Planning Board: Reviews continue for Water’s Edge, new Cornell fieldhouse

ITHACA, N.Y. — It was a rather long meeting for the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board last night, much of it spent tackling the biggest impacts from the massive Waters Edge development, with the expectation that a major environmental review will focus on those aspects. However, the board also reviewed several other projects, including major changes to a housing proposal in Fall Creek.

Site Plan Review

With no Special Permits or Subdivision Reviews this month, the Planning Board jumped right into the main event, Site Plan Review (SPR). Rather than rehash the procedural details every month, the “Site Plan Review Primer” can be found here.

Water’s Edge (683 Third Street)

Arnot Realty’s expansive waterfront project was back before the city Planning Board last night. The project team proposes to demolish three existing Department of Transportation maintenance buildings to redevelop the 8+ acre site into a mixed-use development. The proposal includes two five-story buildings along Cayuga Inlet, and two 4-story buildings inland with 450-500 residential units total, and approximately 10,000 square feet of commercial space.

The project will be constructed in two phases with approximately 200 units in the first phase and between 250-300 units in the second phase, with each phase including a waterfront and inland building.

Details released for immense “Water’s Edge” development proposal in Ithaca

The waterfront buildings will be connected by a second-floor roof terrace and will have a mix of parking, commercial, residential and amenity/service space on the first floor with apartments and additional amenities above. The two inland buildings will include a mix of residential units and amenity service space. Site improvements and amenity spaces include fire pits, outdoor recreation, eating, cooking and seating areas, landscaping, lighting, and several new terraced stairways and ramps along the Waterfront Trail to provide access to new boat docks, with a kayak launch along the Inlet.

This is a large and complex project, and at last month’s meeting, it became clear that it would likely get a Positive Declaration on SEQR, meaning it would need to put together a lengthy and time-consuming Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). At this point, the objective is to determine what topics will need the most attention within the EIS. The board was on tap to declare itself lead agency for environmental review, and begin putting together some of the “focus questions” last night.

Arnot’s Ian Hunter provided a scripted introduction and the board issued a unanimous declaration to be lead agency. Albany-based lawyer Kim Nason served as an interface to shepherd the SEQR process on behalf of the applicant, because if they do a Positive Declaration, they need to identify what they are most concerned about now.

It’s a large, multi-phase project, so there are certainly some major impacts, though they vary: for example, geologic impacts are probably less substantial than traffic and stormwater impacts, which absorbed most of the board’s discussion Tuesday. The project will return next month for further deliberations.

116 North Meadow Street

In the West End neighborhood, non-profit developer CSD Housing has proposed to reuse a vacant lot and demolish two adjacent apartment houses to construct a new 70-unit affordable (50-60% area median income) and integrated supportive housing project on a consolidated lot.

The five-story building is expected to be about 87,000 square feet total, and will host units ranging from studios to one- and two-bedroom units on the top four floors. The first floor will host covered parking, a lobby, and most resident amenities. The plans include a community room, bicycle parking, offices, second-floor playground terrace, fitness center, rooftop terrace, dog park, lounges and green walls on the upper floors. The project does not require zoning variances.

Feedback to the proposal, which has been winding its way through the review process on-and-off for the past several months, has largely been positive. It is of comparable size to other newer midrises in the West End, and the affordable and supportive housing units help the city to meet critically underserved groups.

Yifei Yan of Whiham Planning and Design and Adam Fishel of Marathon Engineering gave the update to the board. Yan described efforts to preserve existing trees at the corner of North Meadow and West Seneca Streets, and the burial of utility lines on other parts of the property. The ground floor covered garage will be open-air from the rear (south), but it will also have a metal mesh screen.

The board had no major concerns. Members were generally fine with the rear appearance, and the construction staging plan looked good to city staff. It’s not often a project of this size does not stir commentary, but that was the case Tuesday. Board Chair Mitch Glass asked about the supportive services, to which CSD Housing’s Robert Cain said 35 units would be for individuals in need of mental health support, and nine staff on-site for health counseling, security and maintenance.

