[Ex-Ithacan]

Hope this works out for IBC (from the Ithaca Journal):


Ithaca Beer Co. proposes restaurant, beer garden
Site archaeology deserves study, experts say
By Krisy Gashler •kgashler@gannett.com • March 16, 2010, 10:40 pm

Ithaca Beer Company's Dan Mitchell has proposed plans to expand his popular business on Route 13 with a new brewery, pub/restaurant, and beer garden -- but the site may contain Native American archaeological artifacts, Ithaca's Town Planning Board heard Tuesday night.

Mitchell told the board he'll need to expand his brewery by 2012, and he's hoping to buy 81 adjoining acres to build the brewery, a restaurant, a beer garden, a new home for his own family, and possibly other residential development. However, most of the acreage is slated to remain in agriculture, and Mitchell said he hopes to grow some of the food that would be sold through the restaurant or processed into the beers.

The board was supportive of the idea, but agreed with planner George Frantz and archaeologist Sherene Baugher, who said the site should be investigated for Native American artifacts.

The Town of Ithaca did an archaeological study of the Cayuga Inlet valley in 1993, but the current property owner, Earland Mancini, did not want to participate, Baugher said.

A dig bordering the property which Mitchell hopes to develop found an ancient burial ground, and it's possible that remnants of the Coreorgonel village could remain on the site, she said.

"Unfortunately," Baugher told Mitchell, "right where you have your house (proposed) is about 50 feet away from where the burial was found."

State law would likely require a study of cultural resources on the property before development, she said, and the planning board agreed that the archaeology should be studied, at least in areas that would be disturbed. The Town Board would have to re-zone the site to accommodate the development.

The board also:

* Heard plans for a storage building development just north of Ithaca Beer Co. on Route 13.

The All-Around Storage Mall was proposed for 602 Elmira Road -- the triangle of land between Routes 13 and 13A that was once a pancake house and a Chinese restaurant, and has been vacant for several years. Owner Rusty Luce proposed five storage buildings on the 3.6-acre site. Board members asked him to scale it back to three buildings, and work with New York State to get an entrance off 13A rather than 13.

* Gave approval to Tompkins County to subdivide property in anticipation of selling the Biggs Complex, which still houses the county Health Department.

Deputy County Attorney Steve Flash said the county is still negotiating with Cayuga Medical Center to sell the property. "There is progress and we're getting close," he said.

* Learned that Cornell University doesn't want to build a parking lot at the site of the former Courtside Racquet Club across from East Hill Plaza -- at least not right now.

Cornell had proposed to build a parking lot, similar to A-lot near the College of Veterinary Medicine, on the property at 380 Pine Tree Road that once held the Courtside Racquet Club. Cornell demolished that building roughly two years ago.

Cornell Real Estate Director Tom LiVigne said redevelopment plans have been temporarily shelved, "due to financial conditions."