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An Ordinance to Repeal City of Ithaca Municipal Code Section 346-17, “Pedestrian Crossings”

WHEREAS Plan Ithaca, the City of Ithaca’s comprehensive plan, prioritizes pedestrian travel above all other modes of transportation; and

WHEREAS on March 6, 2019 Common Council adopted the goals of “Vision Zero” to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries on roadways, and that strategy requires prioritization of pedestrian travel; and

WHEREAS the automobile industry lobbied “jaywalking” into existence in the 1920s to shift the blame for crashes onto pedestrians and encourage automobile usage and sales; and

WHEREAS “jaywalking” laws put the onus of pedestrian safety on walkers instead of lethal, increasingly large motor vehicles; and

WHEREAS criminalizing crossing the street raises the potential for selective enforcement; now, therefore be it

ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca as follows:

ORDINANCE 2023-__

Section 1. Legislative findings, intent, and purpose

The Common Council makes the following findings:

1. Prioritizing pedestrian travel is a component of achieving the city’s climate and safety goals
2. Automobiles and other vehicles with greater potential for causing injury should bear greater responsibility for pedestrian safety

Section 2. Repeal of Section 17 of Chapter 346 of the City Code

Section 17 of Chapter 346 of the City Code, “Pedestrian Crossings,” is hereby repealed in its entirety:

§ 346-17 Pedestrian crossings.

A.  Traffic control signals. No pedestrian shall cross between adjacent intersections at which traffic control signals are in operation except in a crosswalk.

B.  Business districts. No pedestrian shall cross a street or roadway except in a crosswalk in the central business district or in any other business district.

Section 3. Severability clause

Severability is intended throughout and within the provisions of this ordinance. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.

Section 4. Effective date

This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in accordance with law upon publication of notices as provided in the Ithaca City Charter.

New York State’s Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 expanded the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA), allowing municipalities throughout the state to opt into it. The ETPA stabilizes rents in buildings of six or more units constructed before 1974, regulating annual rent increases through a county Rent Guidelines Board and entitling tenants to a renewal of their lease. In short, it seeks to prevent tenant displacement. An overview of the law is at:

https://hcr.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2020/11/fact-sheet-08-09-2019.pdf

Before a municipality can opt into the ETPA it must declare a housing emergency by documenting an apartment vacancy rate below 5%. The municipality must conduct a vacancy study of the class(es) of housing that would be affected by ETPA rent regulation. This resolution directs the Planning Department to conduct such a survey.

While I believe the survey itself is important to give us a better picture of the affordability of rental housing in Ithaca and determine ETPA eligibility, we’ll inevitably consider the merits of ETPA itself. The following is a very small sample of the discussion around ETPA and rent regulation in general:

The Village of Ossining recently adopted, repealed, and re-adopted (with changes) ETPA and has a useful FAQ with pros and cons: https://www.villageofossining.org/planning-department/pages/faqs-etpa

Kingston recently conducted a vacancy study and found that it was not eligible:

https://therivernewsroom.com/rent-controls-first-test-in-the-hudson-valley/

This document was written by a former member of NYC’s Rent Guidelines Board:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lo6qeKjEqZ03RUo9tSLyUvABsScrn9Mz/view

These are decidedly pro-rent control arguments (footnotes are frequently useful for details):

https://www.theurbanist.org/2019/08/05/the-case-for-rent-control/

https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/OurHomesOurFuture_Web_08-02-19.pdf

These documents study unintended consequences of rent control:

https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-does-economic-evidence-tell-us-about-the-effects-of-rent-control/

https://web.stanford.edu/~diamondr/DMQ.pdf

Some of what’s debated above doesn’t apply to Ithaca or ETPA (we don’t see condo conversions here, the limited scope is unlikely to affect new housing construction). Also, there are a lot of parameters in the law to consider—e.g., ways for landlords to recoup the cost of major capital improvements and some flexibility regarding the properties affected—if we chose to implement it in Ithaca. But the first step is to determine our eligibility.

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WHEREAS U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey data for the City of Ithaca indicates that 74% of housing units are renter occupied^[1], that 64% of households in renter-occupied housing units are rent-burdened (pay 30% or more of their household income towards housing)^[2], 41% severely so (pay 50% or more of their household income towards housing)[3], and that the citywide rental vacancy rate was 4%^[4]; and

WHEREAS median rents for housing units constructed before 1970 have increased by an average 3.6% annually over the past decade^[5] compared to an average annual increase of the Consumer Price Index of 1.8% nationally^[6] over the same period; and

WHEREAS on June 14, 2019, the “Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019” was passed by the New York State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, allowing municipalities statewide to adopt the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974 (ETPA); and

WHEREAS the ETPA provides rent stabilization for rental properties constructed before 1974 containing 6 or more units regulated by a Rent Guidelines Board; and

WHEREAS local adoption of the ETPA must be preceded by a housing study of affected properties to support a “declaration of emergency” regarding apartment availability, where an emergency is defined as a rental vacancy rate of less than 5% for the class of eligible housing accommodations; now therefore be it

RESOLVED that Common Council directs the Director of Planning & Development to commission a housing vacancy survey to determine the City of Ithaca’s eligibility for opting into the ETPA

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^[1] https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Ithaca%20city,%20New%20York%20Housing&tid=ACSDP5Y2019.DP04&hidePreview=false

^[2] https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Ithaca%20city,%20New%20York%20Business%20and%20Economy&tid=ACSST5Y2019.S2503&hidePreview=false

[3] http://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/10148/2019-2023-Consolidated-Plan

^[4] https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Ithaca%20city,%20New%20York%20Housing&tid=ACSDP5Y2019.DP04&hidePreview=false

^[5] https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Ithaca%20city,%20New%20York%20bedrooms%20rent%20year%20built&tid=ACSDT5Y2019.B25111&hidePreview=false

^[6] https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator/consumer-price-index-1913-

Modeled after Senator Warren et al’s student loan debt cancelation resolution, this calls on President Biden to use his executive authority to cancel federal student loan debt.

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WHEREAS over 43 million Americans hold more than $1.5 trillion of federal student loan debt at an average balance of $39,351[1] and more than 9 million federal student loan borrowers are currently in default on those federal student loans; and

WHEREAS women hold two thirds of all student debt, African American borrowers have higher than average levels of student debt, most borrowers have more than half of their student debt after 12 years of repayment, 40% of student loan borrowers did not finish college or obtain a degree, over 8 million student loan borrowers are over the age of 50[2]; and

WHEREAS cancelling student debt would increase African American wealth by a third, increase GDP by billions of dollars, add up to 1.5 million new jobs, and make it more likely for people to start or invest in a small business, obtain more advanced degrees, start a family, and buy a house²; and

WHEREAS the elimination of student debt represents an opportunity to support Ithaca residents, address racial and gender wage gaps, and provide better overall health outcomes to the general population since debt is associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes such as stress, depression, general health, obesity and mortality; now therefore be it

RESOLVED that the City of Ithaca’s Common Council calls on the President of the United States to take executive action to broadly cancel Federal student loan debt for Federal student loan borrowers administratively using existing legal authorities available under the law; and

RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution to be sent to President Joe Biden, Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congressman Tom Reed

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[1] https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics/

[2] https://www.clasp.org/sites/default/files/publications/2021/01/Ten%20Reasons%20to%20Cancel%20Student%20Loan%20Debt_Jan%202021.pdf