HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes 2019-07-18Town of Ithaca Planning Committee
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Committee members: Rich DePaolo, Chair; Rod Howe, Pat Leary
Board/Staff members present: Bill Goodman, Town Supervisor; Sue Ritter; Bruce Bates; Naomi Crimm
Others: None
1. Persons to be heard: none
2. Committee announcements and concerns: none
3. Consider June meeting minutes: Rich moved minutes, Rod seconded. Minutes approved after
making a grammatical change.
4. Discussion of allowing landscaping services and tree-care services as a permitted use in the
Low Density Residential and Agriculture Zones with certain criteria:
Rich said that he supports the effort, but is wary about setting a precedent and opening the
door to a previously precluded use. He is comfortable with it as long as it is written narrowly.
Rod and Pat agreed as long as there are clear criteria. The committee reviewed the proposed
language and Susan Brock’s comments. Rich asked that the term “landscape services” be
changed to “landscape service provider.” There was a discussion of whether to include a list of
services that would count as landscape services, as per Susan Brock’s suggestion. Bruce
advocated for the list. The committee decided to add a “typically include” list. For the “Tree-
care services” definition, Sue explained her reasoning behind the word “temporary.” It was
decided to take out the word “temporary.” Sue will try to link the definition to the timber
harvesting definition. For the LDR Zone, the committee discussed acreage for the minimum lot
size, and decided on 10 acres. There was also a discussion of the words: “non-used” in item 2.
Rich said that there needs to be a clearer way of stating the intent, something along the lines of
“business operations cannot be within a 50 foot perimeter/buffer.” Rich said that for item 6, it
is not clear what “non-operating” means. For item 8, Sue explained that she took an inaccurate
noise level reading, and will have to go back to Limbwalker to do it again. The industrial zoning
code has reference language that she used. She will leave the current level of 65 dBA in as a
holding place, and Sue and Rich will make another site visit to get an accurate reading. For item
8c there was a discussion of a noise permit for an exceedance of the standards. Does this need
a special permit in an Agriculture zone? The committee agreed to waive special permit
requirements in an Agriculture zone, but to keep the criteria the same. For item 9, Sue
explained her reasoning, which was a concern about allowing someone to put up an ugly
building, and the Planning Board needs standards to determine that. Sue will come back next
meeting with better language for that item. It was agreed to change “principal buildings” to
“principal building.”
5. Rental registry law modification
Bruce reported that the committee discussed this issue at the December 2018 meeting. They
talked about what was “rent”, and whether to include a rent definition or not. They hadn’t
made a definition. Bruce has started proposed language but needs more time to review.
6. Staff updates and reports
Bruce reported that Steve Williams retired as of August 3rd, and will be spending down his
vacation until then. He talked about how Cornell students are now asking landlords for a rental
certificate from the town, so they have been getting more requests from landlords. Bruce
reported that Evan Monkemeyer is disputing the occupancy requirements for one of his
properties. He is renting to 8 people, but only 5 are allowed. Sue gave an update on Cornell’s
plans to demolish the Maple Hill apartments. They will be vacant by mid-September, and want
them demolished as soon as possible after that so that they do not become a safety hazard once
vacant.
7. Discuss next meeting date and upcoming agenda items:
Next meeting is Thursday, August 15th, 2019