The other 35 will be general public low- to moderate-income housing.

The State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) portion quickly came up for a vote, and a negative declaration was passed unanimously 5-0. The project will be back for potential final approval next month.

Lake Street Townhouses (261 Lake Street)

In Fall Creek, DMG Investments has proposed building 16 three‐story townhouses broken into two strings of nine units and seven units on a vacant, sloped stretch of Lake Street. The market‐rate townhouses will each have a back entrance and a front entrance onto Lake Street and will be a mix of three‐ and four‐bedroom units.

Site improvements include removing invasive plant species while introducing native plantings, a new sidewalk on Lake Street, street trees and stormwater planters to manage runoff from roofs. The project team proposes 16 surface parking spaces.

As planned, the project will require variances for the retaining walls to be built on the property, as well as multiple parking variances. Continuation of the Environmental Review was scheduled for last night, as well as continued discussions on a Recreational River Permit, which is necessary because it is adjacent to Fall Creek, a protected body of water.

Perhaps the biggest news development with the project is that the townhouses will be market-rate for-sale units now, rather than rentals. The project is no longer proposing any parking improvements to Lincoln Street Extension, which city staff and the Planning Board were lukewarm about anyway, and DMG is negotiating with its lender at the Auden Apartments nearby to establish a 99-year lease on a portion of the Auden lot, so households who wish to have a second vehicle can use that subsection of Auden’s lot. It was noted in DMG’s 100-unit proposal that Auden’s lot is substantially underutilized, built in the late 1980s when more students brought cars to school.

It should also be noted that not improving East Lincoln Street would make it easier to get the Recreational River Permit from the state since it would result in fewer impacts adjacent to Fall Creek. The reduced on-site parking also means smaller retaining walls for the project, something the Planning Board urged in previous meetings. On the agenda for last night was the continued review of the Recreational River Permit application, and the SEQR/CEQR. No votes were planned.

It appears these units will definitely not be cheap. Decently-maintained houses in Fall Creek are currently selling at about $250 per square foot. A new build will almost be $300 per square foot or more, meaning base prices of $500,000 or more would not be an unreasonable guess.

There was only one speaker during public comment. Ashley Miller, a Sears Street resident, stated she believed the for-sale housing would still be student housing, and that the parking modifications would not be enough.

Whitham Planning’s Michele Palmer took the reins for the Lake Street project and explained the changes and updates. Palmer highlighted the website and explained that DMG will establish a homeowners’ association as part of the sale of units. The parking on Lincoln Street was withdrawn out of fears the Recreational River Permit wouldn’t be approved otherwise. Palmer noted that the environmental soil samples from Barton & Loguidice (pronounced Loh-gui-dees) were taken from locations throughout the site, and showed a copy of the lease agreement for 15 parking spaces from the Auden site.

On the environmental side, environmental engineer Jim Duba noted that the contaminant level in the planned disturbed area did not reach levels outside state guidelines. Generally, badly contaminated areas of the Ithaca Gun footprint were towards the back of the building and flowed northwest towards Fall Creek, not directly west. Duba noted the only compound they found at an elevated level on the portion of the site to be disturbed was chloroform, and even then, it was still below state standards.

During this month’s update, the project team addressed the board’s lingering parking concerns, much to members’ satisfaction.

“I’m really happy to see only eight or nine additional cars during peak hours […] that seems well below the threshold,” commented Emily Petrina. She was also pleased with the ownership aspect as opposed to rentals.

Daniel Correa described the for-sale aspect as “an amenity in and as of itself,” given Ithaca’s renter-centric built environment.

Planning Director Lisa Nicholas did caution that the city has no jurisdiction about whether a project is for-sale or for-rent, and Correa noted that the city cannot stop owners from renting out rooms. City planner Nikki Cerra noted that a parking variance would be needed for Auden Ithaca, to which Palmer said Auden would be going to the BZA next month for that.

