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  #1341  
Old Posted Apr 30, 2011, 12:41 AM
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I know it's not much compared to bigger cities & companies, but it's a nice little plus for a small but growing company in Ithaca. From the Ithaca Journal:


Ithaca company lands $2.1 million for federal research
Primet's goal is more energy safely stored in lithium ion batteries

6:56 PM, Apr. 28, 2011
Written by
Andrew Tutino
Correspondent

ITHACA -- Primet Precision Materials Inc. and U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, announced Thursday that the Ithaca company has secured a $2.1 million research-and-development contract with the Department of Defense.

Primet will use the funding to conduct research that will allow for the production of better lithium ion batteries to be used by the military and in the public sector.

Primet will partner with the Army Research Lab for one year to demonstrate how the special technology it uses, called NanoScission, will allow for lithium ion batteries to be produced at lower cost than those associated with the current manufacturing process. The contract will also allow Primet to demonstrate how its technology can be applied to other uses for the U.S. Army.

Primet President and CEO Larry Thomas said the research the company is conducting will allow for lithium batteries to have more energy built into them in a safer way. Lithium energy has more power than dynamite, Thomas said, and researchers are constantly "pressing the envelope" to make the batteries better. Primet conducts the research in the lab and serves as a link to large manufacturers, who are able to produce the batteries on a large scale and at a cheaper cost.

"We are translating our research from the laboratory to manufacturing," Thomas said. "That is where we are trying to head. The importance of this research and its impact on such a wide variety of sectors, military and commercial, is substantial."

Primet is based at the South Hill Business Campus, 950 Danby Road.

Primet's workforce has doubled to 25 full-time employees in the past three years. Thomas said this contract with the Department of Defense will allow the company to continue to grow by securing more investments, which in turn will allow for more research and the creation of more jobs. Eventually, the company hopes the research it conducts will provide technology that creates such things as more fuel-efficient vehicles.

"The way Primet is succeeding, I may be back for more milestones like this one," Hinchey said. Later, he added: "This is very important because it helps in an economic sense by creating interesting jobs. These jobs are essential, interesting and challenging."

Hinchey said he was able to secure the contract through his work on the House Appropriations Committee.


Here's the link:

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



And a small bit on a new eatery downtown (from the Ithaca Journal):


Briefly in Business: New café opens in downtown Ithaca

3:26 PM, Apr. 26, 2011

Ithaca -- Crespella Café offers a new addition to the breakfast and lunch scene in downtown Ithaca. Located at 113 S. Cayuga St. in the Commons West Building, the café had its grand opening last week and will be open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The café serves a traditional breakfast along with scones, muffins and assorted flavors of croissants. Lunch choices include more than a dozen pancake options, specialty sandwiches, soups, salads and house-made cakes, pies and tortes for desserts at lunch.


Here's the link:
http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...xt|FRONTPAGE|s
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  #1342  
Old Posted May 4, 2011, 10:17 PM
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I hope the study recommends a nice midrise building downtown somewhere **crosses fingers**.


Tompkins OK's spending on government-center study

10:02 PM, May. 3, 2011
Written by
Liz Lawyer

The Tompkins County Legislature accepted two grants and approved two appropriations from contingency funds Tuesday.

An additional $75,000 for a study on a proposed Center of Government building was approved unanimously. Previously, the legislature approved $50,000 for the study. The consultant approved for the project, HOLT Architects of Ithaca, agreed to complete the business case analysis on the Center of Government for $124,625, according the resolution passed unanimously by the legislature.

County government is expected to be increasingly short on space, as the New York State Court System has requested more space in the Court House. The current Legislature Chambers will be a courtroom..............



Here's the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE
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  #1343  
Old Posted May 5, 2011, 10:59 PM
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The big housing development in Collegetown finally gets under way. From the Cornell Daily Sun:



Zac Peterson
Construction began recently on Collegetown Terrace, a new apartment complex south of East State Street. The project will add a net 427 rooms and 16 new buildings.



Work Commences on Collegetown Housing Project

May 5, 2011
By Rebecca Friedman


Construction is underway on the Collegetown Terrace Apartments, a project that will dramatically increase the availability of graduate student housing in southern Collegetown, after the project’s developers received final approval for the project’s first phase on March 22 from the City of Ithaca Planning & Development Board.

The project will add about 589 net additional bedrooms and build 16 new buildings on the area that currently holds 637 bedrooms. Of the 33 existing buildings on-site, 29 will be destroyed, three will be retained and one will be rehabilitated.

