Special rules seek to protect residential neighborhoods and encourage development of day care and medical facilities in commercial districts. On January 18, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s amendment to the Lower Density Growth Management Area (LDGMA) regulations that apply to Staten Island and Bronx Community District 10. The amendment limits the development of out-of-context medical facilities and day care centers in low-density residential areas and encourages their construction in commercial districts. It also eases commercial regulations that restricted residential expansion and development in appropriate areas of Staten Island.

The amendment is the latest modification to the City’s LDGMA zoning regulations applicable to areas within Staten Island and Bronx CD 10 which are characterized by rapid growth, high vehicle ownership, and limited access to mass transit. 1 CityLand 4 (Oct. 15, 2004), 2 CityLand 164 (Dec. 2005). The City last revised the LDGMA regulations to close a parking requirement loophole in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx. 7 CityLand 37 (April 15, 2010). (more…)

Christ Church and castle-inspired 51st Calvary Armory designated. On August 10, 2010, Landmarks voted unanimously to designate the Headquarters Troop of the 51st Cavalry Brigade Armory and the Christ Church complex in Staten Island as two individual City landmarks. The Armory is located at 321 Manor Road in Castleton Corners, and Christ Church is located at 74 Franklin Avenue in New Brighton. Landmarks held public hearings on both structures in August 2009. 6 CityLand 126 (Sept. 15, 2009).

The Headquarters Troop Armory dates to 1926 and retains its historic function as a National Guard installation. The firm of Werner & Windolph designed the red brick-faced building to resemble a medieval castle with three-story towers, corner turrets, and crenellated parapets. This building is unique among the City’s armories because the National Guard sited it on a large grassy parcel in a suburban area. Landmarks only included the western portion of the armory’s expansive campus in the designation in order to permit unregulated use by the National Guard. Former Council Member Kenneth Mitchell and the State Division of Military and Naval Affairs supported designation at the August 2009 hearing. (more…)

Civic association proposed the rezoning to protect area’s low-density character and hilly topography. On April 14, 2010, the City Council approved the Clove Lake Civic Association’s proposal to rezone twenty blocks in the Grymes Hill and Sunnyside sections of Staten Island. The area, located near Wagner College, is generally bounded by Silver Lake Park to the north, Sunnyside Terrace to the south, Highland to the east, and Clove Road to the west. The predominately residential neighborhood features narrow, steeply graded streets and is characterized by single- family, detached homes, with small pockets of attached and detached two-family homes and multi-family buildings.

The civic association proposed the rezoning in response to recent out-of-character development that replaced single-family, detached homes with two-family homes on steep roads that cannot accommodate increased traffic. The majority of the area was down-zoned from R3X to R2, which only permits single-family, detached homes and reflects the area’s prevailing built character. A small portion of the area to the east was rezoned from R3X to R3-2 in order to match the existing attached townhouse buildings in that area. The plan also expanded the Special Hillsides Preservation District to include an area bounded by Victory Boulevard, Howard and Highland Avenues, and Clove Road. In 1989, the City created the preservation district to preserve northern Staten Island’s sloping topography. (more…)

Civic association proposed the rezoning to protect area’s low-density character and hilly topography. On April 14, 2010, the City Council approved the Clove Lake Civic Association’s proposal to rezone twenty blocks in the Grymes Hill and Sunnyside sections of Staten Island. The area, located near Wagner College, is generally bounded by Silver Lake Park to the north, Sunnyside Terrace to the south, Highland to the east, and Clove Road to the west.

The predominately residential neighborhood features narrow, steeply graded streets and is characterized by single- family, detached homes, with small pockets of attached and detached two-family homes and multi-family buildings. The civic association proposed the rezoning in response to recent out-of-character development that replaced single-family, detached homes with two-family homes on steep roads that cannot accommodate increased traffic. The majority of the area was downzoned from R3X to R2, which only permits single family, detached homes and reflects the area’s prevailing built character. A small portion of the area to the east was rezoned from R3X to R3-2 in order to match the existing attached townhouse buildings in that area. The plan also expanded the Special Hillsides Preservation District to include an area bounded by Victory Boulevard, Howard and Highland Avenues, and Clove Road. In 1989, the City created the preservation district to preserve northern Staten Island’s sloping topography. (more…)

Rezoning proposed to prevent attached homes in area settled by freed slaves in 1827. On February 3, 2010, the City Council approved State Senator Andrew J. Lanza’s rezoning proposal for the Sandy Ground neighborhood of Staten Island. Sandy Ground, also known as Rossville, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as one of the country’s oldest communities established by freed slaves. The rezoning impacts 35 blocks generally bounded by the West Shore Expressway to the north and west, Ramona Avenue to the south, and Lenevar and Alverson Avenues to the east.

The area is characterized predominantly by detached and semidetached homes, but over the past several years Sandy Ground has experienced an increase in the development of attached townhouses and multi-family buildings. The rezoning aims to prevent out-of-scale development by down-zoning the area from R3-2 to R3-1, a district that does not permit attached homes. (more…)