IDA also approves tax -exempt bonds for 2 health care entities and 1 private school. On October 9, 2007, the New York City Industrial Development Agency voted to provide financial assistance to four entities.

IDA awarded the Bronx Parking Development Company $225 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the design, construction, and renovation of three new parking garages, two existing garages and six surface lots that would serve the new Yankee Stadium. According to IDA, the parking project will create approximately 555 construction and operational jobs. (more…)

DOB revokes Breezy Point resident’s building permit, thereby eliminating BSA appeal. On May 15, 2007, BSA dismissed a contentious case involving the construction of a new year-round home in Breezy Point, Queens, following the Department of Buildings’ revocation of the original permit.

In 2006, Thomas Carroll, a Breezy Point resident for over 50 years, received a permit to construct a new year-round home to replace his deteriorated bungalow. Carroll’s neighbor, Supreme Court Judge James Golia, succeeded in delaying construction several times by complaining to Buildings, obtaining a restraining order and finally filing an appeal to BSA alleging, among other things, that the size of the house violated zoning restrictions for rear and front yards, distance between buildings and parking requirements. Golia’s appeal centered on a claim that Carroll’s plot could not qualify as a separate zoning lot since Carroll did not own it “separately and individually” as required by the zoning resolution. Since the Breezy Point Cooperative owns all the plots in Breezy, BSA’s final decision could have impacted all plots and future building permit applications in the Far Rockaway community. (more…)

Residents sought rezoning to halt subdivisions and out-of-character residential development. On March 22, 2006, the Planning Commission unanimously approved a rezoning impacting 82 blocks of the Bayswater and Far Rockaway neighborhoods in Queens. The rezoned areas are predominately residential and border the Far Rockaway commercial district. The rezoning was proposed in response to overdevelopment concerns caused by the subdivision of large lots and replacement of one- and two-family homes with multi-family homes.

Existing R2, R3-2, R4, and R5 districts will be rezoned R1-2, R3A, R3X, R4A, and R4-1 to ensure that new development will match existing density and housing types. The new zoning restricts residential development to one- or two-family detached residences with height limited to 35 feet (R3A, R3X, R4A, and R4-1) or based on the sky exposure plane (R1-2). Minimum lot size requirements within the rezoning are 5,700 sq.ft. (R1-2), 2,375 sq.ft. (R3A and R4-1), 3,325 sq.ft. (R3X), and 2,250 sq.ft. (R4A). (more…)

Developer failed to show residential use was infeasible on large Queens site. On December 7, 2004, BSA denied a variance application for an automatic car wash proposed for 34- 11 Rockaway Boulevard at the corner of Sea Girt Boulevard in Queens, a C2- 2(R6) zone. Residential and retail use, but not car washes, would be permitted as-of-right on the site, a 37,255 sq.ft. lot with a 206 ft. street frontage along Far Rockaway Boulevard and 121 ft. frontage on Sea Girt Boulevard. The applicant argued that the lack of direct access to the Rockaway Freeway made both uses economically infeasible. The applicant also claimed that the site’s irregular shape, as it narrowed from 225 ft. to 121 ft., made a residential use unworkable.

At the hearings, BSA requested that the applicant submit economic studies of different residential developments that could be built as-ofright. The applicant submitted an 11- unit scenario for the 37,255 sq.ft. lot, claiming that, with the lack of freeway access and the odd site size, 11 units were the maximum workable unit number. Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan expressed doubt as to the analysis and commented that the applicant failed to submit requested evidence such as a showing that the construction costs were as high as alleged or that the site’s alleged high water table increased development costs. (more…)