Some Ithaca news

[Ex-Ithacan]

Editorial from the Ithaca Journal (2/26/09), a case for consolidation and cooperation to save tax money.



Consolidation: 2 examples show why government should study it

New York, like the rest of the nation, is trudging uphill against an economic tsunami not seen in decades - if ever. There are all sorts of ideas being tossed out to help the state survive during these most trying of fiscal times, including raising or restructuring income taxes. While the income tax is something that deserves exploration, another movement is further afoot and can't be forgotten now that other things are occupying our lawmakers' attention spans. That's the movement to continue to consolidate New York's many levels of government, and two recent news stories show why this area needs to be studied.

The first takes place in Seneca Falls, where a committee has studied a possible merger between the town and village of the same name. The merger could produce a potential savings of $978 per year on property taxes, a number that has caught the eye of residents, officials and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is promoting consolidation across the state. But like most things in life, there is a catch - while property taxes would plummet for village residents, taxes would increase for town residents by $375 per year, according to Gannett.

The second story is unfolding in our own backyard. In Tompkins County, government officials are continuing to work on forming a health care consortium that could save up to $5 million over five years if local governments pool resources and form an insurance company. The model being discussed includes having governments pay their premiums into the consortium. This work was accomplished thanks to a $266,000 grant Tompkins County received from a government consolidation program.

While consolidation is not the answer to all of New York's ills, it does provide a ray of hope in allowing residents to have some relief from property taxes (state residents pay on average 78 percent more in property taxes than people in the rest of the country). In Seneca Falls, consolidating the town and village governments may not be the answer. But in Tompkins County, if governments sign onto the consortium this summer when asked, it looks like some savings will be realized. That's why New York needs to encourage local governments to study ways to combine resources, look for ways to become efficient and perhaps even merge. If those possibilities are not studied, we'll never know the answer.

[Visiteur]

Ex, you and I both know consolidation isn't going to happen any time soon. Townspeople don't want to deal with city debt and taxes. City people are set in their ways about government. It'll be years before we see any consolidation.

A suburban shout-out:

http://www.lansingstar.com/content/view/4601/66/


Two Large Developments May Change Rural Landscape
by Dan Veaner
Friday, 27 February 2009

Concerned neighbors came to Monday's Planning Board meeting Monday for two public hearings concerning developments near their homes. The Lansing Commons project proposes to build a combination of single family homes, townhouses, and apartments south of the corner of Woodsedge Drive and Cayuga Vista Drive. The more ambitious Cayuga Farms Town Homes seeks to build 138 townhouses on the west side of Triphammer Road between Michaeleen's Florist and Asbury Road. (Click maps below for larger view.)

Lansing Commons will be built in three phases. The first will largely involve single family homes, the second will add townhouses, and the third will add apartments and possibly commercial buildings to the mix. It will have its own package plant to handle sewage.



Resident Hugh Bahar asked whether the project conforms with Lansing's comprehensive plan. Attorney Lorraine Moynihan Schmitt noted that the Planning Board directed the developer provide information as to how the PDA (Planned Development Area development plan) would conform with the comprehensive plan.

"It was one of our primary considerations," said Planning Board member Larry Sharpsteen. "We wanted the opportunity to have some businesses, which are allowed in that area, combined with some density in housing which would allow people to concentrate where we were originally going to have some infrastructure."

That means sewer. When the Lansing sewer project fell through developer Ronald Secord consulted with the DEC (NYS Department of Environmental Conservation) on the possibility of building his own, small sewage treatment plant on the site. Residents were concerned that taxpayers would be forced to maintain the plant after it is built. But Planning Board members explained that the plant would be paid for by people living within the benefit district. In other words residents of the development would be charged annually in the same way water district customers are charged for water. No one outside the development will ever pay for it.

Roger Vanderpoel, who lives near the site said he is concerned about additional traffic. He noted that commuters use Cayuga Vista Drive and Woodsedge Drive as a shortcut to try to avoid the East Shore Drive / Ridge Road traffic light and to outrun trucks. Vanderpoel said that residents have asked for stop signs to slow traffic along the route in the past, but with no response from the Town. He said the additional traffic from residents of the development would likely exacerbate an already dangerous situation. "When you talk about high density, it's a lot of cars," he said.

"Traffic is an issue that we are ready to address," replied Planning Board member Tom Ellis. "We will address it as the project moves forward as far as density and traffic. It's definitely on the radar."

Planning Board member Nancy Longto noted that the Planning Board had received a traffic study that will help the board determine how traffic should be dealt with. The next night Deputy Supervisor Connie Wilcox asked at the Town Board meeting about erecting stop signs. Highway Superintendent Jack French said that a stop sign will go on the corner of the two roads once the first phase of the development is built.

When asked about the cost of the units developer Secord said that it will be market driven. But some saw subsidies for 'affordable housing,' as an opportunity. "Affordable housing at the state level is about $210,000," said Warren Real Estate's Chris Vann. "In some folks' mind it's a little higher than they might expect. There are folks that are willing to work with new technologies and housing costs to make a nice community and make it look good, but make it so someone can come here and work, and be a part of our community."

The next step for Lansing Commons is for the Planning Board to recommend acceptance of the PDA to the Town Board. Planning Board members said they need more time to consider the proposal at their meeting next month before doing that.

The second public hearing considered an environmental review of the Cayuga Farms project, though residents were more concerned about what it would do to the rural flavor of their neighborhood. This project proposes to build 138 townhouses in four separate phases on what is now farm land on the west side of Triphammer Road. The project depends on sewer, and engineer Tim Buhl said that the developers do not yet have agreements to hook into the Village of Lansing's sewer or for the Cayuga Heights Waste Treatment Plant to treat effluent from the project.



