BID will encompass 340 properties to address sanitation and security needs. The Planning Commission unanimously approved an application by the Bay Ridge 5th Avenue District Management Association and the Department of Small Business Services to create a Bay Ridge 5th Avenue Business Improvement District in Brooklyn. The proposed BID will allow an annual assessment on businesses and residents to provide improved sanitation and security for 340 properties containing 320 businesses. The BID area extends along 5th Avenue from 65th Street to 85th Street.

The BID would focus on remediation of sanitation, graffiti and security issues by employing a daily four-person sanitation crew. The $338,000 first-year budget will come from an assessment on commercial properties of $41 dollars per-linear-front- foot. Corner lots will be assessed an additional $100. Residents and owners of vacant property will pay an annual $1 assessment. (read more…)

Special permit for 174-space garage approved over new Borough President’s objections. Continental Residential Holdings, LLC applied to the Planning Department for a special permit to allow for a 174- space attended public parking garage within its new, as-of-right 41-story residential building at 325 Fifth Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan. Although the building is located in a predominantly commercial area one block south of the Empire State Building, in recent years the area has seen residential development grow. Continental agreed to give building residents priority over parking spaces and to contact DOT about implementing a signal timing modification at Madison Avenue and 32nd Street during peak hours to address potential traffic congestion.

At the hearing on the project, Borough President Scott Stringer’s representative spoke in opposition of the permit, explaining that this was Stringer’s first opportunity to request that the Planning Department, along with the Borough President’s office, review the current zoning policy for public parking garage applications south of 110th Street. Continental stated that the proposed garage met the zoning resolution requirements and noted that in the past the Commission had approved public parking on the site. The Commission acknowledged Stringer’s desire for a more comprehensive parking plan, but stated that his dissatisfaction with the current system did not justify denial of Continental’s application. The Commission granted the special permit, finding that the signal modifications would address traffic concerns raised by the environmental review. (read more…)

Middle Village and Glendale rezoned to allow in-context residential development. The Planning Commission approved another outer-borough rezoning intended to preserve established scale, protect low-rise character, and curb inconsistent development in residential neighborhoods. A majority of the rezoned area, 105 blocks along Metropolitan Avenue and the Long Island Railroad, will be predominantly rezoned R4-1 to allow only one- and two-family dwellings. Another 60-block area, bounded by Juniper Valley Road, Juniper Boulevard South, 78th Avenue, and 80th Street, will be predominantly rezoned R4B, which prohibits all multi-family development. Additionally, 150-foot-deep C1-2 and C2-2 commercial overlays were proposed along Metropolitan, Myrtle, and Cooper Avenues.

At the Commission’s December 21, 2005 public hearing, representatives for Council Member Dennis P. Gallagher and Community Board 5 supported the rezoning generally, but requested lower density zones between 69th and 80th Streets and further study of two districts: an R5 district in South Middle Village and an R6B district on Metropolitan Avenue. The Commission responded by agreeing to study both areas further. Two property owners, who opposed the rezoning, asked the Commission to extend commercial zones onto their property in order to avoid hardship and make use economically efficient. The Commission agreed to increase the depth of the proposed commercial overlay to benefit one property owner because of the property’s unusual depth. (read more…)

Site for the Flight 587 Memorial Park to be located 15 blocks from crash site. The Department of Transportation and Department of Parks and Recreation applied for a map amendment to establish a Memorial Park honoring the 265 victims who died when flight 587 crashed in Rockaway in November 2001. The site consists of .16 acres between Beach 116th Street’s southern turnaround and Ocean Promenade.

The map amendment would eliminate portions of Beach 116th Street by relocating the street’s turnaround immediately north of the proposed site. The proposal would also eliminate portions of Ocean Promenade, just south of the turnaround and north of Rockaway Beach. Other amendments would establish the Memorial Park, adjust the grade, and permit acquiring or disposing of any necessary property. There was no opposition at the Planning Commission hearings in January 2006 and the Commission adopted the resolution on February 8, 2006. (read more…)

Rendering of High Line Elevated Structure, affected in a follow-up zoning action in West Chelsea. All images created by Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Permission to reproduce images: courtesy The City of New York, (c) 2004.

Boundaries, frontage, easement access and lot coverage modified for High Line and Special West Chelsea district. In June 2005, the City Council approved several applications related to West Chelsea including the establishment of a Special West Chelsea District to support development of the High Line elevated public space, art galleries, marketrate housing, and affordable housing. 2 CityLand 83 (July 15, 2005). Public review of the proposed text amendments identified the need for additional modifications.

On October 27, 2005, the Planning Department filed an application for a Follow-Up Corrective Action, or FUCA, proposing modifications to the text amendments. The proposal clarified the boundaries, lot coverage calculations, and access requirements for the High Line Improvement Area; reduced minimum allowable frontage for development along the High Line; and identified Parks as the agency responsible for High Line maintenance and inspection. The proposal also added anti-harassment provisions similar to those created for the neighboring Special Hudson Yards District. 3 CityLand 5 (Feb. 15, 2006).

The Commission unanimously approved, finding that the application addressed needs identified during the approval process of the prior text amendments. (read more…)