalities adopt and enforce this law. Dan mentioned that chlorine from pools has to be diluted before discharging into a storm sewer. Dan added that the same applies to fire hydrants after they are cleaned. Sue indicated that these situations are not covered by the model law, and maybe should be. 4 Susan suggested that staff needs to go through the model law and come back to the Committee with recommendations. Sue added that Deb Caraco helped DEC develop the model law, and she could be available to provide a presentation on this subject at some point. Agenda Item No. 6 - Other Business: None. Agenda Item No. 7 - Schedule and Agenda for Next Meeting: The next Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 7, 2007. Proposed agenda items include report on comments received regarding the draft amendments to the Lakefront Residential Zone (dock regulations) and continuation of discussion of the proposed law (mandated by New York State) regarding illicit discharges into municipal separate storm sewer systems if staff has made progress on this. Adjournment: As there was no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 9:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jonathan Kanter, A.I.C.P. Director of Planning