Resident Ed Ebersole said he is concerned about potential drainage problems that would effect his land, and how 138 families would impact traffic. "To me it's ridiculous," he said. "I can barely get out of my driveway now to go to work. I can imagine what will happen -- they'll be backed up right to the mall."

Elizabeth Hegarty said that she learned the sale of the property closed in December. "If that's the case is this hearing tonight a mere rubber stamp?" she asked. "Is this a done deal?"

Vann, the real estate agent who sold the land, said he thought it is probably not a 'done deal.' "That's why you have good citizens here giving of their time to see that things don't just get rubber stamped."

Hegarty also expressed concern about how the development will effect existing views, the environment, including air and noise pollution, and the length of time it will take to build the whole project. "I've lived in a sewer district where, frankly, I wasn't able to walk on my street for a couple of years because the roads were torn up where the sewers were being built," she said. "I don't know if people know how long, how dirty, and what a mess the roads are going to be for a long period of time."

Dan Pace, who owns a driving range near the project said he was concerned that people who buy homes in the development will complain about the bright lights he has installed for his business. "I don't want complaints coming back to me after you build this," he said.

"It's like the airport syndrome," noted Tim Buhl, the engineer and agent for the project. "People build a house next to the airport and then complain about the noise. We understand."

Pat Prior asked what the time line is for the project. "We're trying to get at least preliminary approval of the concept, the densities, and the layout we have," Buhl said. "We have densities that are consistent with what is allowed in the zone, and we think it's a good project. We're hoping that in the next six months we'll get preliminary approval and get the sewer issue cleaned up, and begin construction some time this summer or early in the fall. We anticipate it to be about a twelve year buildout."

Longto suggested that the planning board ask for a traffic study, and said that while the fire department has weighed in on the impact the new community would have, they have not heard from the school district, the recreation department or police regarding the impact a community of that volume and density would bring.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Ex, you and I both know consolidation isn't going to happen any time soon. Townspeople don't want to deal with city debt and taxes. City people are set in their ways about government. It'll be years before we see any consolidation.

Awww c'mon Vis, let me have my dreams. That would add about 20,000 more people to Ithaca's population.


The Lansing plans are a bright spot to me. There are complaints in there about traffic, but I don't think those problems wil be nearly as bad as the ones the West Hill development proposals are going to cause on the west end at Inlet Isle.


BTW, good to see you back.

[Ex-Ithacan]

This kind of sounds like get penalized for doing the right thing.



Small-cities formula omitted from stimulus hurts Ithaca
Ithaca Journal
By Tim Ashmore • tashmore@gannett.com • March 9, 2009

ITHACA - Operating under the impression that formula aid would be part of the $790 billion economic stimulus bill passed last month, Tompkins County transportation officials got an unwelcome surprise once the funding picture became clear.

Each year, public transportation funding for Ithaca is augmented by small transit intensive cities (STIC) funding, which benefits small communities with high public transit usage. But five words in parentheses within the stimulus bill, which omitted STIC funding, eliminated that piece of the pie.

"For the transit intensive communities, they add this (funding). They weigh (small communities) more because you are considered a transit intensive community. They're not doing that for the stimulus funding, which means for a community like Ithaca, it's not getting as much money as they would've if they had applied the STIC," said Fernando de Aragon, director of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Committee.

Dwight Mengel, a transportation specialist with the county Department of Social Services, made various estimates of how much stimulus money Tompkins County could acquire based on the many iterations of the stimulus bill. Before the final bill was passed, Mengel guessed as much as $2.6 million would flow to Tompkins based on the first House of Representatives bill, then $1.5 million based on the Senate version, and finally about $2 million.

Mengel reduced that estimate when he learned that STIC funding was omitted from the bill to about $1.2 million. His reduction was proportionate to the amount Ithaca typically receives through the formula, which is about 40 percent of its overall public transportation aid, which translates to about $800,000 less than officials expected prior.

"If you qualify for STIC and you have a low population, you're more dependent on STIC," Mengel said. Ithaca's population is estimated to be roughly 53,000 for the formula, which lumps the community in with other communities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000.

(2 of 2)

Nationally, Ithaca ranks as the ninth most-dependent city on STIC funding, Mengel said. The reason Ithaca depends on the formula funding is because public transportation performs better here than in much larger cities.

The STIC funding program is relatively new, which is why it wasn't included in the stimulus, said Jeff Lieberson, a spokesman for Congressman Maurice Hinchey, D-22nd, Dist. Lieberson said after speaking with the appropriations subcommittee on transportation that none of the new formulas was used for transportation funding.

Lieberson added that Congressman John Olver, D-Mass., chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on transportation, has two cities in his district that qualify for STIC funding that suffered as well.

De Aragon pointed out that without STIC funding, Ithaca will receive about a third of the money Binghamton gets, despite having roughly the same public transportation usage. The reason Binghamton will in excess of $3 million in public transportation funding is because of its larger population.
"Of course, we're grateful we got what we got, but other systems with much smaller fleets sometimes got more money than us. It's hard to understand," said Joe Turcotte, director of Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit.

What's lost from that funding is buses. Mengel said TCAT needs to replace about 30 percent of its fleet, and Gadabout needs to replace roughly 70 percent.

Most of the stimulus money for public transportation will be used on buses, Turcotte said.

