Author: Emily N.

Assault and Robbery on 500 Block of Spencer Road

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The assault and robbery occurred last night, April 30th, at around 6:30pm.  Details below.

From the Ithaca Voice:

Around 6:24 p.m., Ithaca police responded to Spencer Road for a report of an assault and robbery.

There, they found a male victim who said he had been attacked by three Asian men about 15 minutes prior.

“The victim stated that he has had an altercation with the same males in the past, but they are otherwise unknown to him,” an IPD news release says.

“The victim stated that as he walked past the three males they attacked him by hitting and kicking him.”

The victim was hit in the back of the head and lost consciousness. He was also cut in the left arm.

The assailants were described as Asian males in their 20’s, wearing jeans and of thin build. One had a tattoo on the left side of his neck, the victim told police.

Anyone who has information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Ithaca Police. Police Dispatch: 607-272-3245

Source: Ithaca Voice – Assault by 3 on Ithaca’s Spencer Road knocks victim unconscious

Sidewalk Road Work 400 Block of Spencer Road

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Update (May 6th): They have decided to allow left turns from Stone Quarry onto Spencer Road during this time.  The barriers around the sidewalk work will be moved daily. When the barriers are out, there will be flaggers. When the barriers are in, there will not be flaggers, as motorists ought to be able to use the intersection as usual.

Previously:

Here is the information received from INHS about the implementation of sidewalks along their property at 400-406 Spencer Road, and the subsequent changes to traffic patterns on the street during the sidewalk construction.  (Please note: this will affect the 400 Block of Spencer Road and the Spencer Road/Stone Quarry Road intersection).

Construction of the new sidewalk and curbing will begin May 4th. In order to complete this work a section of Spencer Road will need to be reduced to one lane during daytime working hours Monday May 4th through Friday May 15th from 7:30am to 4:00pm. When work is complete for the day two-way traffic will be restored. In addition, left turns from Stone Quarry Road onto Spencer Road will not be allowed at any time from May 4th through the 15th due to the construction barriers required to keep workers safe. Below is a diagram that shows where the work will occur. The yellow flags represent flagging stations where flaggers will be directing traffic. The thick red line represents a concrete barrier which will not be moved each day but will allow two lanes of traffic to pass. The red dotted line represents moveable barriers which will reduce traffic to one lane during work hours and then moved to allow two lanes of traffic when work is finished for the night. Temporary signage will be installed to inform drivers of these changes to traffic patterns. This work and disruption to traffic will be complete by May 15th. If there is a change to this timing INHS will notify. This plan has been reviewed with the City of Ithaca Traffic Engineer. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Joe Bowes at INHS at 607-277-4500×204.

Spencer Road Sidewalk Work Diagram Source: Memo from INHS: Temporary Changes to Traffic Patterns (pdf).  Contains larger-size diagram shown above.

Clarification: The 400 block of Spencer Road will NOT be a one way road during those hours.  It will be one lane with cars only able to go in one direction at a time.  Flaggers will be at each end of the block coordinating traffic.

Spencer Road Neighborhood Traffic Study and Meeting

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The City – through a neighborhood meeting and mailed questionnaire – will be receiving comments to better understand the needs and priorities of the Spencer Road/Stone Quarry Road neighborhood.

The public outreach meeting is scheduled on Thursday, March 5th, 2015 at 6:00pm, at the Oasis Fellowship Church at 808 South Meadow Street Extension. All are welcome to attend and meet the project team in person. After the results from the questionnaire and the public meeting are compiled, the consultants will prepare alternatives to consider and propose to the City of Ithaca Board of Public Works. The Board will select an alternative to progress to final design.

If you did not received a questionnaire from the City contractor, you can download/print a PDF of the questionnaire by clicking here.

Please send your completed questionnaire to Tim Logue (tlogue@cityofithaca.org) at 108 E. Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850, no later than March 6th, 2015.

Ithaca Zoning Reform Initiative Meeting with Spencer Road Area Residents

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Ithaca’s Zoning Reform Initiative, a partnership among the City, Town of Ithaca, and a team of local planner and designers to update land use regulations to meet the goals and objectives of the City and Town’s comprehensive plans, will be giving a neighborhood presentation on Monday, February 16th at 7pm at the TC Action Building (701 Spencer Road).  They have already held a few preliminary meetings with the public and key stakeholders, and are hoping to have the opportunity to meet with even more community members over the coming months.

The meeting will focus on their Form Ithaca project, funded by NYSERDA, which aims to create an updated zoning code for the city and the town. The idea is to create land-use regulations that support the new comprehensive plans and a community vision. Both the city and the town are looking at encouraging more walkable, mixed-use development. NYSERDA wants long-term reductions in carbon emissions. The code will be designed to meet those goals, but also tailored to the needs and wishes of citizens.

More information on the Zoning Reform Initiative can be found on their website: formithaca.com.

Spencer Road Traffic Study and Ways of Giving Feedback

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Per Tim Logue, the City’s Transportation Engineer, here is an update on the Spencer Road/Stone Quarry Intersection ​Study:

The consultant LaBella Engineering has been retained and an initial meeting with transportation staff has already been conducted. LaBella’s first step will be to review and examine the area survey provided by INHS and determine if additional information needs to be acquired. City transportation staff will develop a residential survey, asking residents for their thoughts, suggestions, concerns, that they would like taken into consideration with regards to the proposed redesign. This survey should be available for public input around mid-January. Shortly thereafter, there will be a kickoff meeting with neighborhood residents that will allow for staff and residents to meet to discuss the survey, and community suggestions and to provide staff with a better understanding of resident’s concerns.

The resident survey and the public meeting are meant to serve the same purpose: outreach to the neighborhood to hear concerns before any design work is started. City transportation staff wanted to make sure there was another way to hear from people besides attending the meeting, although people can do both if they want.