The Collegetown Terrace Apartments project has been significantly altered since it was originally proposed in 2009. The revisions address “environmental concerns about impacts on historic resources and community character, [and] a lot of public concern about the way the apartments would impact the existing neighborhoods in Ithaca,” said John Schroeder ’74, chair of the Planning Board and Production Manager of The Sun.

Alan Chimacoff ’63, head building architect of the project, agreed the revised plans will make the buildings more compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods.

“The context of [the neighborhood] has driven the design of the buildings that come most closely to it,” Chimacoff said.

The variety of elements used throughout the project, such as brick, local Llenroc stone and sandstone, “respond to elements of the local architectural vocabulary,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder added that the taller buildings of the development will be placed in the middle of the site and on lower elevations toward the Six Mile Creek Gorge so that “the visual impact of those [buildings] is reduced.”

The approved plan will also place parking under the residential buildings to help make the project more visually appealing.

“All the ground on the site that’s not used for buildings and where roads need to be is available for social and recreational use,” Chimacoff said.

The project will cover about 12.1 of the 16.4 acre site between East State Street, South Quarry Street, Valentine Place and the edge of Six Mile Creek Gorge. It will result in a total of about 1226 bedrooms where 637 previously existed.

Originally, all the buildings along East State Street were slated to be demolished. However, 901 East State Street will be preserved to compensate for impacts to historic resources on the site, according to Schroeder.

The project is targeted toward graduate students, although the apartments will be available to anyone.

“Because of the distance from Cornell and the amenities they’re providing they think it will appeal to graduate students,” Schroeder said.

The project has been broken up into two phases. Phase one, which began in April, involves the portion of the site where the existing buildings will be demolished nearest East State Street, with the exception of 901 East State Street, and the new buildings erected.

In phase two, which will likely be approved in June, developers will build the remaining structures closest to Six Mile Creek Gorge.

“Even for phase one, they still have to come to us for approval for the specific materials, the specific colors, the exact 901 East State Street restoration plans,” Schroeder said.

The end date of construction is up to the developer, but there has been talk of renters being able to move in by fall 2012, Schroeder said.



Here's the link:

http://www.cornelldailysun.com/secti...ousing-project
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  #1344  
Old Posted May 5, 2011, 11:43 PM
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A TV news report concerning the new Collegetown rezoning plan (From YNN):

http://ithaca-cortland.ynn.com/conte...rezoning-plan/

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  #1345  
Old Posted May 6, 2011, 11:49 PM
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^ A glitch has developed with the above approval. Ithaca, please

From the Ithaca Journal:



Three-year Collegetown rezoning process hits 11th-hour snags
Residents protest two ordinances

7:36 PM, May. 5, 2011
Written by
Liz Lawyer

Three City of Ithaca rezoning ordinances based on the 2009 Collegetown Urban Plan and Conceptual Design Guidelines are in limbo despite approval by a majority of Common Council members Wednesday.

A protest packet submitted by property owners in the affected area may require the ordinances to have the support of 75 percent of Common Council's votes, which would mean eight members.

Two of the ordinances had votes of 7-3, with council members Joel Zumoff, D-3rd; J.R. Clairborne, D-2nd; and Maria Coles, D-1st, opposing. Only an ordinance on a height incentive district got the necessary 8-2 vote, with Clairborne and Coles opposing.

However, City Attorney Dan Hoffman said he's not sure which ordinances the protest packet was targeting. To trigger the 75 percent requirement, 20 percent of the affected land would have to be represented in the protest. Hoffman said his office was working on confirming that the owners represented in the packet are the actual owners, and that the total land included amounts to the necessary 20 percent.

The district ordinance would create small districts in Collegetown under code that regulate physical form as well as use and density. The ordinance on the height incentive district would create an area in which developers have the option of building up to seven stories if they provide space for an acceptable use, such as a hotel, high-quality office space or a grocery store. A parking overlay zone ordinance would create an area in which developers may opt to give a payment in lieu of the parking spaces required by zoning code.

Of the two ordinances in question, the parking overlay zone is much larger than the area affected by the districts and rezoning in the other ordinance. Therefore, more land would have to be represented in the protest packet to affect the parking overlay zone ordinance.

About 25 people came Wednesday to speak in opposition to the rezoning ordinances, which City Planner Megan Gilbert said have been in the works for about 3 1/2 years.

Several Collegetown residents and others said the rezoning ordinances were not ready for approval. The most common concerns were that the ordinances contained no incentives to encourage the establishment of a grocery store in Collegetown, that the plan will not achieve a stated goal of reducing car use in the area, and that the plan benefits developers at the expense of the area as a whole.