The buses would be very quick purchases and a quick injection of cash into the New York economy, Mengel said. County Administrator Joe Mareane pointed out the TCAT buses are made in Utica, so the dollars wouldn't travel far.Mareane said the county has a request to cover the shortfall in the federal appropriations bill, and he's hopeful an earmark would cover the cost of new buses.

TCAT requested 16 new buses in a package of stimulus requests sent to Albany in late February. Gadabout is seeking 19 replacement buses in the same document. Money expected to come to Ithaca for public transportation likely won't cover the $9.6 million needed to pay for all the new buses.

The hybrid buses TCAT would like to purchase cost roughly $540,000 and Gadabout buses cost about $60,000, Mengel said.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Here's a short video of Ithaca and the Finger Lakes done as an info piece on Good Morning America


http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6095530&page=1

[Ex-Ithacan]

New City Planning Director for Ithaca, hope she helps with more density & height (though I wish she would support the taller buildings in C-town).


New planning director Cornish ready to advise
By Krisy Gashler • kgashler@gannett.com • March 17, 2009

ITHACA - Public comment at meetings in Ithaca often begins with a speaker's recitation of how long he or she has been a part of the community. In this transient, student-heavy city, stability means credibility.

In such a town, JoAnn Cornish, the newly named director of planning and development, brings to the table as much street cred as you could ask for.

"My grandparents came to Ithaca as immigrants to work on the railroad and Ithaca Gun and Morse Chain. My grandma worked on the factory line in Morse Chain," Cornish said. "So the roots go back pretty far."

Cornish's uncle, Raymond Bordoni, served as Ithaca's mayor from 1980-81.

"Even when I was in high school I was very involved in the city because he was so proud of the fact that he was mayor," Cornish said. "We just had a connection, and he instilled in me (that) public service, community service."

With an educational background in environmental science and landscape architecture, Cornish said the balance she hopes to strike as Ithaca's newest planning director is between environmental protection and economic development.

With those priorities in mind, Cornish said some of her goals for the next five years include developing Inlet Island and the West End; strengthening the connections between the Southwest, The Commons and the waterfront; completing the trail between the downtown Six Mile Creek walkway and the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve; and updating the city's comprehensive plan.

Professional opinion
Like Thys Van Cort, who retired more than a year ago after almost 35 years as the city's planning director, Cornish believes part of her job is providing her opinion about issues facing the city.

"I think people should speak their mind, give their professional opinion," Cornish said. "Thys, I think, was always very forceful in his opinion, but you always knew where he stood, and he wasn't so steadfast in his opinion that it couldn't be changed. And I think that's a good civil servant, really. You've got to know the balance between the professional opinion and the elected officials, what their visions are, what the constituents say."

(2 of 4)


Finding that balance is especially important for the Planning Department, which oversees many of the most controversial issues that come before Common Council. These include the surprise decision to kill Boatyard Grill developer Steve Flash's hotel proposal on Inlet Island, the decision to go forward with planning on an overhaul of The Commons, and the current hot topic - the Collegetown urban plan.

Cornish said she also thinks the downtown density program, which provides tax abatements for developers, should go back to its original requirement of strictly density.

The tax abatement program through Tompkins County's Industrial Development Agency allows developers to gradually phase in payment of property tax on new development, though they're required to continue paying the property tax based on what existed before their development.

Cornish credits the program with spurring development such as Island Health and Fitness, the Hilton Garden hotel and the Cayuga Green development.

After a few years though, because of political and community pressure, the program expanded to include criteria on things like whether the building will be energy efficient, whether it will employ union workers and whether it will create living wage jobs.

"It became so difficult that developers decided they just didn't want to deal with it," Cornish said. "They would find money any other way than have to go through the IDA to get the tax abatement."

Or they would develop outside the downtown core, meaning less eventual property tax revenue for the city and more sprawl.

"This is the center of Tompkins County. And this is where we should be building housing, where we should be densifying the core so we can, again, get people out of their cars, get people on public transit, try and do the things that Ithaca sees itself and prides itself on, in sustainability and its vision and its innovation and its edginess," Cornish said. "A way to do that is to be able to give developers some incentives, and the tax incentives are a really good way to do that. We need to get back to the program and be able to look at it again."(3 of 4)


Development zones
Cornish said she was saddened by Common Council's decision in summer 2007 to halt development on Flash's Inlet Island hotel, and she hopes a similar proposal will come forward again.

"I felt as though they maybe acted a little bit too hastily," she said. "I do think it would have been a good use and that the sales tax and property tax would have been significant."

In meetings after the decision, Council members said what they'd rather see is a variety of small shops with many owners developed like an outdoor boardwalk.

"The cost of construction on Inlet Island is really, really high ... and the vision to have all these kinds of boutiques and little shops and things, I think it's a great vision, I just don't think it's economically feasible," Cornish said. "Plus, with the weather being what it is in Ithaca, you really are not talking a 365-day-a-year audience for those types of things. So a hotel with some retail in it that was supported by the hotel, not so much by visitors, would have been, I think, a very good solution down there."

On Collegetown, Cornish said she's always felt the proposed 90-foot buildings would be too high, but that the existing 60-foot buildings are too low.

"I think that the 90 feet height really threw people," she said. "I think that the plan itself is good. ... We've been talking a lot about the incentive zoning, which means that between 60-70 would be allowed by zoning, but if you do certain things like offer mixed-use so you're not just catering to students but you do a hotel or you do retail on the first floor and apartments on the second floor, not necessarily undergrad apartments but more worker housing or something, then you could go a little bit higher like another story," to a maximum of 75 feet.
On the plan's sustainable transportation component, the other highly controversial section of the plan, Cornish said she thinks the city needs a dedicated parking study before implementing any of the costly recommendations.

