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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes 2026-02-19 DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING 215 N. Tioga St 14850 607.273.1747 www.town.ithaca.ny.us TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING COMMITTEE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026 at 3:00 P.M. Meeting Location: Ithaca Town Hall, 215 N. Tioga Street, Aurora Conference Room (Enter from the rear entrance of Town Hall, adjacent employee parking lot.) Members of the public may also join the meeting virtually via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6750593272. AGENDA 1. Persons to be heard. 2. Committee announcements and concerns. 3. Consider approval of January meeting minutes. 4. Review draft Resolution Supporting the Deconstruction and Reuse of the Built Environment in the Town of Ithaca. 5. Staff updates and reports. 6. Discuss next meeting date and upcoming agenda items. A quorum of the Ithaca Town Board may be present, however, no official Board business will be conducted. 1 Town of Ithaca Planning Committee Thursday, February 19, 2026 (3:00 PM Aurora Conference Room and on Zoom) Minutes Committee members present: Rod Howe, Chair; Diana Sinton; Dave McCune. Board/staff members: Director of Codes Marty Moseley; Director of Planning C.J. Randall; Senior Civil Engineer Justin McNeal; Town Sustainability Planner Hilary Swartwood; and Town Planner Nick Quilty-Koval. Guests: none 1. Persons to be heard: None. 2. Committee announcements and concerns: None 3. Approval of January minutes: Dave moved the minutes for approval as presented. Diana seconded, the minutes were approved. 4. Draft resolution supporting the Deconstruction and Reuse of the Built Environment in the Town of Ithaca. Following up from the previous committee meeting discussion, a draft proposed Town of Ithaca resolution to support deconstruction was circulated for comments and consideration to recommend to the Town Board. Hilary summarized the intent of the proposed non-binding resolution is a starting point for research and development of a work plan for what a possible deconstruction ordinance/code would look like for the Town of Ithaca. Engagement with CR0WD for technical assistance throughout the process is anticipated upon passing the resolution as well. A template resolution was initially provided by CR0WD and municipalities including the City of Auburn, Town of Dryden, and Tompkins County have passed similar resolutions to the one presented. Planning will work with the Town’s Code Enforcement Department to develop this initiative further. The Planning Committee was in favor of recommending the draft resolution to the Town Board for consideration. 5. Institutional Zoning Update-Comprehensive Plan Overview: C.J. provided an updated memo which outlined the priority goal LU-5 in the town’s 2014 comprehensive plan to implement institutional zoning. Research and initial drafts for transect based and general campus zoning were completed in 2020-2021. Planning Committee will develop a scope of work for the COC committee scheduled for the 2026 Work Plan. Both the Ithaca College and Cornell University Campus Master Plans are considered current. A master plan update is anticipated for the Cayuga Medical Center. Continued meetings are being held with both large higher education institutions and the goal is to develop partnerships with the institutions in the town. Town Planner Nick Quilty-Koval is participating as a non-voting liaison on behalf of the town for the City of Ithaca Zoning Advisory Committee, which is undertaking the rewrite of the city zoning. The city’s zoning contains institutional and university districts, and Cornell’s campus spans across the city and town. The municipal boundaries that cross buildings and properties make permitting and enforcement difficult and the town zoning for both campuses includes low density residential zones that conflict with the institutional uses. Sign regulations were given as a relevant example, as the community character of a campus compared to a residential area is different and 2 currently the same regulations apply, an appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals is needed for every sign permit application on both campuses. Appeals are often heard for institutional buildings as well. The research and assessment of the initial phase of implementing institutional zoning was identified to develop a scope of work. C.J. noted that possibly addressing the signage portion to begin with could be a good target or coordinating with Cayuga Medical Center given the timing of their pending master plan update. The Planning Committee was in favor of continued research for the development of a scope of work. 6. Staff updates and reports: C.J. briefly reported that surrounding municipalities have had interest from industrial types of uses around data storage/processing centers. The uses and terms are fairly new and not generally defined in local codes, outside a possible mention in a PDZ for storage only. Town of Ithaca Code does not specifically define or permit these types of uses. An applicant could request an interpretation of the zoning code for the undefined use to be considered in an existing use category and zoning district. Currently, defined ‘Research and development facilities’ use is only authorized in the Light Industrial and Industrial Zones, respectively; the total acreage of land in the town zoned as Industrial is about five acres and much of the acreage zoned Light Industrial is also subject to the Inlet Valley Overlay District. It was noted that those two respective zoning districts currently contain specific performance standard regulations relative to noise, vibration, odor, etc. Committee members were encouraged to reach out to staff with questions. As background information for the two new board and committee members, C.J. gave a detailed overview on what and where the South Hill Traditional Neighborhood (TND) is, how it began in 2010. The New Neighborhood Code was adopted in 2022 and the town is slated to work with a consulting firm for contractual services to complete the environmental review, anticipated to involve a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS). Benefits to form-based code were discussed and it was noted that the large private property owners in the TND area have been involved in the process to date and were notified that the town was proceeding with the environmental review. The master plan prepared by Brown & Associates in 2022 was shown on screen and the committee was provided with the project specific website links for reports, public charettes, and other related information. 7. Next meeting date and upcoming agenda items: The regular scheduled meeting date was noted as 3-19-2026. Dave will not be in person to attend, however can participate via Zoom. Alternate dates were considered however it was ultimately decided to keep the original date and any action items which require an in person quorum can be postponed until the next meeting when all are present in person. No upcoming agenda items were noted. The Town of Ithaca Planning Committee meeting concluded at 4:20 p.m.