Some residents are also concerned that the rezoning will allow the development of Collegetown Terrace, a large student housing project on East State Street, and say they are concerned with the possibility of property going off the tax rolls if Cornell University buys it. Project developer John Novarr has denied there is any plan to sell the development.

Collegetown resident Anne Clavel asked the council not to pass the ordinances Wednesday night, saying, "There are innumerable problems. I'll start with the fact that we have not had an overall look at the environmental impact of the plan. You have said you will take each building as it comes, but as each building comes, you do not know what the cumulative effect will be of all of them."

City resident Todd Saddler said, "I ask you to vote no because I think it will do more harm than good. There has been lots of discussion, but there are still no concrete changes to the proposals. If you vote no, we can make some changes over the coming weeks ... If you vote for them as they are, (developers) will probably tear down a lot of buildings like they're doing on State Street now and build one or two tall, block-long buildings."

Saddler offered an alternative to zoning in the ordinance that would limit building lengths to 100 feet or less, but the council did not consider it Wednesday.

Coles said her "no" votes on the ordinances were because of several things, including a lack of a credible traffic study, and that the plan has not been re-evaluated since the introduction of the Collegetown Terrace project on State Street.

"Until we have these answers provided to us, we should postpone voting on this project," Coles said.

Clairborne said whether or not the plan is good, members of the public at the meeting showed there is enough resistance that it wasn't the right time to move it forward.

"No matter how much work is going into something, if the public don't understand it, it's not ready yet," Clairborne said. "It becomes an imposition on the people."

Alderwoman Ellen McCollister, D-3rd, disagreed with those concerns.

"There is an awful lot of logic to this," she said. "We've been working on it a long time. I feel very comfortable and feel a lot of pride for how this is turning out."

Alderman Svante Myrick, D-4th, said, "What's possible in Collegetown (under current zoning) is building one monolithic building on every block. That's what this zoning tries to avoid. Leaving it as it is, to me, is very dangerous."

Alderman Eddie Rooker offered an amendment to the height incentive zone to include a grocery store as an acceptable use to allow developers in the zone to build an extra story. The amendment passed.

A vote on an ordinance establishing binding design review was 7-3, with Zumoff, Clairborne and Coles opposing.

Zumoff said, "I don't think we should have a handful of people dictate what a building should look like. I don't mind suggestions, but it doesn't sit well with me that people should decide what a building looks like (rather than) the person paying for it."


Here's the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE
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  #1346  
Old Posted May 12, 2011, 9:55 PM
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I hope Stewart Park ( a wonderful Ithaca landmark at the south end of Cayuga Lake) gets the overdue renovations it deserves. From the Ithaca Journal:

There's an aerial view of part of the park here (typically Ithaca):

http://marccatone.webs.com/apps/phot...toid=107791609

City-County Watch: Stewart Park presentation Monday

8:33 PM, May. 11, 2011
Written by
Staff report


Ithaca -- A presentation of "Architectural Sketches and Plans for Building and Landscape Improvement" at Stewart Park is planned for 6 p.m. Monday in the Borg Warner Room of the Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E. Green St.

Claudia Brenner Design and landscape architect Rick Manning will present design plans, cost information, and implementation proposals for a series of building and landscape improvement projects for the park.

Information will be presented on the following building and projects: Cascadilla Boathouse, the small pavilion, Wharton Studio, the large pavilion, the concession building and a new park maintenance building. Numerous park landscape improvement projects will also be presented, including the Mayor Stewart Memorial Flagpole Garden, the performance pier and pavilion plaza, an all-children's playground, the newly constructed Cayuga Waterfront Trail.

July 4 is the 90th anniversary of the dedication of Stewart Park.


Here's the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE
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  #1347  
Old Posted May 13, 2011, 9:34 PM
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Some deeper explanation about how a few nimbys stop a three year effort to dense up my old hood. From the Ithaca Journal:


Ithaca suspends new Collegetown ordinances

Protest against 1 of 4 zoning measures upheld, affecting others
9:01 PM, May. 12, 2011
Written by
Liz Lawyer

An 11th-hour protest objecting to zoning changes contained in the 2009 Collegetown Plan effectively derailed one of the four ordinances contained in the plan, Ithaca City Attorney Dan Hoffman explained to Common Council Thursday.

The ordinances were part of a plan under development for three and a half years.

The council voted unanimously Thursday to suspend the enactment of the ordinances that did pass under the protest, saying in the resolution, "(T)he four ordinances ... are inter-related and were intended to be enacted as a package."