The plan calls for allowing developers to increase density while reducing or eliminating parking requirements. Developers would have to pay instead into a fund that would be used for things like improving bike, pedestrian and mass transit facilities, or maintaining a remote parking lot or garage.

(4 of 4)


"The concepts are good. And I think we can work with the concepts," Cornish said. "(But) if it's so complicated that you can't really get the bulk of the population to understand it, then there's something wrong."

Cornish said she thinks the controversies around projects such as the Collegetown plan and the Commons Upgrade project could have been avoided if the city had an updated comprehensive plan.

Cornish strongly advocated continuing with the planning phase of the estimated $5 million Commons upgrade project when, last fall, several Council members considered tabling the project because of the souring economy.

"In my opinion, many of the controversies, both past and present, could have been avoided if we had a comp plan to use as a tool. A plan that was based on public input and sound planning principles and where the plan had buy in from both the public and the Common Council," she said. "Looking ahead it will help guide land use, capital projects, neighborhood preservation, parks, trails and so on."

Common Council has authorized $200,000 toward updating the 1970s-era comprehensive plan.

Volunteer work
Alderwoman Mary Tomlan, D-3rd, served for five years as chair of Common Council's planning committee, working extensively with Cornish.

Tomlan said Cornish's commitment to the city is evidenced through her professional work but also through her volunteerism - Cornish serves as a Big Sister at the Ithaca Youth Bureau, and for at least the past five years, she has headed up the yearly United Way campaign among city staff, Tomlan said.

Before working for the city, Cornish worked for the Town of Ithaca planning department, something Tomlan said will be very useful in keeping open lines of intermunicipal cooperation.

Mayor Carolyn Peterson noted that in her time at the city, Cornish has received both the annual Diversity and Inclusion award and employee of the year award.

Peterson said one of Cornish's most valuable qualities is her ability to foster relationships, within city hall, among developers and within the community.

Cornish laughed loudly about the idea of sticking around in city hall for 35 years, as her predecessor did.

"I think maybe five years is a good stint," she said, adding that she hasn't ruled out the possibility of running for elected office after she retires. Cornish now lives in the Town of Ithaca.

"My son really wants to open a restaurant here, and so that might be my next career," she said.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Some more info ref Vis' post (#1022) about new developments in Lansing:


From the online Lansing Star (3/13/09)

Questions Raised About Triphammer Development
by Dan Veaner
Friday, 13 March 2009
Considering the level of neighborhood concern about a proposed 138 unit development it was surprising that so few attended Monday's public hearing. Lansing's planning board held the hearing to get public comments on the Cayuga Farms Town Homes project that could be built on North Triphammer Road between Michaleen's Florist and Asbury Road. But Town officials raised their own concerns about unanswered questions that could determine whether the project is built at all.

"I really think there are a lot of questions to be answered before you approve the preliminary site plan," said Lansing Deputy Supervisor Connie Wilcox. "I just think there are way too many unknowns to grant preliminary approval of this subdivision."



This field could be the site of 138 townhouses


That sentiment was echoed by Planning Board members, the County Planning Department, and the one resident who did speak to the board. Triphammer Road resident Ed Ebersold said that two large projects would compound traffic issues, impact Lansing schools, the Fire District, and Highway Department. "You can't really look at them individually, I would think," he said."

Project engineer Tim Buhl said the developer researched traffic issues about six months ago, and found studies that show that current traffic on the effected section of Triphammer Road are below the definition of a congested road, and that new traffic generated by the project would still be below that number. He said that the section of North Triphammer Road between Hillcrest and Asbury Road had an average daily traffic count of 6,829 vehicles. That section of Triphammer Road is listed as 'non-congested,' which means that it is less than 80% of the capacity of the road.

"Our project will generate average daily traffic of 915 based on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) trip generation tables for multi-family projects, with a peak hour of 76 cars," Buhl said. "With the bus service I think it will be less than that."

But Wilcox wasn't convinced. "I still have a lot of questions and concerns," she said. "I don't care what kind of a traffic study it is, I think you're downplaying the traffic for that area. The sewer is still a big issue. I spoke with the Fire District, and they have not heard from Tim or anyone (involved in the project) in two years."

Planning board member Nancy Longto said that she agrees with Wilcox. She noted that after the previous Planning Board meeting it was clear that the public hearing was premature, but it had already been scheduled. She noted that Buhl has said that he expects that approval to take about six months, and said that she thinks that is a reasonable time frame.

Longto read from a '239 Review' letter from Tompkins County Commissioner of Planning and Public Works Edward Marx that the Planning Board had received in late February. A '239 Review' requires planning boards to get input from the County Planning Department to take county issues into consideration when approving local projects. The County determined that a complete environmental assessment form will need to be submitted before it can conduct a formal review, but offered some initial comments.

The letter said the project would be subject to Town subdivision review, and stated that two streams on the property should be protected from development. It said an affordable housing component should be included in the project, and that the developer should consult directly with Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) on creating a bus stop and the impact on public transportation. Because that section of Triphammer Road is owned by the County the letter noted the County Highway Department would have to be petitioned for a right of way to construct sewer, and that an environmental review should evaluate the impact of the sewer line on overall infrastructure development in Lansing, including its impact on an eventual South Lansing sewer project. It said documentation from the Villages of Lansing and Cayuga Heights should be included before the project is approved to make sure that sewer could be hooked into the Village of Lansing's existing sewer, and processed at the Cayuga Heights sewage treatment plant. It recommended pedestrian access within the project and along the frontage of Triphammer Road.

