Universities, medical centers, museums, and religious buildings face tighter restrictions. The City Council approved amendments to 64 sections of the zoning text that control placement, size, and parking for community facilities. The Planning Department and the Council’s Land Use Committee conducted a joint study of existing zoning controls of community facilities. This is the first amendment to the relevant text since 1961.
The revision impacts community facilities such as universities, houses of worship, medical facilities, dormitories, libraries, museums, schools, and day-care centers. The amendment is intended to restrict the permitted floor area and potential sites for community facilities in single-family or small multi-family areas, as well as increase the ability of community facilities to locate in more suitable, higher density areas. (more…)
Image Credit: NYC DOT.
Many residents and community board members complained of quality of life issues, including noise, trash, cigarette smoke, and loss of parking. On October 6, 2021, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing for the Permanent Open Restaurants program. The Permanent Open Restaurants program will formalize a process for restaurants to operate sidewalk or roadway cafes in a shortened process. The proposed permanent program follows the popularity of the temporary open restaurants program, which was created last year to allow restaurants to conduct outdoor dining in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (more…)
Roadway cafe in Brooklyn. Image Credit: NYC DOT.
Community boards in support and against the application had concerns about quality of life issues and community board involvement in future reviews. Last year’s Open Restaurants program was established to allow restaurants to operate sidewalk or roadway cafes without the extensive approval process to provide safe outdoor dining options during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the program was enabled through an emergency executive order that temporarily suspended the sidewalk café application process, a permanent program would require changes to laws and agency rules. The first step is a proposed zoning text amendment to get rid of the geographical restrictions of where sidewalk and roadway cafes can be located. While zoning text amendments do not need to go through the full ULURP process, it is customary for the Department of City Planning to seek the feedback of community boards for these applications. (more…)
Rending of Edgemere Commons Image Credit: City Planning
Edgemere Commons receives mixed reaction from the Rockaway community. On September 25, 2019, City Planning unanimously approved the Rockaway Limited Partnership’s application to redevelop an existing superblock in the Edgemere neighborhood of Far Rockaway, Queens. The site, which formerly housed Peninsula Hospital, is a paved over, impermeable surface lot located north of Rockaway Beach Boulevard, south of Beach Channel Drive east of Beach 53rd Street and west of Beach 50th Street. The development is currently referred to as “Edgemere Commons.”
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Illustrative Rendering of the envisioned street view. Image Credit: DCP.
Before reaching the City Council, the project received mixed support over concerns that the area was ill-equipped for the increased density. On June 26, 2019, City Council voted to approve with modifications an application that would help implement a major City-initiated plan to redevelop Staten Island’s Bay Street Corridor, which connects the St. George, Tompkinsville, and Stapleton neighborhoods. The comprehensive plan will redevelop the Bay Street Corridor into a walkable, transit-oriented community that provides housing, jobs, and local businesses. The plan had been in the making for over four years and is the result of a coordinated effort among various City agencies and the community. The development is projected to bring 1,000 new jobs, 1,300 new affordable homes, investments in parks, schools and sewers, and a new recreation center. To help implement the plan, the Department of City Planning, the Department of Administrative Services, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development brought several actions subject to the public review process, ULURP. To read CityLand’s coverage on the earlier stages of the public review process, click here. (more…)