The first would have established form-based districts, but fell short of the eight votes required to pass it under the protest. Form-based districts regulate buildings' physical form, along with use and density.

Under state law, if property owners representing at least 20 percent of the land in an area affected by rezoning protest, the municipal body making the rezoning must pass the change with at least 75 percent of the votes. That requires eight votes on Common Council.

The second ordinance, to establish a height incentive overlay district, passed 8-2, bypassing the protest. The third ordinance, though it garnered a vote of 7-3, affects a larger area than the form district ordinance and only about 15 percent of the land was represented in the protest. The ordinance made changes to an existing parking overlay zone.

The fourth ordinance established binding design review in Collegetown and garnered a vote of 7-2, with one council member out of the room. However, Hoffman determined the protest did not apply because the ordinance does not establish district regulations or change zoning descriptions, and its scope can be characterized as city-wide.

City Planning Director JoAnn Cornish said she would like the vote on the form district ordinance taken again in the council's June meeting.

Cornish said the height incentive overlay district and parking overlay zone "speak to increase of density in Collegetown. Without the form districts, the neighborhoods are very vulnerable," allowing property owners to build according to zoning specifications currently on the books that would have been replaced by the form district ordinance.


Here's the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...t|Local%20News
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  #1348  
Old Posted May 14, 2011, 10:36 PM
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Gotta say I am worried if there's a possibility of Novarr & Cornell working a deal. I mean, 62% tax exempt, no wonder people aren't happy with the high taxes in the city. From the Ithaca Journal:

Novarr, Cornell deny tax-exempt plans

Residents worry about Collegetown Terrace project
8:21 PM, May. 13, 2011
Written by
Liz Lawyer


Ithaca -- A group of Ithaca residents say they are concerned over the prospect of losing another large chunk of property from the city tax rolls if the developers of the Collegetown Terrace student housing project on East State Street eventually sell the development to Cornell University.

The residents, including green building architect Todd Saddler and real estate agent and landlord Mark Mecenas, say a previous development formerly owned by John Novarr and Ithaca-based property developers Integrated Acquisition and Development, College Circle Apartments, was sold to Ithaca College as student housing and subsequently removed from the tax rolls.

Though a PILOT, or Payment in Lieu of Taxes, is on the College Circle property, it applies only to the Town of Ithaca. The Ithaca City School District and the county receive no income from that land.

Those concerned about Collegetown Terrace say College Circle could be an indication of how things will play out in the city.

Sixty-two percent of the land in the City of Ithaca is tax-exempt. Of that land, 87 percent is owned by Cornell University.

Novarr addressed the city council's Planning and Development Committee April 20 with some harsh words for those claiming suspicion of his intentions.

"I have heard that some few residents of Collegetown and some Collegetown multi-family unit owners are unhappy with my business practices of putting housing together," Novarr said. "I have been accused of being a dupe for Cornell. Some have fantasized that once the (project) is completed, Cornell will be interested in buying and taking the properties off the tax rolls."

Novarr said he was "amazed that these property owners ... have the guts to criticize developers."

One of the houses Novarr purchased to make way for Collegetown Terrace he bought from Mecenas, both men say. Mecenas is now among the most vocal opponents of the project because he worries it will eventually mean the loss of more property from the tax rolls.

"I believe what is happening is allowing a situation that will inevitably be bad for the community," Mecenas said. "It is going to lead to properties coming off the tax rolls."

Cornell denies any existing interest in Collegetown Terrace. In a letter addressed to Mayor Carolyn Peterson Jan. 11, Cornell Vice President for Government and Community Relations Stephen Johnson said the university has no financial involvement in the development or in 312 College Avenue, another building owned by Novarr and his partners.

"In 2008-09, Cornell considered whether it should become involved in the proposed development of Collegetown Terrace," Johnson's letter says. "Ultimately the university decided that it would not participate in the project. Cornell presently has no connection, financial or otherwise, to the Collegetown Terrace Project. No ownership arrangement has been made between the owner/developer and Cornell, nor are any such arrangements presently being contemplated."

In a letter to Common Council, Saddler wrote that College Circle was built under a set of conditions that "amounts to complicated shell game ... that allows a seamless transfer of ownership from the developer to the university."

Saddler said another building at 312 College Ave. has the same set of arrangements, and says Common Council "will have to admit that there's at least a reasonable possibility" of Cornell acquiring the building and removing it from the tax rolls, despite the university's statement otherwise.