Buhl says that building the project is conditional on getting public sewer and water. He has yet to approach the villages, but a week ago Village of Lansing Mayor Donald Hartill expressed misgivings about the cost, noting that laying the sewer line alone would cost over a half million dollars.

"Even going down Triphammer they've got to go uphill," Hartill said. "There's a forced main no matter what you do. Even with a forced main it's over a mile from there to our nearest sewer line. At $100 bucks a foot, do the calculation. They will be pricey condominiums just from the cost of the sewer system."

But Buhl says sewer is so important to the project that the cost is not a problem. Sewer allows the developers to create many more housing units in a smaller area than would otherwise be allowed. Buhl says no sewer, no project. If the developer is unable to get sewer and water for the project, he says that a less dense project could be submitted for the site.

"This site plan is based on having public sewers," he said. "We submitted another site plan earlier that was preliminarily approved that had on-site septic systems, but we felt over the long haul we'd do better to have public sewer and water."

Planning Board members said that one comment from the public isn't enough, and on consulting attorney Lorraine Moynihan Schmitt on whether they could schedule additional public hearings voted to close this one. Longto made a motion to put it in the public record that the board will schedule a future public hearing on the project. That motion was unanimously passed.

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v5i11

[Visiteur]

Why is it that everyone complains that there's not enough housing in the county, but they won't let anyone build more housing? Just a thought.

Well, I'd rather have Cornish than someone who's completely anti-development, like Mary Tomlan. I can't believe Tomlan's trying to push for a 35-40 foot height limit, and pitched roofs on all new structures in Collegetown.

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ I agree about Cornish. Mary Tomlan looks to be getting her way on the height restrictions. I don't understand where those opposed to taller buildings are planning on putting all the people who want to live in Collegetown.


From the Ithaca Journal

Collegetown debate focuses on height limits
By Krisy Gashler • kgashler@gannett.com • March 19, 2009


ITHACA — Most of the discussion on zoning changes in Collegetown has been about bigger, denser buildings. But a proposal to decrease allowable building size in a section of Collegetown along Dryden Road brought praise and anger from permanent residents.

Common Council’s planning committee Wednesday night voted 4-1 to change the zoning in the area roughly bounded by Oak Avenue, Dryden Court, Elmwood Avenue and Harvard Place, with a few homes on Delaware Avenue also included. Existing zoning allows four-story buildings up to 40 feet.


Proposed zoning reduces that to three stories and 35 feet. Requirements for front yards would also double from a 10-foot minimum requirement to 20 feet.


Voting in favor were Alderpersons Jennifer Dotson, I-1st, Eric Rosario, I-2nd, Mary Tomlan, D-3rd, and Dan Cogan, D-5th.


Alderman Svante Myrick, D-4th, voted against.


Five people spoke against the change, including Collegetown landowner James Rider, who said he has “been dutifully paying my taxes based on the current zoning for the past 40 years.”


Four people spoke in favor, including Planning Board chairman John Schroeder and City Building Commissioner Phyllis Radke. The proposal came from the Planning Board, which, while reviewing recent developments such as that at 320 Dryden Road, was “astonished to discover” that current zoning allowed buildings much bigger than the board thought appropriate for the neighborhood, Schroeder said.


The committee considered the zoning change because the 18-month moratorium on construction in Collegetown is set to expire in April.


Council will not have time to adopt zoning related to the full Collegetown urban plan before the construction moratorium expires in April, so the zoning change is meant to protect those areas from new construction before the full zoning is enacted, said planner Leslie Chatterton.


The city and Cornell spent almost $200,000 hiring an independent consultant, Boston-based Goody Clancy, to develop an urban plan and design guidelines for the neighborhood.

(2 of 2)


While the Goody Clancy plan called for substantially increasing heights in the core of Collegetown to as much as 90 feet, the Planning Board’s recommendations on the plan allow no buildings above 60 feet, raise building heights along the middle of College Avenue and on upper Linden Avenue and recommend height decreases in several areas.

For example, on Dryden Road across from Bryant Avenue, existing zoning allows buildings up to 40 feet, and Goody Clancy had recommended allowing up to 50 feet. The Planning Board recommendation reduces the height to 35 feet.


The committee decided Wednesday to wait another month before voting on the Planning Board’s recommendations, since the public has not had a chance to review it. This change will likely mean the Council will not adopt a plan prior to the moratorium expiring in April, Dotson said.


A subcommittee of Common Council, Planning Board and city staff members met to review and propose revisions to Goody Clancy’s controversial Sustainable Transportation System.


The subcommittee’s major changes included eliminating the idea of opening up parking to the highest bidder and allowing students to buy permits to park in residential neighborhoods.


They recommended improving sidewalks using the city policy that requires property owners to pay the cost for repair. Among their other recommendations was better enforcement of loading zones and transit stops to prevent double parking, conducting another parking study, and looking at allowing long-term parking in currently underutilized downtown garages.


Ithaca’s Board of Public Works voted in December to allow long-term parking in some areas of the Cayuga Garage. It’s cheaper to park there than in Collegetown’s Dryden Road garage — roughly $7 per day versus $12 — but there’s no discount for long-term parking, something Goody Clancy’s report suggested.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Some decent news in these economically trying times:

From the Ithaca Journal



Ithaca companies dominate Central New York new-business competition
From Staff Reports • March 20, 2009


Half of the 10 semifinalists in a competition among emerging businesses in a 12-county region around Syracuse are from Ithaca, the competition organizers announced.

