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Alderpersons discussed housing and environment resolutions at a May 1 Common Council meeting.

May 1, 2024

BREAKING: Common Council Approves Short Term Rentals, Justice 50 Resolutions

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This article will be updated 

The Ithaca Common Council voted to pass a measure on short term rentals and a measure on Justice 50 — an environmental proposal. 

After over 10 community members weighed in on the policy during the public comment section of the meeting, the resolution on the Short-Term Rental Ordinance passed with 10 votes to 1, with only Margaret Fabrizio (D-Fifth Ward) voting against the measure. The Justice 50 resolution was approved in a unanimous vote.

Short-Term Rentals

The Short-Term Rental Ordinance, which was originally drafted by the Department of Planning and Development, enacts regulations on short-term rentals. Under the legislation, permits will be issued only to a primary resident of a property. STRs will be allowed in any single- and two-family residences and owner-occupied residences within a multiple-dwelling or mixed-use building.  

During public comment, many residents expressed concern for personal economic impacts stemming from the measure, while others considered it to be a good first step toward addressing the city’s housing shortage.

Justice 50

Authored by Rebecca Evans, Ithaca’s director of sustainability, the Justice 50 resolution aims to guide the City’s implementation of the 2019 Ithaca Green New Deal, which commits to community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030.

The framework — modeled after the Biden administration’sJustice 40 initiative — establishes a “minimum investment floor” of 50 percent of total capital funding and 50 percent of funding for the Ithaca Green New Deal that will go to neighborhoods considered Climate Justice Communities. A May 2022 resolution defines CJCs as areas in which the majority of residents are experiencing three or more items from a list of criteria, including being low income, undocumented, homeless or not possessing a high school diploma or GED as a resident who is 25 years old or older.