Thirty-block rezoning in South Bronx would encourage redevelopment of blighted waterfront. On June 19, 2008, the Department of City Planning held a public hearing on the draft scope of an environmental impact statement for the proposed Lower Concourse Rezoning. The proposal covers a 30-block area, generally bounded by the Harlem River on the west, East 149th to the north, Morris and Lincoln Avenues on the east, and the Major Deegan Expressway and Park Avenue to the south.

City Planning’s plan seeks to encourage new residential and commercial development and enhance the waterfront areas in the traditionally industrial section of the South Bronx. During the past two decades the area, which is readily accessible by public transit, has seen significant residential construction after an earlier period of disinvestment and population decline during the 1970s and 1980s. At the same time, industrial uses in the area have decreased, creating underutilized, industrial-zoned land that, according to City Planning, blights the neighborhood. (read more…)

New fees to take effect in June 2007. City Planning’s fee increase for private applications made pursuant to the City Environmental Quality Review process and the City’s land use review procedure, ULURP, will take effect on June 29, 2007. Under the new rule, CEQR fees will typically rise 15 percent, and ULURP fees will go up by 40 percent in most cases. 4 CityLand 40 (April 15, 2007). The CEQR fee increase will also apply to BSA applications.

No one opposed the fee increase at the Planning Commission’s public hearing on April 25, 2007. Over the comment period, Planning received one written comment from the Real Estate Board of New York, which suggested that the increased fees be used to hire additional staff for the environmental assessment division. REBNY’s letter addressed the high cost of doing business in New York and recomrecommended that City Planning continue to increase efficiency and customer service. The letter appeared to object specifically to the fee increase for Type II actions, since they do not require further CEQR review, and reiterated its suggestion that the City expand its list of exempt projects. (read more…)

City Planning claims new fees required to cover costs. City Planning moved to increase fees for private applications made pursuant to the City Environmental Quality Review process and the City’s land use review procedure, ULURP. At the Planning Commission’s March 12, 2007 review session, City Planning’s Deputy Counsel Julie Lubin explained that the increase would be the first since 2002, and was meant to align fees more closely to actual costs. The increase, Lubin added, would not cover all costs associated with the review of applications since 22 percent of applications come from government agencies, which are exempt.

Under the proposal, CEQR fees would increase 15 percent, except fees  for Type  II applications which would increase from  $75 to $100. Type II actions do not  require an environmental assessment, making costs   to  Planning
minimal. There are 12 levels of fees for non-Type II actions, with  the  cost  based on the square
footage of the  project. The smallest fees, for projects less than 10,000  sq.ft.,  would increase from $370 to $425. The largest fees, for applications over a million sq.ft., would increase  from   $253,000   to $290,950. (read more…)