Minutes
Planning, Development &
Environmental Quality Committee
Tompkins County Legislature
Regular Meeting
February 17, 2006 3:00 PM Old Jail Conference Room
Members
Present: Martha Robertson (Chair), Jim Dennis,
Kathy Luz Herrera
Members
Excused: Frank Proto, Tyke Randall
Other
Legislator Present: Pam Mackesey
Staff: Heather Filiberto, T C
Planning Dept.
Kate
Hackett, TCPD
Joan
Jurkowich, TCPD
Jackie
Kippola, T C Administration
Ed
Marx, Commissioner of Planning & PW
Kathy Wilsea, TCPD
Visitors: Martha
Armstrong, IDA
Nels Bohn, Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency
Dan Cogan, City of Ithaca Common Council
Gary Ferguson, Ithaca Downtown Partnership
Chrys Gardener, Cooperative Extension
Jean McPheeters, Chamber of Commerce
Carolyn Peterson, Mayor, City of Ithaca
Monika Roth, Cooperative Extension
Debbie Teeter, Cooperative Extension
Mary Tomlan, City of Ithaca Common Council
a Resolution: Adding Parcels to Agricultural
District No. 1 (East Side of Cayuga Lake) – Debbie Teeter and Monika Roth
were present. The two parcels
listed for inclusion are in the Town of Dryden and shown on the color maps
provided with the agenda. These
two properties were already getting ag exemptions from the County; if added to
the Ag District the owners will no longer need to provide an annual commitment
letter to Tompkins County Assessment Department. The amounts of tax exemptions are determined through a state
formula based on soil quality, with higher dollar exemptions for poorer soil
quality. Monika said Tompkins
County has a total of about 450 farms, and more than 150 of them are less than
ten years old. These two additions
are examples of farms that are less than ten years old. Resolution moved by Jim Dennis,
seconded by Kathy Luz Herrera and passed 3:0.
b Resolution: Scheduling a Public Hearing for
Additions to Agricultural District No. 1 (East Side of Cayuga Lake) --
Resolution moved by Kathy, seconded by Jim, passed 3:0. Debbie Teeter said the Planning
Advisory Board discussion has led to inclusion of street addresses in legal
notice for public hearing.
a Discussion
on Residency Requirement – Heather Filiberto reviewed the points made in
her written memo, that the Town of Dryden wishes to appoint their staff member
to EMC. Dan Kwasnowski (applicant for EMC Town of Dryden seat) is not a
Tompkins County resident; in addition, the EMC Bylaws state a municipal
representative should be a member of the Conservation Advisory Council in
municipalities that have a CAC.
Jim questioned if exceptions had been done by resolution before. Kathy said the Government Operations
Committee is examining advisory board appointments this year, and she doesn’t
want to act in advance of their discussion. She would like to find a resolution of this problem that does
not include making an exception.
Heather wondered if something could be done just for EMC municipal
representatives. EMC is unusual in
that they ask municipalities to recommend a member. Mr. Kwasnowski can be appointed as an associate member of
EMC while the issue is being examined, but that doesn’t meet the Town’s
expectations. There is no CAC link
required of an associate membership, and EMC Chair Steve Nicholson agrees with
this option. Heather brought discussion
to PDEQ because of the Town resolution.
The committee supports Mr. Kwasnowski’s appointment as an associate
member while GO examines all aspects of advisory boards.
a Resolution: Approval of Contract for
Beautification, Signage and Public Art Plan and
b Proposed Changes to the Beautification Program Grants – Jackie Kippola explained that her job includes distribution of room tax per County policies. This resolution specifies the use of money from the room tax in the County budget. The 2006 budget set aside $90,000 for Beautification, which includes signage and public art. There is a separate reserve fund. At a later meeting Chrys Gardener will talk about funds in reserve, which cannot be drawn until after an audit and will require a resolution that Jackie expects to bring to PDEQ in May. Jim asked how the $11,000 in the budget would be spent for beautification grants, and Chrys said under the current budget, three towns could be funded. Typically this money is used to make the gateways more attractive. Martha asked how the Town of Ithaca felt about money being spent in the other towns of the County and not the Town of Ithaca. Jean McPheeters explained that the welcome signs were recently moved from the edges of the county to the edges of the Town, so she thinks the Town will understand the plan for 2006. In any case, she will contact the Supervisor and inquire. Chrys had provided a memo with a concept examined by STPB for funding in all municipalities in 2006. She expects that not all municipalities will be prepared to implement grants in 2006, so some will bring plans in 2007 instead. Resolution moved by Jim, seconded by Kathy, and passed 3:0. Jackie will copy some language from the memo for use as an explanation on the resolution.
Chrys has organized a binder for each participating
municipality with contracts and photographs. Jackie said STPB will make a presentation to the full
Legislature on 3/7 and return to PDEQ for discussion on 3/16.
a
Resolution: Adoption of
the Tompkins County Multi-Jurisdictional All-Hazards Mitigation Plan – Kate
Hackett explained that such a plan is required for applicants for funds per the
Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000.
Three municipalities are working on their plans separately, and these
will be coordinated when they are all complete. In addition to the County,
there are seven partners in this multi-jurisdictional plan. She noted this is separate from the
County’s Emergency Response Plan.