Given the Recreation River Permit, final approval would potentially be as far off as April, assuming there are no hiccups. The project will be back before the board next month.

113-119 Sears Street

Non-profit housing developer Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS) is moving forward with plans to build four single-family homes on a swath of land subdivided from the 400 Block of North Tioga Street. Tompkins County initially bought that land with the intent to build a new Center of Government building before the plans shifted one block south.

The four for-sale homes will be permanently affordable housing as part of INHS’s Community Housing Trust, sold to residents making around 80% of area median income, and who would also receive assistance on the downpayment and closing costs.

The housing is modular construction consisting of two 3-bedroom (1,305 square feet each) and two 2-bedroom (1,190 square feet each) homes, designed with front and back porches and sized to fit within neighborhood character. The existing site, approximately 0.239 acres, is almost entirely paved (the previous homes on-site were torn down several decades ago), with a small buffer of shrubs and grass between the parking lot and sidewalk along Sears Street.

The applicants are requesting a subdivision of the site into four new parcels. A number of variances will be required, including setback variances to allow the porches and area variances for the homes themselves.

This is a fairly small project, and the city is generally supportive of both lower-moderate income housing and owner-occupied housing, but the need for several variances could make the review of the project rather tricky.

INHS’s Leslie Ackerman showed the revised site plan with the swap of the two interior units, which switched positions. The board had no strong opinions and was cautiously optimistic about the proposal. A negative declaration was granted unanimously 5-0, and the project will return after a trip to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

On that related note, the area variances were the only BZA item on the agenda, and the board was supportive of the variances, noting that the homes fit the neighborhood context, and that Ithaca should be doing what they can to encourage lower-middle income owner-occupied housing in the city.

200 Highland Avenue

Local developer Charlie O’Connor and his associates are proposing a 3,518 square-foot (SF) addition to 210 Highland Avenue through the use of a contiguous basement, giving it the appearance of two separate apartment houses (not the first time this has been done in Ithaca). The existing house would be renovated, changing from an 11-bedroom cooperative household to two apartments, with one six-bedroom unit and one five-bedroom unit.

Meanwhile, the new addition would provide one three-bedroom and two five-bedroom units. The proposed addition is a two-story structure with an occupied attic which will preserve the historic character of the area with similar design elements as the surrounding buildings.

No zoning variances will be required, thanks to the contiguous basement that treats the second house as an addition rather than an entirely new structure. As long as the ILPC is comfortable with the plan, review by the Planning Board is expected to be fairly straightforward — it’s not a large building, and the design aspects were handled by the ILPC. This project was also up for SEQR/CEQR Determination last night, which would result in potential Site Plan Approval next month.

With some conditions, including a completely sunken access tunnel and some landscaping/sidewalk changes, the ILPC approved the addition to the Highland Avenue house. Project representative Michael Barnoski of Trade Design Build noted storage stalls in the basement, which he hoped would allay concerns about it becoming a “party basement.” A lighting plan has been prepared and will be coming shortly after the meeting.

Board member Bassel Khoury had some concerns about screening from the north, but overall the board was supportive of the landscaping and the project plans, feeling that the changes had been for the better. A curbed planter was considered, but given the more suburban neighborhood, the board didn’t feel that was necessary. Cerra called the project “buttoned up and fully complete.”

SEQR/CEQR Determination received a unanimous negative declaration, and the project is in the home stretch towards Site Plan Approval. It will be back next month.

601 East State Street

601 East State Street, new to the board this month, is the other half of Modern Living Rentals’ effort at small-scale infill in historic districts. Like its Highland Avenue counterpart, it was first discussed with the city back in June. MLR and its partners propose a 5,720 square-foot, three-story, six-unit multifamily residential building in the rear yard facing Ferris Place, behind the existing building, and located within the East Hill Historic District.

