The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCOC Minutes 2026-04-09 TOWN OF ITHACA CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE 215 North Tioga Street Ithaca, New York 14850 (607) 273-1747 PLEASE NOTE: This meeting will be held in person in the Town Board Room at Town Hall, 215 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY, on April 9, 2026, at 5:30pm. Members of the public may join the meeting via Zoom: • Join Zoom meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87531393743 • Zoom meeting ID: 875 3139 3743 • Dial in phone: 929-436-2866 Meeting of April 9 – 5:30 P.M. AGENDA 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Town of Ithaca Planning Department April 3, 2026 Member comments/concerns. Review minutes from March 12, 2026 COC meeting. Review proposed 2026 Codes and Ordinances Committee Work Plan. Begin review of Revised Draft Subdivision of Land regulations (existing regulations: https://ecode360.com/8660770), Article VI. Other business: •Future meeting dates, times, and location. •Rescheduling the May 14, 2026 meeting. •Next meeting agenda. TOWN OF ITHACA CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE (COC) Meeting of Apri19, 2026—5:30 p.m. Shirley A. Raffensperger Board Room,Town Hall Minutes Members Present: Susie Gutenberger-Fitzpatrick: Chair; Diana Sinton; Dave McCune; Eva Hoffmann & Connor Terry. Vinny Ferrara via Zoom (joined at 5:40 pm). Staff Present: C.J. Randall, Director of Planning; Christine Balestra, Senior Planner;Nick Quilty-Koval, Planner; Dana Magnuson, Senior Code Enforcement Officer, and Susan Brock, Attorney for the Town. Guests: none The meeting was recorded on Zoom and live streamed on the Town of Ithaca YouTube channel. Susie called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. 1. Member comments/concerns. The appointment of Connor Terry as the new ZBA representative on the COC was noted. 2. Review minutes from March 12, 2026, COC meeting. The Attorney for the Town suggested one word change, which was read aloud. On a motion made by Eva, seconded by Susie, the March 12, 2026, the COC minutes were unanimously approved as amended. 3. Review proposed 2026 Codes and Ordinances Committee Work Plan. C.J. explained how the work plan is developed, and each item on the list was discussed. C.J. suggested developing institutional zoning, specifically the signage portion, as the next focus area for the COC after completing the subdivision regulations. The committee agreed with this. C.J. also mentioned the recent annulment of NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's new Freshwater Wetlands regulations. The town does currently have its own law(Town Code 161) related to freshwater wetlands, however, it references the old NYS Freshwater Wetlands Map.Any changes regarding the NYS Freshwater Wetlands Law or the DEC regulations will continue to be monitored by Planning staff. 4. Begin review of Revised Draft Subdivision of Land Regulations,Article 1. The Committee continued review of the revised draft subdivision regulations, beginning with§234-20 Final Subdivision Review (page 8, letter D, Line 431-proposed Article VI). 1 The first question posed to the committee was whether the final subdivision plat should include other protection measures such as deed restrictions, plat notations, etc. instead of, or along with conservation easements. C.J. explained the difference between conservation easements, plat notations, and deed restrictions. There was discussion on whether deed restrictions were enforceable by the town. Staff recommended including plat notations as another protective measure to be required to be shown on the final plat as along with the conservation easement areas. The COC agreed to the addition of plat notations to letter D. (page 9, line 433-434). Page 9, line 487 finding I: delete the word"irreplaceable." The committee moved on to Article VII: Subdivision Design Standards, which contains the provisions for cluster and conventional subdivisions. The cluster subdivision (§234-24) section's purpose, procedures, exceptions, and resource analysis was discussed in detail. The planning staff presentations at previous COC meetings put this section's requirements into play from the developers'point of view. The resource analysis guide that the planning staff developed was shown on screen as a useful tool that will be available to help the developers work through the required calculations. On page 12, line 627 (Class 1 asset item [3]), the committee requested including a reference to the Army Corps of Engineers Wetland permit; and, given the recent annulment of the DEC's Freshwater Wetlands regulations, re-wording this section to make this asset category more generic, e.g. "compliance with the prevailing Federal and/or State regulatory agency that has jurisdiction over wetlands." Staff will revise this section. Page 14, under(c) Class 3: Secondary conservation assets, line 670, number [1], replace the word "adjoining"with "immediately adjacent to." Page 14, same class section, line 682, number [6], rewrite sentence to read"Areas within 100 feet of a New York State Park; or within 50 feet of a Town park/preserve, Finger Lakes Land Trust preserve, Nature Conservancy preserve, and town-held conservation easements." The committee moved on to the calculation methodology to determine required open space and conservation assets in a cluster subdivision. C.J. stated that the calculation methodology to determine the required open space and conservation assets is based by conservation subdivision recommendations by expert Randall Arendt, who authored several books on the topic. She intends to invite him to speak with the COC and/or be involved with the public engagement portion if possible. The committee mentioned that the Figures included in the regulation were very clear and helpful. Page 15, item "F" (line 727), the committee had questions about calculating the number of permitted dwelling units in a cluster subdivision.A"Dwelling Unit Estimator" tool was shown to help determine the number of dwelling units that would be permitted in a potential subdivision. It was noted that the number of dwelling units permitted in a cluster subdivision could not be more than what is permitted in a conventional subdivision; and that the wording in this section seemed to be unclear. Planning staff will revise the wording and the Dwelling Unit Estimator worksheet and Site Capacity Calculation Worksheet to convey the concept more clearly. The committee left off here. The revised draft Subdivision Regulation review concluded and will resume again on page 15 line 727 item F. 2 5. Other business: Susie proposed moving the monthly meetings from the second Thursday each month to the second Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. as well as moving the meeting location back to the Aurora Conference Room in town hall. She noted that, if a meeting where large public attendance was anticipated, the location could be changed to the Town Board Room for that meeting. All agreed to the overall meeting day change as well as the location change. The May meeting date was changed to Monday, May 4, 2026, 5:30 p.m.in the Aurora Conference Room. Next meeting agenda: Resume review of revised draft Subdivision Regulations. The meeting adjourned at 7:02 p.m. 3