Developer John Novarr’s  proposal to dramatically transform the face of Collegetown continued to crawl forward yesterday, as the City of Ithaca’s Planning and Development Board moved towards declaring the plan’s draft Environmental Impact Statement — a wholesale evaluation of the proposal’s expected impact — “adequate for public review.”

Novarr’s plan would replace all but three of some 30 existing edifices across a 16-acre swath of land bounded by South Quarry Street, East State Street, Valentine Place and Six Mile Creek with seven new structures — adding a net gain of 623 bedrooms.

Once the board approves the draft Environmental Impact Statement adequate for public approval, the city will “distribute [the draft Environmental Impact Statement] through the normal means … at the public library, on the internet,” City of Ithaca Director of Planning and Development member Joanne Cornish said.  Then, the opportunity for the public to comment on the document, followed by the board’s assemblage of a final Environmental Impact Statement — and after that, by the board’s site plan review.  Novar’s project also needs the Board of Zoning to approve a height variance and approval for a portion of the project by the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

In this context, yesterday’s work may seem like a blip on a long timeline, but it does constitute another step in the review of Novarr’s Collegetown Terrace Apartments.

At yesterday’s meeting, Novarr’s consultants informed the board of the plan’s expected consequences to the historic resources on site and traffic.

Reading the work of a historic preservation expert unable to attend the meeting, Trowbridge & Wolf consultant Kimberly Michaels said that the two broad barometers used to justify historical preservation were “integrity” and “significance.”

Michaels quoted the expert as saying that the buildings on site were already “‘so altered’” that they “‘may not be eligible’” for historic protection.  But the expert did not seem to resolve the point decisively, allowing that the project may cause the “loss of original design” and therefore a “loss of integrity.”

The discussion moved on, though Planning Board chairperson John Schroeder ’74 said, “I’m sure we’ll be discussing this issue in detail at some future date.” Schroeder is also The Sun’s production manager.

After this discussion, Novarr’s consultant and traffic engineer Andrew Topp said the plan is not expected to have a significant impact on city traffic patterns.

Topp said that there will “not be a critical impact” on traffic patterns and that the proposal “does not drop any intersection from ‘acceptable’ to ‘unacceptable’” on what Topp said was objective criteria for traffic.

Topp also said that Novarr’s project “provides a unique opportunity to fix an existing problem — ” namely, the “failing” East State Street and Mitchell Street intersection.

After the discussion of traffic, the board moved on to begin discussing the document’s adequacy for public review. Several potential clarifications were discussed. The consultants largely assented to these requests.

The board will continue the discussion and vote on the document’s adequacy at a special meeting on May 12.

Also discussed at the Planning Board last night was the site plan review of a proposed Olive Garden Restaurant in Ithaca, on South Meadow Street. 

Olive Garden representative Dan Cleary explained that a “number of changes” requested by the Planning Board had been incorporated into the plan — including a pedestrian cross-walk and “trees along the back [of the restaurant.”

Board members asked whether the aesthetics of one of Olive Garden’s exterior facades could be improved, including adding trellises to the facility.

Olive Garden’s Neil Ter­williger rejected some of these suggestions. He said that “the building we’re proposing is a Tuscan farm house … very similar to what you would find if you were to roam the fields of Tuscany.”

 Local Ithacan Joel Harlen said that he was “all for” the placement of an Olive Garden in Ithaca.  He added that he wants “rest of them” (i.e., chains) to “come into Ithaca,” including “Applebees and Kentucky Fried Chicken.”

“It’s good … Let’s get back to American food,” Harlen said in regards to placing an Olive Garden in Ithaca. 

Not all, however, feel that Ithaca could benefit from the influx of chains.  Kayla Jacobs ’13 said that chains could “ruin the true nature of Ithaca,” saying, “…when my aunt and uncle were at Ithaca College 30 years ago, there were no chains.”