Saddler also offered a binder of public documents he says illustrate the College Circle deal and the possibility of the same deal for Collegetown Terrace, including leases, Ithaca College and Cornell financial statements, mortgage modifications and other documents.

"There is nothing to prevent the same process from playing out with the development now being built along State Street," he says, urging the council to vote against the ordinances included in the 2009 Collegetown Rezoning Plan, which would allow the development to move forward.

Novarr declined to comment further on the issue, but did say he was glad that development would soon be free to resume in Collegetown after a five-year wait.

"The city's been working for five years on rezoning Collegetown," he said. "During that time, development has effectively stopped. I'm happy to see that the city is about to take a substantial step toward rezoning so that Collegetown can become a better place to live and work."


Here's the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE
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  #1349  
Old Posted May 14, 2011, 10:47 PM
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TV news item (on YNN) about a successful job creation program in Ithaca (good stuff):

http://ithaca-cortland.ynn.com/conte...on-investment/

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Old Posted May 17, 2011, 10:17 PM
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A bit more info on Stewart Park's renovation, from the Ithaca Journal:


Stewart Park fix-up plans unveiled

Ithaca group forming goals, ambitious fundraising aims
10:01 PM, May. 16, 2011
Written by
David Hill


Rehabilitating Ithaca's main lakefront park moved forward Monday with the unveiling of the projects that volunteers, including a newly formed Friends of Stewart Park organization, hope to tackle, and the announcement of an ambitious fundraising goal of $10 million in 10 years, in time for the park's centennial.

"Our vision is to re-create the magic place we call Stewart Park," said Scott Wiggins, an Ithaca hotelier and a leader of the new benefactor group. "Keep that in mind: Ten years and 10 million dollars. We can do it, Ithaca."

At the Tompkins County Public Library's Borg-Warner Community Room, architect Claudia Brenner and landscape architect Rick Manning outlined improvements with cost estimates for the short- and long-term.

The work has been managed by the Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative, a program of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and received grants from the Tompkins County Strategic Tourism Planning Board.

The goal is to seek project sponsors and to use volunteer labor and expertise, just as volunteers have tackled painting and clean-up in the past few years.

All the park's buildings would be rehabbed, including the large and small pavilions, Cascadilla boathouse, the former Wharton silent-film studio now used as a city public works workshop, and the concession stand.

A new playground would be built, and extensive landscaping would include a waterfront performance pier and plaza, and reconstruction of the park's early pathways. Access for people with disabilities would be improved, and landscaping would address geese control and other wildlife habitat.

The Friends organization recognizes that city government cannot rehabilitate the park on its own, Wiggins said. The Friends has an organizational meeting in June with plans to seek tax-exempt non-profit status, Wiggins said.

To gain momentum, four living former mayors plan a joint letter campaign to raise funds for a community-build rehabilitation of the Mayor Edwin Stewart Memorial Flagpole Garden by the park's 90th anniversary, July 4.

More information is at www.cayugawaterfront trial.org, under "special projects."


Here's the link:

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


Here's a link to Stewart Park on Wiki:

http://ithaca.govoffice.com/index.as...D49298134C9%7D
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  #1351  
Old Posted May 21, 2011, 10:01 PM
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I understand suicide prevention is important, but the "Ithaca is Gorges" theme is sorely lacking in the city now with the barriers blocking the view. From the Ithaca Journal:


Effectiveness of Cornell suicide barriers questioned

5:41 PM, May. 20, 2011



Pedestrians cross the College Avenue bridge over Cascadilla Gorge Friday at midday. / SIMON WHEELER / STAFF PHOTO


Written by
Rachel Stern

When Daniel Jost was a student at Cornell University, he enjoyed walking to North Campus and slowing down to gaze at the gorges. It relaxed him, he said.

"One of the things that gets lost are the mental health benefits the gorges provided for students before the barriers were put up," he said. "I worry future Cornellians will never be able to look out over the bridges without being reminded of death."

Jost, who graduated in 2005 and is a writer and editor for Landscape Architecture Magazine, said it is more than just those feelings of nostalgia that sparked him to research the effectiveness of suicide barriers.

To Jost, scientific evidence that says suicide barriers will save lives is inconclusive. Barriers will simply push the problem elsewhere, he said.

After three suicides in spring 2010, the university consulted with three suicide experts who stressed that barriers are effective. For now, black fences are in place.

The city and the university are reviewing 21 schematic designs. A final design will be proposed May 31, after which the city and university will review the selection.

Tim Marchell, director of mental health initiatives at Cornell, said Cornell is in a unique position in that half of the suicides among students over the past 20 years have been jumping deaths.

