Indoor sports facility announced

[Ken711]

The final hurdle was met on Tuesday, October 22nd when the Town of Ithaca zoning Board granted a zoning variance approval since the field house's 56' height exceeded the 38' height restriction for low residential property in the Town of Ithaca. The soon to start construction will allow for a great recruiting tool for this years recruiting cycle in varsity sports.

[David Harding]

Cornell put out a release that they broke ground on the new fieldhouse project.  Bravo.

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/10/university-breaks-ground-transformative-meinig-fieldhouse

[Swampy]

The final hurdle was met on Tuesday, October 22nd when the Town of Ithaca zoning Board granted a zoning variance approval since the field house's 56' height exceeded the 38' height restriction for low residential property in the Town of Ithaca. The soon to start construction will allow for a great recruiting tool for this years recruiting cycle in varsity sports.

Why is the field house subject to RESIDENTIAL zoning laws?

[ugarte]

The final hurdle was met on Tuesday, October 22nd when the Town of Ithaca zoning Board granted a zoning variance approval since the field house's 56' height exceeded the 38' height restriction for low residential property in the Town of Ithaca. The soon to start construction will allow for a great recruiting tool for this years recruiting cycle in varsity sports.

Why is the field house subject to RESIDENTIAL zoning laws?

because it's a HOUSE duh

[David Harding]

The final hurdle was met on Tuesday, October 22nd when the Town of Ithaca zoning Board granted a zoning variance approval since the field house's 56' height exceeded the 38' height restriction for low residential property in the Town of Ithaca. The soon to start construction will allow for a great recruiting tool for this years recruiting cycle in varsity sports.

Why is the field house subject to RESIDENTIAL zoning laws?

That's the default and the Town of Ithaca didn't bother to carve out an exception for Cornell property.  Zoning map here

[Swampy]

The final hurdle was met on Tuesday, October 22nd when the Town of Ithaca zoning Board granted a zoning variance approval since the field house's 56' height exceeded the 38' height restriction for low residential property in the Town of Ithaca. The soon to start construction will allow for a great recruiting tool for this years recruiting cycle in varsity sports.

Why is the field house subject to RESIDENTIAL zoning laws?

That's the default and the Town of Ithaca didn't bother to carve out an exception for Cornell property.  Zoning map here

So Cornell is allowed to build an "indoor sports facility" in an area zoned "Low Density Residential"? This reminds me of the chemical factories built in areas zoned for residential & elementary schools in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley, What's the point of zoning the area to be residential and then allowing all sorts of other uses, but no residential buildings? Even more absurd is the idea that the sports facility needed a zoning variance to get around the height limit on residential buildings. ::cuss::

[Ken711]

I expected this.  Dianne Woelke, a board member of Safe and Healthy Playing Fields, is mentioned in the lawsuit challenging the integrity of the submitted reports. Woelke contended the project could proceed without artificial turf fields, in an interview with The Ithaca Voice.. Huh?  A natural grass indoor field? lol

[upprdeck]

I don't recall the outrage Moravia just installed a field turf field this year just down the road?

[Ken711]

I don't recall the outrage Moravia just installed a field turf field this year just down the road?

Trying to get the courts to override the Ithaca City Planning Board who did their job in reviewing the application is a lost cause and waste of taxpayer money. Beyond the fact that a natural grass indoor field is both impractical and not even an option...but oh well.

[marty]

I don't recall the outrage Moravia just installed a field turf field this year just down the road?

Trying to get the courts to override the Ithaca City Planning Board who did their job in reviewing the application is a lost cause and waste of taxpayer money. Beyond the fact that a natural grass indoor field is both impractical and not even an option...but oh well.

Don't forget the appeals process when the court dismisses their suit.  

After the appeal their cousins can sue and appeal.

[scoop85]

I don't recall the outrage Moravia just installed a field turf field this year just down the road?

Trying to get the courts to override the Ithaca City Planning Board who did their job in reviewing the application is a lost cause and waste of taxpayer money. Beyond the fact that a natural grass indoor field is both impractical and not even an option...but oh well.

Don't forget the appeals process when the court dismisses their suit.  

After the appeal their cousins can sue and appeal.

Not likely to be the case. In NYS, an appeal of a determination made by a municipal body is called an Article 78 proceeding, and it must be filed within 4 months of the agency determination triggering the challenge. So, unless the "cousins" file their petition within that 4 month window, they are time barred.

[Ken711]

I don't recall the outrage Moravia just installed a field turf field this year just down the road?

Trying to get the courts to override the Ithaca City Planning Board who did their job in reviewing the application is a lost cause and waste of taxpayer money. Beyond the fact that a natural grass indoor field is both impractical and not even an option...but oh well.

Don't forget the appeals process when the court dismisses their suit.  

After the appeal their cousins can sue and appeal.

Exactly, only the lawyers win $$$ in attorney fees in these situations.  Overriding the planning board is such a slippery slope in that every single developer would try and appeal the planning board's decisions going forward.

[Ken711]

Anyone drive by the site of the Meinig Fieldhouse recently?  I'm wondering if they are staging any construction equipment or trailers to prepare for the start of construction.

[chimpfood]

Anyone drive by the site of the Meinig Fieldhouse recently?  I'm wondering if they are staging any construction equipment or trailers to prepare for the start of construction.

They were stripping the field hockey field and the grass field next to it and had blocked off part of the parking lot for construction vehicles last I remember.

[Ken711]

Anyone drive by the site of the Meinig Fieldhouse recently?  I'm wondering if they are staging any construction equipment or trailers to prepare for the start of construction.

They were stripping the field hockey field and the grass field next to it and had blocked off part of the parking lot for construction vehicles last I remember.

Thanks for the update.