The proposed structure attempts to preserve the historic character of the area through form, scale and detailing such as a front porch and hip roof. Site improvements include plantings and constructing a parklet at the corner of Ferris Place and East State Street.

This is a small-scale project, and the design aspects were largely being handled by the ILPC during its review, after which the project was approved in October. The project will require an area variance since it’s in the “rear yard” of 601 East State on Ferris Place, but speaking strictly of the Planning Board’s role in the Site Plan Review process, this is another fairly straightforward submission.

Some ILPC members were disappointed with the loss of visual green space, so the corner parklet is an effort to mitigate that concern. The building would be faced in wood architectural shingles painted in a warm grey shade, with a true stucco foundation finish. Barnoski explored a few color options with the board, noting the ILPC reviewed a few options from “Hunter Green” to various reds, and seemed comfortable with the grey.

The board was generally favorable toward the proposal. The Planning Board liked the original “Darth Vader” color scheme in darker grey, but deferred to the ILPC’s judgement on the matter. The Board declared itself lead agency unanimously. The project could actually move along fairly quickly. If all the paperwork is filed in time, a SEQR/CEQR Determination could be made next month, which would theoretically allow March approval.

Meinig Fieldhouse (239 Tower Road)

First proposed this past fall and discussed in greater detail a few weeks back, Cornell has introduced plans to construct the Meinig Fieldhouse, an indoor sports and recreation center of approximately 90,000 square feet on the existing Robison Alumni Fields.

The Meinig Fieldhouse will accommodate a field programmed to support NCAA requirements for women’s and men’s lacrosse competitions; a varsity soccer pitch and/or varsity football field for practices; and the facility will host campus recreation, club, and intramural sport teams. The proposed building will also include a mechanical room, restrooms, a training room, and storage on the ground floor; two team rooms, restrooms, an area for elevated filming and mechanical spaces on the second level
mezzanine accessible by both stairs and elevator; and on each level there will be an area for a limited number of spectators.

The project is located in central campus and the limit of disturbance is proposed to be approximately seven acres total, split between the city and town of Ithaca. The project site is located in the U-1 Zoning District in the city of Ithaca and will require no variances, but is located in the Low-Density Residential Zoning District in the Town of Ithaca and will require variances for the work there.

Given the variances in the town and the building crossing the municipal boundary, the SPR process gets a little complicated. The City of Ithaca Planning Board was scheduled to declare itself lead agency last night, since the project’s primary impact will be in the City’s municipal confines, while the Town of Ithaca Planning Board will vote to concur (or not) with the decision.

If they agree, the town Planning Board will provide input and feedback, but it will not be the entity calling for and taking votes on the site plan. However, the Town Planning Board would need to vote on a Special Use Permit for an institutional building in the low-density housing zone, and a trip to the Town’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA, not the city’s BZA) for a height variance.

As is usual for Cornell projects, Elisabete Godden, a Planning Board member and Cornell project manager, recused herself from this agenda item. Kim Michaels of TWMLA and Cornell Athletic Director Nicki Moore led the presentation on behalf of the project team.

Moore explained that Cornell needed more indoor athletic field space for its programs, which better positions Cornell in recruiting athletes and competing to host NCAA championships. Michaels explained both municipalities would receive the same information packets, and that the project leaders would help facilitate communication between the municipalities. The goal is approval of zoning variances from the Town of Ithaca and final Site Plan Approval from the City of Ithaca to occur in May.

The board had some suggestions. Daniel Correa lauded the use of Sasaki Associates as landscape architect, but felt the landscaping was lacking in interest, and suggested decorative boulders or a small-quad like layout, and Chair Mitch Glass added that “it needs a lot more attention.” Emily Petrina liked the building design, and wanted Cornell to commit to solar arrays on the roof. There were also some concerns about the use of a synthetic turf field.

To get the ball rolling, the Planning Board voted 4-0 to declare itself lead agency, so it’s a solid first step for Cornell and its project team members to meet their May goal for approval.