Council held first oversight hearing on criteria established more than twenty years ago to ensure equitable distribution of public facilities. On April 12, 2011, the City Council’s Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses Subcommittee held the Council’s first oversight hearing to review the City’s Charter-mandated rules established to foster the equitable distribution of City facilities. Following the 1989 revision of the City Charter, the City Planning Commission promulgated the “fair share” criteria to encourage community consultation and establish a set of standards that City agencies must consider before siting or substantially changing existing City facilities. The fair share rules only apply when City agencies propose siting facilities that are operated by the City on city-controlled property greater than 750 sq.ft., or used for programs that receive certain levels of funding from City contracts.

Subcommittee Chair  Brad Lander acknowledged the challenges of siting essential municipal facilities, such as waste transfer stations and homeless shelters, but noted that twenty years after the creation of the fair share rules, facilities are still concentrated in low-income and minority neighborhoods. Lander argued that in some cases the fair share process served as “window dressing,” or had been circumvented entirely. (read more…)

Proposal to negotiate long-term leases for existing garage serving neighboring community district faced local opposition. On October 13, 2010, the Department of Sanitation withdrew a proposal that would have allowed Sanitation to negotiate long-term leases for two privately owned lots that it uses as a maintenance facility in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Sanitation has occupied a one-story garage at 525 Johnson Avenue since 1954 and an open parking lot across the street at 145 Randolph Street since 1987. The properties have been operated under month-to- month license agreements since their leases expired in 2007 and 2006, respectively. The properties are located in Brooklyn Community District 1, but the facility serves Community District 3.

Sanitation intends to relocate the facility to a site located within CD 3 at 56 Nostrand Avenue. The City Council in 2001 approved the relocation, but completion of the new garage facility has stalled due to cuts in Sanitation’s capital budget. According to Sanitation, construction of the Nostrand Avenue facility will take six years from the date that funding is restored. (read more…)