[Ex-Ithacan]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe the waterfront is one of the designated areas for development. Hard to understand why people would get so upset over buildings 5 stories tall. Good old Ithaca.

From the ithaca Journal:

City takes fifth swing at waterfront zoning

9:40 PM, Aug. 19, 2011

Ithaca - A public hearing on waterfront rezoning ordinances focusing on Inlet Island drew mostly positive comments from property and business owners on the island.

The hearing, which took place Wednesday evening, was the fifth one on the changes, thanks to multiple amendments to the zoning proposal.

Steve Flash, part owner of the Boatyard Grill, said, "The idea is to enhance our ability to make the inlet more accessible and more attractive for community members and those from outside and increase the vibrancy of this area in particular."

However, some are concerned the changes, which include an increase in the maximum number of stories for buildings in the area to five, would result in the views of the lake and hills around Ithaca being blocked.

City resident Dave Nutter said, "I think things five stories high and with 100 percent coverage means there are going to be no trees and no views."

The changes will be circulated to property owners in the affected area before further action is taken on them.

-Liz Lawyer

the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE


An additional article from the Ithaca Times:

City Planning: Inlet Island Rezoning Law Recirculated

Posted: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 11:53 pm
By Bill Chaisson

After a public hearing at their meeting on Wednesday, August 17, the planning and economic development committee of the Ithaca Common Council decided to recirculate its proposed revision of waterfront zoning on the Inlet Island. "We're recirculating this instead of voting on it," said alderman Eric Rosario, I-2nd, "because members of the planning board that were going to comment on the version that we were looking at last month felt that the intent was not clear."

Comments made during the public hearing were generally in favor of the rezoning, but residents Dave Nutter and John Fuchs expressed affection for the present state of the inlet area and opposition to the perceived requirement that all new structures be up to five stories high.

A significant revision to the initial proposed law is the division of the island into two zones instead of one. "Eighty to 85 percent of what is being rezoned already allows five stories," said Rosario. "The strip along the east side of the island is only new area [for that height requirement.] There were concerns that a new minimum of three stories was being proposed. In fact the minimum is two stories in WF-2, and in WF-1 the minimum height is three stories." There are also exemptions for buildings on small lots and for any structure with a water-dependent use. All existing one story buildings are grandfathered in.


“I am an artist and I am going to be one of the developers of Inlet Island,” said Tom Newton, one of the founders of the Firehouse Theatre and the ancestor of this newspaper. “It is going to be a wonderful and vibrant community. We were bringing Venice, Amsterdam, and San Francisco to Ithaca; I realize this is a change for the Inlet Island community, but it's a positive change. We are not going to put up ricky-ticky New York City kind of tacky things. Castaways will always be Castaways.”

here's the link:

http://www.ithaca.com/news/article_9...cc4c002e0.html