Campus Planning Committee

CAMPUS PLANNING COMMITTEE
May 5, 2011
9:00 — 10:30AM
121 Weill Hall
Meeting Minutes

Agenda

1. Welcome and Introductions — 9:00am

2. PSCC Land Focus Area Team — 9:10am
Presenters: Dan Roth, Marianne Krasny, Mina Amundsen

3. Bear statue - siting options — 9:45am
Presenter: Mina Amundsen

4. Wrap-Up/Next Steps — 10:15am

Attendees

Mina Amundsen, Tom Cole, Mary-Lynn Cummings, David Cutter, Bill Ghiorse, Marianne Krasny, Joe Lalley, Frank Perry, Dan Roth, Pete Salino, Puifai Santisakultarm, Stephan Schmidt, Jordan Smith, Randy Wayne.

Discussion

Stephan welcomed attendees and requested Mina to provide a brief update on planning activities over the spring semester. The major projects have been supporting the bridge means restriction, site design reviews for the CIS building, other capital project support and the recently announced President’s Sustainable Campus Committee (PSCC) Focus Area Teams.

PSCC Land Focus Area Team — Dan Roth, the University’s Sustainability Coordinator, provided an overview of the PSCC, its membership, the Focus Team initiative and its broad goals. He described the relationship of the Focus Teams to other committees that are part of the PSCC — the Sustainability Forum, the University Assembly (UA) Infrastructure Committee, and the PSCC Communications Committee. As the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) and Land Use Management Committee (LUMC) already deal with many of the areas under the Land Focus Area team, the work of this team will be carried out through the activities of both committees. Sub-groups on specific topics may be convened as appropriate. The membership of the Land Focus Area team will include some members from both the CPC and LUMC as the focus will be on land use, planning and development as well as conservation and management.

Dan also outlined an annual schedule of tasks for Focus Area teams, including setting goals, progress reports, data collection and reporting to the AASHE STARS sustainability tracking system and all land-related metrics. Tom Cole mentioned that the STARS acronym stood for another system on campus and that we should be aware of any potential for confusion. Bill raised a question about how the Focus Team efforts would be connected to the UA. For the Land Focus Area team, this should not be a problem, as the CPC membership already includes two UA representatives, who will be aware of the team’s work. However this issue needs to be resolved by the UA for the other Focus Area teams.

Stephan asked how the Campus Master Plan (CMP) would be folded into this initiative. Mina responded that the CMP recommendations for development were envisioned over the long term, but the implementation happened with every project on the campus and its compliance with the plan, that included the siting of new buildings in a compact development pattern, sustainable site development and improvements in transportation and utilities infrastructure at the site and campus level that contributed to reduced resource use and fewer CO2 emissions. There were also other land-related initiatives in the CMP such as ecosystem-based stormwater management and gorge protection that would be addressed through the work of the Focus Area team. Some initiatives such as Cornell workforce housing in the community overlapped across Focus Area teams as they contributed to both sustainable development patterns and alternative non-SOV modes of transportation.

Randy asked whether no-growth or reduced growth needed to be considered as part of being sustainable. Mary-Lynn mentioned that more effective use of space and facilities were under active consideration and part of the strategy under Green Development in the University’s Climate Action Plan.

Marianne and Mina will meet to review the draft document and work out Focus Area team membership, goals, and logistics and get back to the CPC via email. There is no need at the moment for another meeting in June and this information will be shared via email. The Land Use Focus Area team input on reporting deliverables for STARS between now and June will be also solicited via email.

Siting Options for Bear Statue — There is a proposed project to site a statue of Touchdown the Bear on campus, most likely in the Athletics area of the campus. Five possible locations were presented to the committee for review and feedback. Of the options, sites 2 and 3 were visible but did not have enough space as they were off narrow sidewalk, and would constrain any sculpture at either location. Site 4 was already close to another 9’ high statue of a bear inside Bartels Hall. Site 5 was also considered unsuitable by the committee as it was too far out of sight, even though it would be close to the proposed new marching band practice facility. The site would be largely isolated and low visibility could result in vandalism. Site 1 had a subsurface steam vault that would need to be considered in the exact placement of a statue, but was otherwise a very good location. Its proximity to Teagle Hall and high visibility from an intersection, and campus tour route and landscaped setting would make this a good location. Another location was suggested, within the stadium, right outside the door where the teams enter the field. Given the history of the bear, this could also be a good location, although visible only to stadium goers and football teams. The Planning Office will look at both of these locations in greater detail and select a recommended site. The discussion with the committee was very helpful. An article of a book about Touchdown the Bear and the map of site options are attached on the following page.

Wrap-Up — The UA has sent notices about term limits to a few members. Mina will follow up with Ari Epstein about the notices and pending membership issues, including new student, faculty and staff members. CPC meetings in fall 2011 will be on a bimonthly schedule. Additional meetings may be scheduled as needed for a sub-committee to deal with Land Focus Area issues that are time sensitive.