Parking in Manhattan is a controversial subject. The Department of City Planning weighed in on the topic when, in December 2011, it released a study of parking within Manhattan’s core business districts. City Planning reported that there are fewer off-street parking spaces than there were years ago. In 1978 the Manhattan core had 127,000 off-street public parking spaces; in 2010 there were only 103,000.

The reduction in spaces resulted in part from environmental policies that I was involved with as a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council. In 1975 the City was not in compliance with the federal carbon monoxide standards, and I served as co-counsel in a Clean Air Act litigation against the City. The Beame Administration in 1977 settled the case by limiting the right to construct off-street garages, and by removing parking meters from midtown, actions which led to the City’s 1982 parking rules. Under these rules acres of surface lots disappeared, as for example, along Sixth Avenue in the twenties. (more…)

Court previously overturned DEC’s denial of developer’s application and ordered additional analyses. A developer planned to construct a 341-unit mixed-use building on a 17,700 sq.ft. parking lot at 29 Flatbush Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. An environmental assessment of the site revealed the presence of lead and semi-volatile organic compounds. The developer subsequently applied to the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Brownfield Cleanup Program.

DEC determined that the property did not meet the statutory definition of a brownfield site and denied the application. Although DEC acknowledged that the property’s contamination levels exceeded regulatory standards, it found that the contamination would not complicate development of the site. The developer filed an article 78 petition challenging the determination.

Justice Arthur M. Schack vacated the decision, ruling that DEC’s interpretation of its “complication of development” test contravened the statutory requirement that the definition of a brownfield site be broadly construed. Justice Schack, however, noted that an improper denial did not mean the site should be automatically included in the program and ordered the developer to submit to DEC additional environmental and financial studies. 7 CityLand 80 (June 15, 2010). (more…)

HPD claimed that abandoned railway complicated the development of two lots. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development applied for use variances in order to construct a three-building affordable housing development on two vacant through-block lots zoned for manufacturing in the East Tremont section of the Bronx.

The Phipps Houses Group’s 141-unit project will include an eight-story residential building and a ten-story mixed-use building at 1155 East Tremont Avenue, and a ten-story mixed-use building located directly across the street at 1176 East Tremont Avenue. Both lots were previously occupied by the elevated New York, Westchester, and Boston Interurban Railway. Remnants of the abandoned train trestle, including several in-ground concrete supports, remain on both lots.

HPD claimed that the trestle remnants, subsurface contamination, and the area’s high water table would constrain a viable manufacturing use for the site. HPD estimated that it would cost a combined $6.1 million to clean up the sites and remove the railway remnants. HPD also claimed that the requested variances were necessary in order to provide the minimum number of apartments needed to maintain the project’s financial viability and fulfill the agency’s programmatic goals. (more…)

Willets Point, Queens (view along 127th Street between 37th and 36th Avenues). Image: CityLand.

Resident and businesses argued City did not fully consider plan’s impact on highway traffic and water supply. In November 2008 the City Council approved a redevelopment plan for Willets Point, Queens. The plan would transform a 61-acre industrial section of northern Queens into a mixed-use neighborhood with more than 5,000 residential units, 1.75 million sq. ft. of retail space, a school, and a hotel. According to the proposal’s environmental review, the City would undertake extensive environmental cleanup efforts and use fill to raise the entire area out of the 100-year flood zone. In order to address the projected increase in traffic, new traffic ramps would be added to the three highways located near the area. The ramps would require approval from the State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. (more…)

DEC denied access to State’s brownfield cleanup program on theory that contamination did not complicate development. In 2007, a developer purchased a 17,700 sq.ft. former parking lot at 29 Flatbush Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, intending to build a 342-unit residential building. An environmental assessment of the site’s subsurface revealed the presence of lead and at least seven semi-volatile organic compounds at levels exceeding regulatory standards. In April 2008, the developer filed an application with the State Department of Environmental Conservation to participate in its Brownfield Cleanup Program.

DEC determined that the property did not meet the statutory definition of a brownfield site and denied the application. DEC acknowledged the presence of contamination at levels above regulatory standards, but found that it would not complicate the site’s future development. In its denial, DEC stated that the contamination appeared to be limited to historic fill, and that its random distribution indicated there would not be a need to excavate and dispose of any soil. DEC concluded that clean up costs would be insignificant compared to the anticipated value of the site after the proposed development. The developer filed an article 78 petition challenging the determination. (more…)