An article (from the Ithaca Times) about the Ithaca Planning & Economic Development board's most recent meeting.
It's no surprise the board forwarded the Chain Works District project to the Common Council.
The last item is no surprise considering Ithaca is a college town.
But the middle item is the one I'm wondering about. I hope it's something positive.
[B]City Planning Approves Chain Works District ‘In Concept’[/B
Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 9:32 pm | Updated: 5:05 am, Fri Aug 15, 2014.
By Michael Nocella
ITHACA—City of Ithaca planning & economic development committee, during its Wednesday, Aug. 13 public meeting, unanimously approved the proposed Chain Works District project “in concept.”
The approval was required under the recently passed Planned Unit Development (PUD) legislation, as all PUD applicants are required to obtain the approval of their project’s concept from Common Council before the site plan review process. With the planning committees approval now in the rearview mirror, council will be presented with a similar resolution during its September public meeting.
According Chain Works District developer, UnChained Properties, LLC, the project will seek “to redevelop and rehabilitate more than 800,000-square foot Morse Chain/Emerson Power Transmission facility, which is located on a 95-acre parcel traversing the city and town of Ithaca.” The project team is simultaneously working with the town, in a quest for the Planned Development Zone (PDZ). At some point, city planning is expected to be declared the lead agency, and representative from both municipalities have discussed the possibility of joint meetings to smooth out an unprecedented project, and process.
Collegetown Area Formed Districts Revisions
Following the adoption of the Collegetown area Form Districts in March, substantive revisions the legislation are currently being considered to the standards for building height, that, according to the resolution, “will help reduce construction costs and further promote high-quality design on sloped sites while reducing the impacts of taller buildings on adjacent smaller structures.”
Common council will consider such revisions during its September public meeting.
Turn Down the Volume
The committee unanimously agreed to publicly circulate a new city noise ordinance, which adds new definitions to the existing code under “multiuse property,” and “commercial use property,” creates new standards for the primary commons and city parks, establishes city wide permissible noise levels, establishes special provisions for commercial establishments serving food and alcohol, and adds new regulations for unamplified human voice and motor vehicles.
The ordinance is expected to receive “additional tweaking” before further consideration following public circulation, committee Chair Seph Murtagh said.
Here's the link:
http://www.ithaca.com/news/city-plan...a4bcf887a.html