The Central Upstate Regional Alliance announced on Wednesday the semifinalists competing for the $100,000 grand prize offered in the New York's Creative Core Emerging Business Competition, sponsored by M&T Bank and the New York Business Development Corporation.

In each of the past two years, the competition was won by Ithaca-area companies. Four of the 10 semifinalists this year have connections to Cornell University.

The five with Ithaca ties are:

* GeneWeave Biosciences, which is commercializing technology to determine the drug resistance and toxicity of bacteria;

* electric and solar-powered boat maker Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Co.;

* iFyber, a start-up developing nanotechnology-based fabrics;

* Widetronix Semiconductors, developer of small long-life batteries;

* and Tech S2, a specialist in database applications and customized software.

All but Tamarack are commercializing Cornell technology.

The other semifinalists are Darman Manufacturing Co., of Utica, developer of an automatic cloth and paper roll towels; Ensemble Video, of Syracuse, working on on-demand video publishing; MYCO+Evolution, of Syracuse, a recycler of architectural elements from abandoned or decaying buildings; NP&G, of Cazenovia, maker of an environmentally safe and economical rail cross tie; and Three Brothers Wineries & Estates, of Geneva, a farm winery with 38 brands of wine, a microbrewery, cafe and event center credited with stimulating the northern Seneca Lake tourism industry.

The five finalists will be announced March 23 at Syracuse University and make their pitch for the grand prize before a panel of judges April 17. The grand prize winner will be announced April 21.

[Ex-Ithacan]

The word "Frustration" fits my mood right now.


From the Ithaca Journal

Committee votes to decrease C'town height plan
Consulting firm recommended raising the limit
By Krisy Gashler • kgashler@gannett.com • March 20, 2009


ITHACA - In its first major action on the Collegetown urban plan, Common Council's planning committee voted to lower allowable building heights in an area where their consultants recommended they be raised.

The committee voted 4-1 late Wednesday night to reduce allowable building sizes in about 30 lots in the area roughly bounded by Oak Ave, Dryden Court, Elmwood Ave and Harvard Place.

Existing zoning allows four-story buildings up to 40 feet. If approved by the full Council April 1, the new zoning reduces that to three stories and 35 feet.

Alderwoman Mary Tomlan, D-3rd, led the zoning change. She said it would "ensure that new construction is compatible with the existing urban fabric" and "will reduce zoning incentives for the demolition of buildings that contribute to the character of the Collegetown area."

The zoning change is also meant to buffer the nearby Belle Sherman neighborhood from the high-density Collegetown core, Tomlan said. Alderpersons Tomlan, Jennifer Dotson, I-1st, Eric Rosario, I-2nd, and Dan Cogan, D-5th, voted in favor.

Alderman Svante Myrick, D-4th, voted against. Myrick argued the change went against what the independent consultants recommended and what the community needs.

"If I can be honest with you guys, I'm just frustrated. I don't know what we're doing here," Myrick said. "We're not just talking about aesthetics."

The Collegetown Vision statement and the $200,000 consultant report were undertaken largely to figure out ways to increase density in the core of Collegetown, to give students better housing options and to prevent student sprawl into permanent resident neighborhoods, he said.

"I would rather look out for the people than the view," Myrick said.

Dotson said she'd rather institute form-based zoning but that since there's no time to do that before the Collegetown moratorium expires in April, this is the only tool Council can use to protect single-family neighborhoods until the final zoning for the full urban plan is completed.

Rosario said he understood Myrick's frustration but that more rental units are not necessarily good for a neighborhood if it means bad design.

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"If I were faced with that stark choice, I wouldn't go with units," he said.

"We don't yet have binding design review," Tomlan added.

"You're actively ignoring an existing problem," Myrick responded. The only student on Ithaca's 10-member Common Council, Myrick frequently points out that in the Collegetown study area, 97 percent of the people are students, and they like the plan for taller, denser buildings.

Cornell has announced that they will accept an additional 100 undergraduate students each year for the next four years in response to the economic recession, and there's not enough quality housing for existing students, he said.

Building Commissioner Phyllis Radke defended the zoning change.

"In many ways I think this is the only protection we have ... to make sure things are preserved in this critical area," Radke said.

The committee decided to wait a month before voting on the Collegetown urban plan itself. While the Goody Clancy consultant plan calls for allowing buildings up to 90 feet in the core area around College and Dryden avenues, and increasing buildings heights in surrounding areas, a preface written by the city's Planning Board essentially undoes all those changes. The Planning Board report allows building height increases only along portions of College Avenue and upper Linden Avenue and decreases existing heights near the edges of the study area.

In discussion on the report, four of the five planning committee members said they would be willing to allow buildings to go up to 75 feet in the core of Collegetown, but only if developers provided some kind of public good, such as building lower-income housing, submitting to binding design review or paying for street improvements.

The committee planned to meet jointly with the Planning Board and have a recommendation ready for May's Common Council meeting.





Read reactions to this story
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exithacan wrote:

So there's a demand for housing in Collegetown which would help the city's tax base with new development. But there's no new land in C-town to build on. Can't spread out. Council says can't build up.

hmmmmm

Hey, how about the city finds a developer who specializes in subteranean housing/office/retial projects? Gotta keep Collegetown a permanent resident haven.

