Mini-storage owners unsuccessfully challenged FEIS. Columbia University proposed an expansion plan that would allow it to construct a new 17- acre campus in the Manhattanville neighborhood of West Harlem. The plan would create academic building space, university housing, as well as a contiguous below-grade facility, or “bathtub,” to support campus functions. After the City Planning Commission determined that Columbia’s plan might have a significant impact on the environment, Columbia prepared a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) which concluded that Columbia’s plan, as modified during the review process, would not result in any adverse impacts not already identified in the FEIS. The City adopted the FEIS’s findings, and a modified version of Columbia’s plan was ultimately approved by the City Council, as was Manhattan Community Board 9’s alternative development plan for West Harlem. 5 CityLand 3 (Feb. 15, 2008).

Tuck-It-Away Associates, a business in the proposed development area, challenged the City’s adoption of the FEIS’s findings. Tuck- It-Away claimed that the City failed to take the required “hard look” at the potential environmental impacts of the bathtub, and failed to adequately consider CB9’s plan. Tuck-It-Away also asserted that the City unlawfully segmented the environmental review process by postponing the review of some outstanding issues relating to the maintenance and construction of the bathtub to an unspecified future date. (read more…)