Residential uses found infeasible due to the site’s odd shape and Astoria Boulevard frontage. Showky Kaldawy, owner of four vacant lots in East Elmhurst, sought a variance to allow his residentially-zoned lots to be used as a 33-space accessory parking lot for an adjacent rental car company. Three of the four lots comprising the 17,866 square-foot site front 110th Street, and the fourth fronts Astoria Boulevard, one of Queens’ major commercial arteries.

Kaldawy argued that the site had been used for industrial purposes or as accessory parking for Astoria Boulevard’s manufacturing uses for over 50 years. He stated that the site’s odd shape, its location along Astoria Boulevard and the high cost of remediation rendered residential uses infeasible. Kaldawy submitted studies showing that a small apartment development and three single-family homes would not yield a reasonable return due to East Elmhurst’s low rents and the $150,000 estimated cost to remove 12 gasoline tanks on the site. (read more…)