"That is really an unprecedented proportion," he said. "There have been no studies on communities that have this high a percentage resulting from jumping."

Most notably, Jost cited the Bloor Street Viaduct study in Toronto. The authors of the study found that there was no significant decrease in the jumping suicide rate after a barrier went up on the Bloor Street Viaduct. People just jumped from other places in Toronto.

In addition, the suicide rate at Cornell is lower than the national average and therefore, the university is not in need of a method to stop suicide, he said.

"Suicide rates spike and they go down," he said. "We shouldn't make a rash decision that really effects how people live on campus based on a single year's worth of suicides."

Marchell said the authors of the Bloor Street Viaduct study found that there is some risk of displacement if there are comparable bridges nearby. At Cornell and in the surrounding area, the bridges are all being treated as one, he said.

"No single bridge on East Hill is uniquely attractive for suicide," Marchell said. "That is why consultants told us to treat the bridges collectively as a single iconic site for suicide."

While people may try another method of suicide if there are bridge barriers, in many cases that alternative method may be less deadly, he said. More individuals survive an overdose than jumping off a bridge, he said.



Here's the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE
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Old Posted May 31, 2011, 8:52 AM
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For those of you who don't check out the city photos sections, here's a link to a great tour of Ithaca from Clevelumbus:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=191445

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Old Posted May 31, 2011, 10:36 PM
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Some decent news foer the Ithaca area economically. From the Ithaca Journal:

Ithaca regional economy index hit new high in April

6:57 PM, May. 30, 2011

The Ithaca College Index of Economic Activity in Tompkins County improved 0.59 percent in April to a level of 159.26 from a revised mark of 158.33 in March. The reading is an all-time high for the index.

Gains in employment and retail sales drove the index upward. Air traffic and help-wanted advertising stayed about the same, while building permits and home sales showed weakness. Compared to April 2010, economic activity was up 2.66 percent.

The Tompkins County economy added 600 jobs in April to bring total employment to 65,700 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent compared to 5.6 percent a year earlier. The unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in New York and 8.7 percent across the nation.

Retail sales forged ahead by 2.79 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Retail sales in April were 5.81 percent higher than a year ago. The county's retail sector put on 100 jobs in April.

The number of passengers departing and arriving at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport slipped 2.34 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to April 2010, air traffic was up 0.03 percent.

After climbing for two months, residential building permits issued in Tompkins County fell 57.58 percent in April. Building permits have a tendency to swing widely from month to month. For the year, building permits are on a par with last year.

County Realtors sold 70 homes in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. This amounts to a decline of 6.54 percent over last month. Compared to April 2010, homes sales were down 13.33 percent. The average sales price of a home in Tompkins County was $196,300 compared with $183,300 a year ago. The median sales price was $165,500 compared with $166,000 a year ago.

Help-wanted advertising inched ahead by 1.95 percent in April. Compared to April 2010, help-wanted advertising was up 7.81 percent. These increases are evidence of an improving labor market.

The improved employment and retail sales figures for April are encouraging. Let's keep an eye on them to see if these gains hold. Through the first four months of 2011, economic activity in Tompkins County is running 1.3 percent ahead of last year's average. The forecast is for 2 percent growth in 2011.

Elia Kacapyr is a professor of economics at Ithaca College. His economic report on Tompkins County is published monthly in The Ithaca Journal.
Here's the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...xt|FRONTPAGE|p
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  #1354  
Old Posted May 31, 2011, 10:43 PM
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An appeal from a county Chamber of Commerce official for a taller/denser Collegetown. From the Ithaca Journal:


Collegetown Plan needed to update city zoning

2:45 PM, May. 27, 2011

Written by
Jean McPheeters


Earlier this year, the Board of Directors of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution regarding the Seneca Way project in the City of Ithaca. The resolution noted that the tax base would be improved by the addition of new commercial and residential units, that the Tompkins Chamber is committed to supporting housing density in line with the County Comprehensive Plan, and that the chamber supports higher density commercial and/or residential development.

On June 1, the city council again may be considering the 2009 Collegetown Plan that is outlined in four separate ordinances. The council voted last week to suspend the enactment of these ordinances because one of the ordinances, relating to the creation of form-based districts, did not receive the eight votes that are required to pass it under a protest. The protest was brought forward in a petition signed by individuals who own at least 20 percent of the property in the area to be rezoned.

