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City Council Rent Forgiveness Proposal

On Wednesday, June 3rd, City of Ithaca Common Council and the Mayor, requested from New York State Department of Health that they grant the mayor the power to forgive three months worth of rent: the months of May, June and July. They also are requesting that the mayor have the authority to enforce landlords to offer lease extensions to any tenant who was affected by COVID-19, the opportunity to renew their lease at the same rate of rent.

While the vote between council members on the resolution were close, we still need to take a stand and voice our concerns with their proposals; especially forgiving any amount of rent. This is just the start in making our voices heard, but let our City Council Members & Mayor know that we are here, we are listening, and we cannot afford to let them take over our properties.

The LATC asks its members to sign this Take Action petition, which will be sent to the appropriate local governmental representatives.

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There are concerns surrounding the proposed Collegetown Innovation District Project.

Collegetown Innovation District Project

Dear Common Council Members & Mayor Svante Myrick;

The Landlords Association of Tompkins County (LATC) is concerned with the proposed Collegetown Innovation District Project, and urges the board to consider the thoughts collected by members within our organization represented herein. 
 
In February of 2006 the City of Ithaca Common Council adopted a resolution authorizing the establishment of a taskforce to prepare a vision statement for the future of Collegetown. The work of the task force took place over a 10-month period, between May 2006 and March 2007. Development of the vision statement included an extensive public process, in which the comments of individuals, members of civic groups, and elected officials were gathered and incorporated. On June 6, 2007, Common Council endorsed the Collegetown Vision Statement as a guide for shaping the growth and form of Collegetown. The resolution also authorized the establishment of the Collegetown Vision Implementation Committee (CVIC) to develop a strategy for implementing the ideas of the vision statement. Preparation of an urban plan and design guidelines was a high-priority recommendation, as it served to bring together many ideas and recommendations of the vision statement.

Further, the City Planning and Development Board recommended additional modifications to the plan, described in a preface to the Goody Clancy Document, and the two documents, considered together as: "The 2009 Collegetown Urban Plan and Conceptual Design Guidelines" were endorsed by Common Council in 2009.

Lastly, Collegetown Area Form Districts were approved on March 5, 2014.  Since then, the City has focused on implementing the plan's recommendations. Over a decade of extensive planning went into the creation of the plans that now serve as a guide for shaping the growth of Collegetown.
 
We believe that the proposed Collegetown Innovation District Project ignores many of the guidelines established within the 238 pages of the 2009 Collegetown Urban Plan and Conceptual Design Guidelines except for “use” on the majority of the buildings.
 
Concerns
Creating a PUD for the Collegetown Innovation District project would be considered spot zoning and sets a dangerous and concerning precedent.  According to City Code 325-12-B-1, “The PUD is a tool intended to encourage mixed-use or unique single-use projects that require more creative and imaginative design of land development than is possible under standard zoning district regulations. A PUD allows for flexibility in planning and design, while ensuring efficient investment in public improvements, environmental sensitivity, and protection of community character. A PUD should be used only when long-term community benefits will be achieved through high-quality development, including, but not limited to, reduced traffic demands, greater quality and quantity of public and/or private open space, community recreational amenities, needed housing types and/or mix, innovative designs, and protection and/or preservation of natural resources.”  This project does not meet the criteria given the scale, density, and non-contiguous connection of parcels. We believe it does not seek to provide a greater benefit to the local community through any of the above listed means, but rather, is profit driven.
 
The proposed PUD in Collegetown seeks height variances on fifteen of seventeen parcels. At the corner of Dryden Road and College Avenue existing zoning allows six stories and the developers have requested twelve. They propose ten story buildings for the blocks surrounding the corner of Catherine Street and College Avenue, currently zoned for six stories.  We believe both the quantity of height variances and the scale of the variances are excessive.
 
Up to $3 million has been offered in exchange for approval of the development. The disclaimer states “Distribution of these funds will be contingent on PUD approval for the total amount of square footage proposed in this application. Should, through the approval process, this amount of square footage be reduced there will be a proportionate reduction in this $3,000,000 contribution since the economic viability of the project and this contribution is dependent on the proposed amount of space.” (p 133).” We believe that no development should be driven by such sums of money, but the primary focus of approving any development should be to enhance the local community. As aforementioned, we do not believe this development does this, as it is significantly outside the boundaries of the Collegetown Vision Plan, which was developed via community input and is not in keeping with the intent of a PUD, which provides community enhancement as a primary motivating factor.
 
Given the scale of the proposed development and the proximity to the Belle Sherman and Bryant Park neighborhoods, this project may have unanticipated consequences due to the density proposed, limited parking, stormwater run-off, utility demands, etc.  Segregating students in high-rise buildings vs integrating students into the community limits diversity and inclusion. We are an inclusive community where having the opportunity to live side-by-side with local residents is a unique part of the Cornell College experience and should be preserved and valued. 
 
Finally, creating such a large number of high rent apartments also goes directly against the goal of creating affordable housing.  This plan is not welcoming to working members of the community and will further exclude those looking for affordable housing. The LATC has been diligently working to keep rent low despite increases in our costs.  Due to the cost of building, new development will always be more expensive for renters. Continued development has not assisted the market to reduce costs that would result in reducing rents. Costs have continued to rise with the constant expansion.
 
 
The LATC is concerned with this project and urges the board to consider the impacts a development of this scale would have on the Collegetown and larger Ithaca community. The LATC would like to see projects in keeping with the character and vision of the neighborhood and what is reasonable within the current framework of development guidelines. We strongly believe that the proposed Collegetown Innovation District is not in keeping with such guidelines, and as such, the proposal, in its current iteration, should be rejected. We feel the greatest benefit to the City of Ithaca and its residents is for this project to conform to existing zoning code.
 
Thank you for your time and attention to the concerns we as an association have towards the PUD zoning for the Collegetown Innovation District Project.
 
Development is an important part of any growing city.  However, development should happen in keeping with what has been established and done so responsibly and gradually, over time, and within the parameters of what the current infrastructure can handle. Up to this point, development has been required to stay within the established guidelines with few exceptions.  Favoritism should not be shown to one developer over another for financial gain.

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City Council Rent Forgiveness Proposal

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