I grew up in Collegetown, and the character of the area (while always geared toward students) has changed quite a bit in the last 50 years. Use to be a ton of ower/landlord apartment buildings where the first floor was occupied by the family which owned the property. There was an elementary school for neighborhood kids. There were neighborhood Boy Scout & Girl Scout troops. My Dad coached the neighborhood little league baseball team. But times and demographics have changed.
GET USE TO IT ITHACA.
Taller building in Collegetown aren't going to ruin the neighborhood, but additional tax revnue may help the city pay for expenses throughout the city, maybe even cover $200,000 studies.
3/20/2009 6:40:25 AM

[Ex-Ithacan]

Good news for Ithaca. Click on the video if you want to hear some typical central NY accents.


http://news10now.com/content/top_sto...e/Default.aspx

[MetroJunkie BJR]

Hi,
I just posted a thread of photos I took on a brief weekend trip to Ithaca in early winter.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...68#post4165868

Enjoy. Ithaca is Gorges, lol.

[Ex-Ithacan]

I saw the thread, thanks for posting the pics. Nice job, just wish I could have been there with you to return the favor of your Scranton tour.

[MetroJunkie BJR]

Originally Posted by Ex-Ithacan

I saw the thread, thanks for posting the pics. Nice job, just wish I could have been there with you to return the favor of your Scranton tour.

Thanks, Ex-Ith. I really enjoyed taking them and spending time in Ithaca. I should be going back soon. It is a really cool little city!

[Ex-Ithacan]

^Let me know when you're going up again and I'll e-mail you some locations for good pic taking.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Though Cornell & Ithaca College are having some big problems, seems the local community college is doing OK (From the Ithaca Times on-line):




TC3's staffing needs up, state aid down

Matt Cooper
Reporter

In contrast with other schools in Tompkins County, Tompkins Cortland Community College might actually find itself in a position where it must hire more instructors to meet growing demand.

During his "state of the college address" to the Tompkins County Legislature March 23, TC3 President Carl Haynes said the college's enrollment was growing as the economy sank.

"This is because of the recession," he said. "In hard times, people often return to school, especially if they've been laid off."

In contrast to Ithaca College and Cornell, the latter of which has implemented a hiring freeze, Haynes said TC3 might need to take on more staffing to accommodate their growth.

"We've projected between a 20-percent to a 25-percent increase in enrollment over a three-year span," he said. "That's quite a significant increase, and these are unusual times for a number of reasons."

The college already saw a record increase in enrollment for the 2008-2009 school year, with an 8-percent increase in full time students. Their current enrollment sits at 3,448 full time students. The college also boasts involvement with 32 area school districts, including 268 local high school instructors teaching 516 sections of concurrent enrollment classes, an increase of 13.3 full-time equivalent students, or a 2.24 percent growth from the previous year. While the college has adequate facilities with the addition of new student housing and a 10,000 square-foot student center, Haynes said things might be getting a little crowded in the classroom.

However, TC3 is not immune to state cuts in funding, which have devastated some area school districts. Governor David Paterson, in trying to bridge a $14 billion state budget deficit, proposed a 10 percent cut in full time equivalent student funding, which would cut $850,000 from TC3's state funding. Right now, the state fully funds TC3 for every full time student.

"That's going to be a challenge," Haynes said. "That's a significant amount of money for us. We need to expand our services, but we're not sure if we'll be able to afford it with the cuts."

This is in direct contrast to other area institutions of higher learning, which have frozen hiring and are facing loss of revenue from a variety of places, including endowment funds. TC3, on the other hand, collects much of its operating budget from state aid, the county and student tuition. The governor has also proposed a cut to the state's tuition assistance program, which pays for a share of a student's tuition based on that student's family income. The less the family makes, the more aid the student receives.

"Governors are always trying to cut that," Haynes said. "The state legislature has put it back in every time. We're hoping they do the same again."

Despite the challenges, however, Haynes said TC3 would do its best not to cut back.

"We are not in retreat in these challenging times," he said. "We've been doing some office efficiency work and training our staff to work lean, but at some point, you eventually need people behind desks."

The reduction in state aid will result in what Haynes said would be a modest increase in tuition for the 2009-2010 school year. He did not have an estimate for the increase.

He noted that the college would be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year on May 2. He highlighted a number of the college's recent accomplishments, such as a five percent increase in local high school students that chose TC3 after graduation and an overall 74.8 percent rate of students with good academic standing for the 2007 fall semester.

"We will harness social networks, animation, web video, mobile content and emerging technologies to enrich the teaching and learning experience," Haynes said.

To view Haynes's annual report, visit the college's Web site at www.tc3.edu. Look in the left menu under "TC3 News and Events" and select "TC3 President's Annual Report."

[Ex-Ithacan]

Cornell layoffs for financial reasons. (btw, it was $500 million, not billion - Ithaca Journal misprint).




Cornell faculty and non-union layoffs total 121
76 positions cut in alumni office
By Liz Lawyer • elawyer@gannett.com • Staff Writer • April 2, 2009


ITHACA - Layoffs at Cornell University have been proceeding piecemeal over the past several months, with a total of 121 non-faculty, non-union employees laid off or receiving notice of a layoff to take effect before the end of the fiscal year.

The external hiring pause instituted in October and scheduled to end Tuesday was extended until June 30, the end of the fiscal year, along with a halt to all construction projects not yet at the point of having shovels in the ground. An internal hiring program initiated to reduce the number of people forced to seek jobs elsewhere is still in operation, said Simeon Moss, director of the Cornell press relations office.

The rate of turnover in the current fiscal year has been about 7.5 percent, including layoffs, Moss said. The average rate is around 7 percent, with last year's rate at 7.3 percent, or about 850 people, with layoffs, resignations and retirements included.

"So that's just over the average pace," he said. However, "it doesn't minimize that we have had layoffs."