City residents and business owners should consider this issue and get in touch with their representatives on the council. The 2009 Collegetown Plan has been in development for more than 3 1/2 years. It has been reviewed in many public meetings. It calls for the establishment of this form-based district with height and parking overlays. It has been developed to attempt to deal with very high demand for housing units near the Cornell University campus in an area bordered by residential neighborhoods.

There has been some concern voiced in the community that new private-sector projects, such as the Collegetown Terrace project now being built on East State Street, might at some time be purchased by a not-for-profit entity and removed from the tax rolls. I understand that Cornell University has clearly stated that it is not interested in acquiring such housing projects. And I was very pleased to read the recent letter in the May 23 Ithaca Journal from Carl Sgrecci of Ithaca College, who clearly explained that Ithaca College "made a conscious decision" to continue to make payments to the county, Ithaca City School District and Town of Ithaca through a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement on the College Circle apartments.

The city council is faced with an important decision. In order to assure that the city's tax base continues to grow and that there is an adequate supply of safe housing available, the council must update the zoning regulations throughout the city. Much of the zoning has not been updated in nearly three decades. The Collegetown Plan has been debated for almost four years. Ithacans and the city council have spoken in support of more density and less sprawl. On behalf of the chamber's board, I urge the city council to approve the Collegetown Plan.

[B]Earlier this year, the Board of Directors of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution regarding the Seneca Way project in the City of Ithaca. The resolution noted that the tax base would be improved by the addition of new commercial and residential units, that the Tompkins Chamber is committed to supporting housing density in line with the County Comprehensive Plan, and that the chamber supports higher density commercial and/or residential development.

On June 1, the city council again may be considering the 2009 Collegetown Plan that is outlined in four separate ordinances. The council voted last week to suspend the enactment of these ordinances because one of the ordinances, relating to the creation of form-based districts, did not receive the eight votes that are required to pass it under a protest. The protest was brought forward in a petition signed by individuals who own at least 20 percent of the property in the area to be rezoned.

City residents and business owners should consider this issue and get in touch with their representatives on the council. The 2009 Collegetown Plan has been in development for more than 3 1/2 years. It has been reviewed in many public meetings. It calls for the establishment of this form-based district with height and parking overlays. It has been developed to attempt to deal with very high demand for housing units near the Cornell University campus in an area bordered by residential neighborhoods.

There has been some concern voiced in the community that new private-sector projects, such as the Collegetown Terrace project now being built on East State Street, might at some time be purchased by a not-for-profit entity and removed from the tax rolls. I understand that Cornell University has clearly stated that it is not interested in acquiring such housing projects. And I was very pleased to read the recent letter in the May 23 Ithaca Journal from Carl Sgrecci of Ithaca College, who clearly explained that Ithaca College "made a conscious decision" to continue to make payments to the county, Ithaca City School District and Town of Ithaca through a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement on the College Circle apartments.

The city council is faced with an important decision. In order to assure that the city's tax base continues to grow and that there is an adequate supply of safe housing available, the council must update the zoning regulations throughout the city. Much of the zoning has not been updated in nearly three decades. The Collegetown Plan has been debated for almost four years. Ithacans and the city council have spoken in support of more density and less sprawl. On behalf of the chamber's board, I urge the city council to approve the Collegetown Plan.

McPheeters is president of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce.



Here's the link:


http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...xt|FRONTPAGE|p
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  #1355  
Old Posted Jun 7, 2011, 10:52 PM
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New restaurant (and apartments) open in an old downtown building. From the Ithaca Journal:



Sunit "Lex" Chutintaranond, left and Frost Travis talk to Larry Baum, right Monday at the opening Chutintaranond's new restaurant, Mia, on The Commons. The former Plantations site contains the restaurant, rental office space and eight apartments on the upper floors. / SIMON WHEELER / STAFF PHOTO

Teamwork saluted in opening of restaurant on Ithaca Commons

Teamwork saluted in opening of restaurant on Ithaca Commons

10:45 PM, Jun. 6, 2011
Written by
Liz Lawyer


It takes a village to raise a restaurant, as made evident by the amount of people credited and thanked at Monday's ribbon-cutting for Mia Restaurant, newly opened on The Commons.

The restaurant, owned by local restaurateurs and husband-and-wife team Sunit "Lex" Chutintaranond and Flaminia Cervesi and located in the historic Plantations building, was supported by 11 different sources of funding and took the cooperation of city and county officials, as well as the faith of the owner's bank and construction company, said Nels Bohn, director of community development for the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency.

Heather Filiberto, director of economic development services at Tompkins County Area Development, said the project "shows it's very difficult to make a project work downtown when you have a dilapidated building and you want to do so much with it."