A copy of the plan is available for review in the Legislature office. The department wants the resolution
passed quickly to support a grant application to SEMO/FEMA, so this will be
added to the Legislature agenda for 2/21.
Resolution was amended.
Resolution moved by Jim, seconded by Kathy and passed 3:0.
b 2006 Work Program – Joan Jurkowich provided a brief overview and mentioned the Legislature will be seeing items throughout the year as the department completes objectives and planning studies.
6 Downtown
Ithaca: Status and Plans – Gary Ferguson was present from Ithaca Downtown Partnership. He said IDP helps with revitalization
and ongoing management of a 22-block area. Their current ten-year strategy encompasses 2000-2010. They have many successes, and face the
ongoing question of “Are we sustainable and stable?” He provided brief review of the elements of a successful
downtown: retail, office, housing, entertainment, tourism and
beautification. Pedestrian traffic
is necessary for downtown commerce, and all of the components contribute to
that. Currently downtown retail
trade is experiencing reduced business from locals but increased business from
tourists. Regional
growth is still substantially outpacing downtown growth.
IDP got received a
Federal New Market tax credit through a very competitive process. Historic tax credits also play into the
mix. He sees the County as having
four roles: providing jobs
and office space downtown; regional planning and growth
management; helping to level the playing field by making
costs of development competitive; and being a partner as the largest employer
in the City. Kathy Luz Herrera
said she heard on the radio that the City will have a five-year appraisal of
the density policy, and she wondered when that would be conducted. Guests from the City were not aware of
a specific timeframe.
In response to a question, Gary agreed to provide the committee with information quantifying the difficulties of developing downtown.
a Discussion
on Density Policy – Mayor Carolyn Peterson said the City wanted to be
proactive in presenting the City viewpoints. Their Planning, Economic Development & Environmental
Quality Committee passed a resolution 2/15, which will now go to the Common
Council on 3/1. Five building projects
have been developed approved in
recent years that qualified for IDA help under the density policy; of these,
two have been built and are currently operating, with a
third about to open. The target area
for the density policy extends west on State Street to Inlet Island.
The concepts of sustainability and nodal development in the
County Comprehensive Plan are important to downtown. The City endorsed the IDP ten-year plan. The PEDEQ resolution passed 2/15 endorses the
IDA density policy, recognizes the
density programing it as essential to downtown; supports
nodal development as expressed in the County
Comprehensive Plan; because it
combats sprawl, endorses the
IDA density policy, has a
specified corridor, and provides five-yearfor a
review
of results five years from adoption of the resolution by Common
Council. Federal UDAG and HODAG
grants that made downtown and collegetown Collegetown development
possible in the 1980s and 1990s are not available anymore. Nels Bohns
described the density policy as one of the last positive tools available. Mayor Peterson said the City has
recently hired a Deputy Director of Economic Development, Phyllisa DeSarno, who
will begin work 2/27.
Jim Dennis said he encourages the IDA
to continue on this path, as he sees amazing accomplishments. Kathy Luz Herrera pointed out she is
trying to be responsive to the public’s comments on jobs and housing. She thinks any problems with the
density policy can be fixed. She
is very concerned about jobs, and her constituents fear high rent
additions. We need housing that
keeps our workforce here, too, and we need to work toward a
sustainable downtownencourage growth in the county’s population centers. Jean McPheeters noted the regular
policy of IDA is really about job development. The density policy balances commerce,
jobs, and housing, and can allow competition with existing businesses. Martha Robertson said according to Michael
Stamm agrees IDA has the right, uthe IDA has the authority nique in NYS,
to establish such a density policy with or
without county support. The policy is unique in
NYS. She sees need for
growth and development countywide and supports the density policy basically. She looks for creative ideas for
improvements, and wants this committee to be a forum for open
discussion to that endbut supports
the density policy basically. [Kathy Luz Herrera left at 5:00 PM.]
Ed Marx echoed the Comprehensive Plan comments, that
it is desirable to have development come from a countywide nodal policy, and we
need to apply this tool to accomplish benefits countywide. Nodal development has to be truly mixed, with
employment, services and housing in each node. Jim Dennis said he doesn’t like to see tax abatement
become the largest issue of development projects. We are lucky to have a policy that is a plus for
development, and he would prefer to keep the focus on the projects. Martha Robertson said abatements are often
misunderstood, in that the tax break is only on the added
value of projects are often misunderstood. Gary Ferguson said
affordable housing, no matter where it’s built, needs help to make the numbers
work. He suggested
providing a bonus for projects that include affordable housing downtown would
“sweeten the pot”. Martha
Robertson suggested developing a point system for evaluation of applications,
so the policy is less of a pass/fail position, and abatements can
be tailored to the project. Nels
Bohn agreed, suggesting saying that
the IURA has used a point system in the past for rating loan applications. there could be extra points for projects that
advance the policies of the City.
8 Committee
Administration – These items were delayed due to lack of a quorum and time.
9 Adjournment
– the
meeting was adjourned at 5:11 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Wilsea, Secretary
Tompkins County Planning Dept.