One of the most recent of these cuts eliminated 76 positions from the alumni office, with 41 of those positions being laid off. Seventeen cuts were announced in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations in February to take place by June. Other layoffs have occurred in smaller groups throughout the university's departments and offices.

At a March 16 meeting with staff, President David J. Skorton said that the layoffs have not yet run their course, and more are to be expected.

He continues to reassure staff that there will be no across-the-board cuts. Efforts to trim department operating budgets by 10 percent over the next few years will likely include staff reductions.

Like other institutions of higher education, Cornell's $4 billion capital campaign has slowed, but it has not been put on hold.

"We still have dedicated alums out there," Moss said. "One thing is we're being sensitive in our efforts to economic hardships that people may be in, so we're being sensitive in reaching out to alumni and friends."

The university sold $500 billion worth of debt in the form of 5- and 10-year taxable bonds about 30 minutes after they became available March 26.

The university reported that the Cornell Board of Trustees authorized the bond issue March 6 to provide the university with working capital and institutional liquidity.

President David J. Skorton said in a March 6 statement: "This approach - which is similar, though more modest in size, to that being utilized by other large universities - will alleviate pressure on the endowment and other sources of funding as may be necessary over the next several years to meet operating shortfalls and other potential liquidity needs."

[Ex-Ithacan]

I don't see this new transit system actually happening:



Ithaca receives grant to assess podcar possibility
By Kate Hill • khill@gannett.com • Staff Writer • April 1, 2009


ITHACA - Ithaca could be moving one step closer to bringing a cutting edge transportation system to the city.

Connect Ithaca, in conjunction with engineering firm C&S Companies, received a $75,000 grant from the New York state Department of Transportation that will be the first step in assessing the feasibility of a personal rapid transit system, or podcar.

The podcar system consists of individual, electric-powered cars that can hold about five people and take riders directly to their destinations via a rail, without stopping for other passengers. At a designated stop, a rider presses a button to call the car, much like an elevator.

Connect Ithaca, an organization focused on sustainable transit, and C&S Companies have donated another $20,717 of labor in kind to complete the study.

Paul Wilke, an engineer with C&S, said whether the firm recommends the project depends on several criteria including potential ridership, cost, environmental impact and economic benefits. The main purpose of the study is to identify potential challenges.

The transportation system could greatly reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions, as well as help raise property value and decrease the housing shortage.

But before Ithaca makes a final decision, more research will be needed.

"For $75,000 we're not going to solve all the problems with PRT," Wilke said. "We'll take it beyond what Connect Ithaca has done."

Wilke said the firm had worked with Ithaca before and knew that the city "likes innovation and likes to be unique." He thinks podcars could work in Ithaca, but he stressed that the assessment will be fair and objective and in the best interest of the city.

Wilke said an elevated rail is the most likely infrastructure for the system, and part of the study includes devising potential routes.

"The main idea is to connect Cornell and downtown and Ithaca College," he said.

Robert Morache, a Connect Ithaca partner, said if the system is a possibility, it's hard to say when construction would begin.

"From a technological point of view, you could say as soon as two or three years," he said.

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But the reality is that a large-scale infrastructure project requires social, political and public discussion, and that could take years, he said.

A 2007 study done by the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council found that more than 50 percent of workers drove to work alone. But Wilkes said Ithacans do use public transportation.

"The (number of) people using transit in Ithaca is substantially greater than the national average," he said.

Robert Morache, a Connect Ithaca partner, said another main focus of the study is to examine the potential relationship among podcar and other modes of transportation such as TCAT and bicycles, and how that could enhance efficiency and ridership.

Connect Ithaca President Jacob Roberts said the process is a grassroots effort that involves citizens as well as Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca and Cornell University.

He said it's a good time to do the study because stakeholders such as Tompkins County, Cornell and Ithaca are working on comprehensive master plans for the future. The results will help to inform those plans.

Roberts also said Connect Ithaca wants to involve the public in the process.

"We encourage those in the community to reach out to us," he said.

The study is slated to be finished by the end of 2009.

[iseethepacific]

I think you'll take interest in these articles:

“As a scientist, I am interested in utilizing resources,” Christopher Matthews grad said. Matthews suggested that the urbanization of Collegetown would effectively make College­town more sustainable by centralizing resources and more effectively utilizing space. He went on to say that the urbanization would make public transportation more centralized and efficient.

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/c...dent-criticism



“Students make up 97 percent of Collegetown,” said S.A. President Ryan Lavin ’09. “We recognized that we have to lobby as much as we can to make sure that the interests of the students are represented. The Goody Clancy plan encourages development. … If there’s going to be any change or progress, there needs to be a lot more students involved in the process.”

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/c...s-speak-c-town



The pressure for more Collegetown housing needs to be appropriately relieved in a way that compliments the preservation of surrounding Ithaca communities and an increase in the quality of life for student residents in Collegetown. There is only one way to ensure these priorities: the promotion of density and development in the central Collegetown area.

http://cornellsun.com/section/opinio...egetown-develo



The Ithaca Planning Board's revisions to the plan, on the other hand, just maintain the status quo, and in the case of the proposed R-3c zoning change, move further from students' needs, said graduate student Ed Strong.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...0392/1126/NEWS



Controversial zoning changes to lower allowable building heights along Dryden Road in Collegetown will not go through because of a legal protest by a group of affected property owners.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...EWS01/90402011



Maybe Ithaca is starting to think beyond the loud people at Bryant Park and look out for the greater good in a responsible way... maybe Ithaca is starting to hear what students have to say? Let us hope.