Filiberto said she expects the renovated building, with office space for rent, a banquet room and eight one-bedroom apartments on the floors above the restaurant, will help businesses throughout The Commons with increased foot traffic.

For Chutintaranond and Cervesi, the project took a little more than a year and more than a little sweat and tears to complete.

Cervesi said when they first went through the building, Chutintaranond's foot when through the floor.

Chutintaranond explained how they preserved the original ceiling in the restaurant by removing the tiles, cleaning and painting each one, replacing support beams and putting in a firewall before replacing the ceiling. Securing funding also was difficult, he said.

"It's hard when you deal with that -- when you take out the floor and see how nasty it is," Chutintaranond said.

"This building at the center or heart of The Commons has had a fascinating history," from its days as the Cossantini Shoe Store to its incarnation as the Plantations Building, said Gary Ferguson, executive director for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. "Now, a new chapter is about to be written ... I know it has been a difficult journey."

Bohn said the new building represents about a $3 million investment.

This is the fifth restaurant for the couple, who also started Zaza's Cucina, Just a Taste, Thai Cuisine and Madeleine's.


Here's the link:

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

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  #1356  
Old Posted Jun 10, 2011, 5:44 PM
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great thread! native ithacan here
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  #1357  
Old Posted Jun 13, 2011, 9:55 PM
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^ Thanks ty1. Do you still live there?

btw, here's a thread you might like from forumer Clevelumbus:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=191445
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  #1358  
Old Posted Jun 15, 2011, 8:35 PM
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At least they didn't totally stop everything. From the Ithaca Journal:

Hearing planned on West Hill projects
Town board considering moratorium on construction

7:06 PM, Jun. 14, 2011
Written by
Rachel Stern


A public hearing has been set regarding a potential building moratorium on West Hill in the Town of Ithaca.

The Town Board scheduled the hearing Monday for 6 p.m. July 11 in the town hall, 215 N. Tioga St. After the hearing, the board will most likely vote on the moratorium, Town Supervisor Herb Engman said.

"The moratorium would be for 365 days and would be a portion of West Hill," he said. "During that time, we would conduct a study of the area to better inform us how development should take place on West Hill."

Unless an abundance of new information is presented at the hearing, the board would likely vote on the moratorium afterward, he said. A map of the proposed area was not yet available.

Under current moratorium language, three West Hill projects would be exempt, Engman said.

The Holochuck Homes project would be excluded because the planning board granted preliminary site plan approval. The Conifer senior living facility would be excluded because senior housing is needed for the town and the developer must start applying for grants in the summer, Engman said. Also exempted is the Waldorf School's plan to temporarily move into the old Biggs building.

"I would call it a limited moratorium for West Hill," Engman said. "It is a smaller area than originally discussed. That is primarily because you have to be very concise in setting an area and to make a map match up with the language and rationale; it gets to be a delicate balancing act."

On Monday night, the board scheduled a public hearing for July 11 regarding amendments to the zoning law that would ban gas drilling in the town, Engman said. The board will likely vote on those amendments after the public hearing.


Here's the link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE
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  #1359  
Old Posted Jun 19, 2011, 4:03 PM
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A part of me fails to understand the frequent use of moratoriums in the Ithaca area. I look at many other places around the country, and it seems they've adopted pretty well to the idea of "plan as you go". I thought the whole nodal development thing had already been established for West Hill, but it seems like all it takes is one or two large projects and suddenly the town has to start over from scratch. I dunno, it just irks me.

Anyways, the projects that have the okay amount to 178 units of housing, which isn't shabby at all.

Off the record, but the latest town of Ithaca planning board meeting agenda has proposals to add ten units of housing to Ecovillage's TREE neighborhood, a 15,000 sq ft expansion of the Ithaca Beer company, and a renovation of a building near East Hill Plaza for a new 24-hour gym. Small potatoes, but it's something.

In other news blurbs, sketch plans were presented at the city's monthly meeting for a new 4-story Fairfield Inn hotel down in the southwest sprawlburbia. Apparently, financing has already been secured, so all this project needs is approvals before construction begins. The site is next to Manos Diner.

Last edited by Visiteur; Jun 19, 2011 at 4:21 PM.
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  #1360  
Old Posted Jun 23, 2011, 5:57 PM
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^Sorry for the late reply Vis. I was out of town for a few days.

Thanks for the info, and I couldn't agree more with your comments on the construction moratorium game in the Ithaca area. The people want lower taxes, but won't allow developers build (if they can get financing) projects that would benefit the community.
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