A letter urging Ithaca Common Council to reject conceptual approval of a proposed 75-unit apartment development on lower Elm Street has drawn 124 signers, organizer Yayoi Koizumi said Tuesday evening.
The city lists consideration of approval in concept for Nov. 4. In an earlier Tuesday news release, Dan Hoffman and Yayoi Koizumi said approximately 90% of the letter's signers are from West Hill.
The residents' objections center on forest loss, traffic and whether the project would provide enforceable community benefits. Hoffman and Koizumi said the development would replace about 3.12 acres of mature urban forest within the county-designated Octopus Cliffs Unique Natural Area.
Their release describes five four-story apartment buildings with 75 units, 40 to 50 parking spaces and an internal two-lane road connecting to lower Elm Street near a curve.
Residents seek binding protections
The organizers said residents are concerned about losing a century-old forest and the functions it serves in managing stormwater, storing carbon, cooling the area and providing wildlife habitat.
They also cited steep terrain and narrow streets near the convergence of Elm Street, Hector Street and Floral Avenue. Traffic and pedestrian safety are particular concerns for students at the adjacent Lehman Alternative Community School, they said.
Hoffman and Koizumi argued that the developer is seeking exceptional zoning flexibility while proposed community benefits, including housing affordability, lack binding commitments.
The group's primary request is rejection of conceptual approval. If council proceeds, the organizers said they want amendments establishing enforceable environmental and community protections. They said those safeguards are absent from the published draft resolution.
Petition sets conditions if council proceeds
An Oct. 28 letter signed by 104 residents and community members asks Mayor Robert Cantelmo and Common Council to reject conceptual approval. The letter describes its proposed amendments as fallback safeguards if council chooses to proceed.
The amendments concern an application by Whispering Woods Ithaca LLC for Elm Street Apartments at 139-157 Chestnut Street. The group's proposed resolution recounts council's June 10 review, when it directed the applicant to increase the unit count and clarify community benefits, and an Aug. 5 review of a revised application.
Under the group's proposed language, conceptual approval would permit site-plan review despite zoning-related deficiencies, while explicitly withholding final PUD approval and authorization for any site disturbance. The proposal would retain a requirement for Planning and Development Board updates to Common Council after each meeting at which the project is considered, with continuing written comments from council.
The petition also asks council to acknowledge residents' concerns about the accuracy and visibility of public notice for the Sept. 24 information session. It cites a Sept. 19 photograph as documentation of an incorrect meeting date on an Elm Street sign.
Environmental review and binding benefits
The proposed amendments request comprehensive environmental review, including independent evaluation by qualified experts of forest loss, wildlife habitat, slopes, erosion, stormwater, Cliff Park Brook, the Octopus Cliffs Unique Natural Area, traffic and pedestrian safety. The group also seeks review of alternatives that reduce site disturbance and project density.
The petition argues that review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act does not by itself guarantee independent expert evaluation. It asks council to make that evaluation an explicit part of the review it requests.
The proposed resolution lists the applicant's community benefits as an improved school-adjacent stair landing; crossing improvements at Elm Street and Floral Avenue using signs, flashing indicators, raised crossings and paintings; and a new water main connecting Elm and Chestnut streets to improve system resiliency.
It also lists a protective stream easement, efforts to minimize impacts on sensitive natural features, 75 additional housing units and reduced reliance on personal vehicles through less on-site parking and proximity to amenities. These are proposed benefits, rather than completed improvements.
The petitioners want any benefits relied on for final approval, including pedestrian and infrastructure work, stream protection and claimed housing affordability, secured through binding commitments. Their amendment calls for identified responsible parties, performance standards, deadlines, monitoring and enforcement.
Notice before clearing and enforceable conservation
Another amendment would prohibit tree removal, clearing, grading, excavation and other irreversible site disturbance until all required approvals and permits are obtained and 30 days have elapsed after written notice to the city clerk and people who request notice.
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If a timely legal challenge and an application for interim court relief are filed during that period, the proposed prohibition would continue until a court rules on interim relief. The petition explains that an Article 78 challenge does not automatically stop construction; the group is asking for an additional condition on approval.
Any conservation easement counted as a community benefit would have to identify its boundaries, holder, restrictions, monitoring and enforcement. It would have to be executed and recorded before disturbance of the protected area.
The final proposed amendment would preserve council's authority to modify the project, impose conditions or deny final PUD approval after environmental review, including an environmental impact statement if required, and the necessary site-plan review and approvals. The group is asking council to consider those safeguards before the Nov. 4 conceptual-approval vote.
Council weighs the next step
The city identifies the application as Elm Street Apartments at 139-157 Chestnut Street. A public information session was held Sept. 24 at Lehman Alternative Community School, where the project team presented its plans and answered questions.
Under the city's planned unit development process, a project can receive zoning that allows uses beyond existing rules. The city says such projects must offer long-term community benefits, fit its comprehensive plan and protect community health and welfare. Common Council decides whether to approve a PUD and can impose conditions.
Residents can submit written comments on the application to zoning@cityofithaca.org, contact Common Council or participate in public comment at council meetings.
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