A residential project moves forward in the town of Ithaca (just outside the city limits), from the Ithaca Journal:
Town of Ithaca planning board approves Belle Sherman housing project
Plan calls for 19 homes, 10 townhouse units
10:16 PM, Apr. 19, 2011
Written by
Rachel Stern
The Town of Ithaca Planning Board Tuesday night unanimously approved the final site plan for the Belle Sherman Cottages project.
In a 6-0 vote, the board granted final approval for a project that has been in the works for more than two years. The project, located on Mitchell Street, involves the development of 19 single-family houses and 10 attached townhouse units on 3.1 acres. The proposal involves a new private road between Worth Street and Clover Lane, new storm-water facilities, a play area, landscaping, sidewalks and a new connection to the East Ithaca Recreation Way.
A few members of the public voiced concerns about increased traffic the project will cause and the way the project will affect Vine Street. Vine Street is a private road, however, and owned by project owners Susan and Harold Mix, said board Chairman Fred Wilcox. The board also concluded the traffic added will not have a significant negative impact.
"Yes there is increased traffic, but I don't think anyone will notice one additional car every 15 minutes," Wilcox said.
But Vine Street resident Larry Hymes voiced concerns. He said the majority of people living in the townhouses would take Vine Street to access Mitchell Street. As a result, he said, there would be 20 to 30 additional trips per day on Vine Street.
"The traffic analysis does not address the impact on Vine Street itself," he said. "This development will have a significant impact on this particular street. The present condition of Vine Street cannot handle increased traffic. It is at best one and a half car widths wide."
Project applicant Toby Millman, president of Agora Homes, said he gave residents of Vine Street a choice earlier in the process. He offered to build fewer units, but not improve the quality of Vine Street or build more units and improve the street's conditions. Millman said the residents chose to have fewer units built.
"The next day they said they liked the new plan and that was what initiated this current program," he said. "With fewer units we could not cover the additional cost of improving Vine Street."
The board decided to require signs to be posted on Vine Street that read "private road." Board member Jon Bosak said he believed those signs would deter traffic.
"That is a sensible proposal," he said. "Signs that indicate it is a private road may mitigate traffic."
The planning board's decision was the final hurdle for the housing project.
Here's the link:
http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE
Here's a link to the project (not much though):
http://www.agoradevelopment.com/Current_Projects.html
Hey Vis, good comment.
