HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOC Minutes 2026-05-04
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TOWN OF ITHACA
CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE (COC)
Meeting of May 4, 2026 – 5:30 p.m.
Aurora Conference Room, Town Hall
Minutes
Members Present: Susie Gutenberger-Fitzpatrick: Chair; Diana Sinton; Dave McCune; Eva Hoffmann;
Connor Terry; Vinny Ferrara.
Staff Present: C.J. Randall, Director of Planning; Christine Balestra, Senior Planner; Nick Quilty-Koval,
Planner; Marty Moseley, Director of Code Enforcement; Dana Magnuson, Senior Code Enforcement
Officer, and Susan Brock, Attorney for the Town.
Guests: Michael Phillips via Zoom.
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. None
2. Review minutes from April 9, 2026, COC meeting.
The Attorney for the Town read suggested changes aloud. On a motion made by Susie, seconded by
Diana, the April 9, 2026, COC minutes were unanimously approved as amended.
3. Continued review of Revised Draft Subdivision of Land Regulations, Article VII, specifically
§234-24 (F), line 727, page 15.
Planning staff prepared and included revised language for §234-24 (F) based on the discussion at the
previous COC meeting. Further revisions were made, shared on screen, discussed by the committee
and approved.
Page 16, item H, Flag lots. Staff explained that this section was relatively new, as the existing
subdivision regulations do not contain a provision related to flag lots. Marty added that ZBA
variances were often sought for flag lots in the past. The committee suggested that this approach may
give more structure for the Planning Board to consider.
Page 18, Article VIII. Infrastructure. The Town of Ithaca Complete Streets Policy was mentioned,
along with the development of the Site Design & Development Criteria Manual for developers to
have guidelines for road construction.
The committee discussed §234-32 Phased developments. Staff provided examples of past phased
developments that were still under construction 20 years later, and the pros and cons of authorizing
phased development. After more discussion, the COC suggested adding language to permit phasing
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for developments larger than a specified number of lots (with staff to propose said number) along
with additional criteria like time limits and bonding/security requirements.
Marty noted that there was a slight language variation between §234-37 & §234-38 that should be
made consistent. Chris B will make sure lines 930 & 931 read the same as lines 924 & 925.
The COC concluded their review of each section of the revised draft Town of Ithaca Subdivision of
Land Regulations. It was noted that the process began in 2021/2022 to revise the regulations and that
a large amount of work has taken place in the interim. Staff were thanked for their work on the
document.
Next steps: Planning staff will revise the law per the COC instructions and present the final draft to the
committee at their June meeting. The draft will then be referred to the Town Board, who will refer it to
the Planning Board and Conservation Board, respectively, for comments. C.J. stated that if the Planning
and Conservation Boards have substantial comments or changes, the draft would come back to the
COC. Public outreach is anticipated in July or August, with a public event that may include guest
attendance by Conservation Subdivision Design author and expert Randall Arendt. If no major changes
come from the public engagement or other board review, the COC agreed that their Town Board referral
would stand without further review by the committee.
4. Other business:
Next meeting date: June 10, 2026.
Next meeting agenda: Final draft of the revised Town of Ithaca Subdivision of Land Regulations. The
resource mapper should be ready by July to be included and reviewed before the draft goes live.
The meeting adjourned at 6:53 p.m.