At least this project seems to be showing some movement forward. From the Ithaca Journal.
The proposed design for the Collegetown Crossing building at 307 College Ave., Ithaca, just downhill from th city's fire station Number Nine. / PROVIDED
6-story Collegetown apartment building nears Ithaca approval
57-space parking variance at issue
Written by
David Hill
ITHACA — Collegetown Crossing, a 53-unit apartment project proposed by landlord and developer Josh Lower, is facing its last major regulatory hurdle Tuesday when it goes before the city Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance from a requirement that it have 57 parking spaces.
The project is on a parcel through the block from 307 College Ave. to 226 Linden Ave. A former pharmacy on College Avenue would be replaced with a six-story main building, while the three-unit Linden Avenue apartment building would remain. It’s viewed as a bellwhether for large-scale development in the neighborhood adjacent to Cornell University, something the city has been trying to steer for years and which was complicated when a plan for closer architectural scrutiny was turned back by property owners in 2011.
“In some ways this is a test case for what could happen in Collegetown, and it’s important to get it right,” said Common Council member Ellen McCollister, from the adjacent Third Ward.
Final site plan review by the Planning and Development Board would follow a variance by the BZA, according to McCollister.
Lower and his development team conducted a study of Collegtown parking and concluded that providing parking in effect encourages residents — overwhelmingly Cornell students — to bring cars to Ithaca. Lower maintains parking is a public good that should not be mandated. He says he’s taking a risk by not providing parking and wouldn’t seek the variance were it feasible but the site isn’t big enough. “You’d get a couple-story building surrounded by a parking lot.”
Third-Ward alderman Graham Kerslick said he’s on record that the parking requirement has negative consequences, but if it’s waived or removed, effort should go into better buildings. “I mean a better quality buildings, better designed buildings, making sure that there are provisions for if people have fewer cars. Then we need to make sure the pedestrian environment is provided for and is much safer — things like wide sidewalks.”
One potential benefit is a long-sought sizeable grocery store in Collegetown. For part of the 5,500 square-feet of ground-floor retail space, Lower said a lease has been approved by the Greenstar Cooperative Market council and is going before a membership referendum. Also planned is an indoor, heated, 24-hour bus stop along the lines of one on Green Street occupied by Gimme Coffee!
Lower said TCAT bus passes will be subsidized and Ithaca Carshare credit made available to residents. The project will generate an estimated $700,000 in property and sales taxes, compared to about $40,000 now, he said.
McCollister and Kerslick said the city is working on planning mechanisms that could lead to more public benefits on major projects and a more comprehensive approach to parking. For McCollister, her ward feels spillover parking from Collegetown and the variance is significant, but the bigger issue is that if a variance is given, it should come with improvements above tenement-like buildings too often seen up to now. Collegetown Crossing’s plans have improved since first filed, and with improvements could do that, she said.
“I would like to raise the bar for what’s possible in Collegetown,” she said. “It’s not there yet.”
here's the link:
http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE