Public hearing held for Water's Edge at 683 Third Street; board hears environmental and circulation updates

The Planning and Development Board opened a public hearing April 22 on the proposed Water's Edge development at 683 Third Street and heard a detailed presentation from the applicant team on design updates, environmental testing, stormwater management and site circulation.

The public hearing was opened on a motion by Elizabeth Godden and seconded by Basil (motion recorded on the public record). No in-person public commenters were present, and the board received two written comments and one remote public speaker. Jan Rhodes Norman, president of the Ithaca Farmers Market board, spoke in support of the project and said the market welcomes the new neighbors. "I'm Jan Rhodes Norman. I'm a vendor at market. I'm also the president of the farmers market board. So I wanted to, speak in favor of the Water's Edge project," she said.

Applicant Crystal Ross (Widom Planning and Design) and the project team described several updates since their last submission: a revised private entry road with additional street trees and sidewalks; elimination of several parallel parking spaces to make room for street trees and lighting, which reduced on-site parking from 215 to 210 spaces; designation of 25 spaces as public,…