Based on the meeting and survey, LaBella will develop 3 design alternatives for review, on or about late winter 2015.

These alternatives will be presented to the neighborhood for review and comment, and then go to the BPW for additional opportunity for public review and comment, and selection.

Tim is happy to receive your comments, suggestions, and considerations throughout this process and he can be reached by email at tlogue@cityofithaca.org.

UPDATE: According to Tim Logue, this has been delayed.  He expects the survey will come out early February and the public meeting will now likely be later in February or early March.

Community Crime Meeting: Sat. Oct. 25th at 10am

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Within the past month, we have seen two residential break-ins on the 400 block of Spencer Road (one during the day while the resident was at work, and one at a different residence at night when the residents were home), along with some vandalism (a resident had their mailbox completely smashed and destroyed one night).

Officer Williamson from the Ithaca Police Department has offered to meet with our community to share experiences and to share ideas.  He has reserved the northeast study room (a.k.a. the “Large Study Room”) at the Tompkins County Public Library this Saturday at 10am to meet.  Any neighborhood residents, property owners, or other concerned parties are invited to attend. Community members from South Hill are also invited to attend due to a shared increase in residential crime during the past month.

This is a good opportunity to ask questions from an IPD officer about residential crime, home security, and neighborhood safety.  Ward alderpersons Cynthia Brock and George McGonigal will also be present.

If you would like to reach out to Officer Williamson separately regarding a question or concern, he can be reached at:  JWilliamson@cityofithaca.org or at: (607) 216-3221.

Neighborhood Traffic Meeting: Oct 21st at 7pm

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There will be a neighborhood conversation about traffic concerns in the Spencer Road area.  The goal is to gather, and then provide, neighborhood feedback to the City to take into consideration with the traffic study they are conducting and in advance of any road work or “improvement” that is completed on our streets.  It is important that safety, both vehicular and pedestrian, is taken into account, as well as existing neighborhood concerns.

This is only a conversation with neighbors and it is not with any City officials.  The goal is to get a neighborhood consensus on what we want to communicate to the City so that information can be passed along.

The meeting will be Tuesday, October 21st, at the TC Action Building (701 Spencer Road) at 7pm.  Residents of Spencer Road, South Meadow St Ext, Morris Heights Rd, and the bottom of Stone Quarry Road are all welcome to attend.

If you will not be able to make the meeting, but would like your feedback taken into account, please e-mail SpencerRoadIthaca@gmail.com or call your neighbor Jean at 277-2978.

Save the Date: Neighborhood Traffic Meeting Oct 21st at 7pm

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Please save the date: October 21st at 7pm there will be a community review of the traffic concerns in the Spencer Road area. We will put together community feedback for a recommendation to the City.  Residents of Spencer Road, South Meadow St Ext, Morris Heights Rd, and the bottom of Stone Quarry Road are welcome to attend.

The meeting will be held at the TCAction Building at 701 Spencer Road.

More details to follow soon.

If you will not be able to attend the meeting, but would like your feedback included, please e-mail: SpencerRoadIthaca@gmail.com.

Sign the Petition! Tell City Officials that Putting Housing on Toxic Contamination is NOT Okay

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If you are concerned about the toxic site contamination at the proposed site of the Stone Quarry Apartments (low- to moderate-income housing at 400 Spencer Road), please take a minute and sign the petition.  Tell local officials that housing should be safe and comply with state and federal regulations.

Here are the primary concerns:

  • Unsafe levels of toxic contaminates (lead, acetone, manganese, PCBs, methylcyclohexane, nathalene, crysene, benzoathracene, benzopyrene, and benzofloranthene) have been detected in both soil and groundwater.
  • The NY DEC approved an environmental management plan for the site that does not comply with state DEC or federal HUD regulations. It is not clear why the DEC would approve an environmental management plan that does not even comply with their own regulations.
  • There is no plan for further testing on the site, so the extent of the contamination is still unknown. There will be no investigation of whether contamination has spread to surrounding properties.
  • Even known contamination will not be fully cleaned up.  The only removal of contaminated soil will be where they will have to dig for the buildings, but the rest of the site contamination, including the contaminated groundwater, will remain.  According to the developer, the project will require ongoing mechanical ventilation of building slabs on grade to prevent contamination from affecting occupants in their residences. Residents of at this site would be precluded from even planting vegetables for consumption due to the site contamination.  The known contamination under the playground will remain as well.
  • The City intends to comply with the plan which only requires partial remediation, and no further testing on the site, even though this plan does not comply with state and federal laws.

Please take a minute and sign the petition to tell City officials that housing should be safe for all, regardless of income!  The site needs to be fully tested and toxic contamination needs to be remediated in accordance with state and federal law.

HUD Needs to Recertify the Stone Quarry Apartment Project

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Here is the most recent news article about the Stone Quarry Apartment project,published in the Ithaca Voice:
Feds Say Ithaca’s Low Income Housing Developers Didn’t Disclose Toxic Contamination

In light of the undisclosed toxic contamination at the site, the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency, which was going to give low income housing funds for this project, elected to make the City of Ithaca recomplete and resubmit their environmental assessment of this project for these funds.  HUD will need to recertify the project.

The City of Ithaca has, again, concluded that this project would have no negative environmental impact.  There is a 15 day window (ending August 27th) to give feedback to the City if you disagree with that conclusion.  After that, there will be a 15 day comment period with which feedback could be provided to HUD about the City’s environmental assessment.

If you would like to give feedback to the City of Ithaca about this project, it can be mailed to:

Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency
City of Ithaca
108 E Green St
Ithaca, NY 14850

Or it can be e-mailed to Lynn Truame at: LTruame@cityofithaca.org.