Совет Итаки передал управление парковкой на Сенек-стрит агентству обновления города для строительства жилья

During its Sept. 2 meeting, the Ithaca Common Council moved forward with the redevelopment of the former Seneca Street parking garage site by passing a series of 8-1 votes regarding environmental and land-transfer matters. The council first designated itself as the lead agency overseeing the project's environmental review before approving a negative declaration under state environmental quality review standards, formally determining that transferring the parcel would cause no significant adverse environmental impacts. Alderpersons then approved transferring authority and ownership of the 202 E. Seneca St. property to the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency to manage its ultimate disposition and development. The resolution says the council requests IURA to solicit developers and draft a proposed disposition and development agreement (DDA) that facilitates an urban renewal project at site. The council urges the DDA to align with its redevelopment objectives. “Deliver a financially feasible, high-quality, taxable residential development featuring market-rate or mixed-income housing. Inclusion of owner-occupied housing, such as residential condominiums, is encouraged but not required,” the resolution says. “A purely affordable housing project is discouraged for this site. While not anticipated priority uses for the site, the city will consider a non-residential project that attracts a major employer and/or major retailer to the downtown.” Alderperson Ducson Nguyen said the transfer directs the IURA to seek a developer under an agreement that aligns with the city's climate action plan and reinstates a TCAT bus shelter along Seneca Street. In a press release, city officials said the redevelopment could generate long-term property and sales tax revenues. The process will feature public hearings and further council review before any final agreement is approved. The next phase calls for the IURA to solicit development proposals and negotiate redevelopment terms, which will then be presented to the council for consideration. The city announced on May 7 that the garage’s permanent closure was due to structural safety concerns, following a temporary closure on April 10. The initial shutdown occurred after reports of concrete debris falling from the third floor to the sidewalk. A subsequent inspection by city personnel revealed severe deterioration and a high risk of failure across several areas of the facility, prompting a third-party engineering review. At a May 6 Common Council meeting, City Manager Dominick Recckio said the structure suffered from concrete spalling, a condition caused when water freeze-thaw cycles break apart the material as temperatures rise.  Alderperson Margaret Fabrizio cast the sole dissenting vote on the approvals, urging council members to table the measure to allow for greater transparency, broader public input, and more comprehensive planning before moving forward with a request for proposals. Fabrizio criticized the initial decision to permanently close the garage, stating it lacked data, public discussion, and stakeholder involvement. She said the process used to reach that conclusion was not inclusive or transparent. Fabrizio said the proposed redevelopment objectives were crafted by a small mayoral working group rather than a wider network of experts, downtown businesses, the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, and city staff. She said questions on public parking requirements remain unanswered due to a lack of thorough analysis. Fabrizio questioned whether the city should bear the financial burden of preparing the site for development. She said while the redevelopment objectives require the city to pay for demolishing and clearing the structure prior to conveyance, officials have not yet provided the estimated costs for demolition or for maintaining the space while work is underway. Fabrizio raised concerns about the project's environmental review, arguing that classifying the property transfer as having "no physical change" overlooks the significant downtown impacts of demolishing a massive concrete facility and potentially erecting a 100-foot building near the DeWitt Historic District. Fabrizio questioned whether the review was being improperly segmented, emphasizing that noise, traffic, and aesthetic impacts warrant a complete evaluation. Fabrizio requested postponing the vote to give the city time to refine its vision and better understand the site's potential before soliciting market proposals. “I think we should better decide what we want to ask the market before we ask the market to respond to us,” Fabrizio said. Cantelmo recommended the city should avoid building a new municipal-owned parking structure, calling it financially unfeasible. He said the South Cayuga Street garage cost about $30 million to construct in 2007. Cantelmo said adjusting for inflation would push a new garage's price tag to nearly $59 million, an amount that would go past the city’s debt limit. Instead, he said the city should recruit a private developer capable of incorporating many community needs into the site. “I do not think a municipal garage is an appropriate utilization of taxpayer funding just given our fiscal constraints,” Cantelmo said. Responding to Fabrizio's concerns, Cantelmo said the Seneca Street Garage costs the city money every day it remains standing and poses potential liability risks as the structure deteriorates. Addressing site preparation, Cantelmo said alderpersons serving as committee members concluded that demolishing the garage would help facilitate a future sale. He said the city could pursue potential outside funding to offset demolition costs. Cantelmo said clearing the lot would allow the site to possibly serve as temporary surface parking until development begins. Cantelmo said that he met with DIA President Nan Rohrer on July 22 and several downtown restaurateurs on Aug. 4 to discuss the site's redevelopment. He said outreach happened even if every alderperson was not present for those discussions. Cantelmo said the city should avoid the mistake of other municipalities that acquire properties only to leave them undeveloped. “I think that divesting of a property that we have no intention of redeveloping ourselves and no intention of holding permanently, the appropriate thing to do here is to move that process as responsibly quickly as possible,” Cantelmo said. Recckio said a demolition cost estimate will be available once the city finalizes a contract with an estimator. He said work on the contract is currently underway and that he expects taking down the structure will cost several million dollars. “It's not inexpensive, but we're trying to make the most cost-effective garage takedown as possible,” Recckio said. Two reasons that Recckio cited for recommending demolition were public safety and property value. While short-term safety measures like blue netting over concrete panels currently mitigate falling debris, he said demolishing the vacant garage would ensure long-term pedestrian safety. Recckio said clearing the parcel would make it more attractive to prospective developers. He said preparing the lot beforehand would maximize the sale price and yield greater financial returns for the city. State-mandated engineering assessments obtained by the Ithaca Times through Freedom of Information Law requests reveal a history of structural deterioration and rising repair costs at the 425-space Seneca Street parking garage leading up to its closure. Inspections conducted in 2019, 2022, and 2025 by WGI Engineering and Elwyn & Palmer Consulting Engineers documented widespread concrete spalling, severe moisture damage, and compromised post-tensioned support tendons throughout the 10-level facility built in 1974.  The most recent evaluation in 2025 labeled the downtown garage in "poor-to-fair" condition, estimating required and optional repairs at $3.39 million to keep it operational long-term. Engineers identified an immediate unsafe condition in an elevator basement room that required temporary shoring due to extensive wall and ceiling concrete failure. That followed a 2022 inspection that budgeted over $3.66 million in needed overhauls — including fixing sagging vehicle barrier cables and exposed structural tendons — and a 2019 report that flagged bowed basement walls, severe deck membrane tears, and structural capacity concerns on compromised support beams.