5
QUEENS WEEKLY, FEB. 10, 2019
New daycare center coming to Glendale?
A new zoning text
amendment to allow special
permits for hotels in M1 districts
could make it easier
for the DHS, according to
one source, to house homeless
at the 78-16 Cooper Ave.
site, which has a pending
application with the city
Department of Buildings to
include a “transient lodging
house” in a permit filed
in August.
DHS stated in a Jan. 15
email to TimesLedger that
although up 9,900 of the
homeless population being
sheltered in Queens,
it is currently phasing
out the practice of lodging
the 46 percent of them in
commercial hotels.
INJURED
BY MARK HALLUM
Community Board 5’s
Land Use Committee heard
arguments Tuesday night
for a special permit application
with the Board of Standards
and Appeals for the
construction of a daycare
center in Glendale.
An attorney representing
the developer appeared
before the committee on
Feb. 5 at the board’s Glendale
office to answer questions
regarding the safety
of the children who will be
taken care of at the location.
Nora Martins, the attorney
representing CS
Cooper Avenue LLC, assured
the advisory body
that the operators of the
proposed facility at 79-40
Cooper Ave. would protect
children from not only the
industrial activity surrounding
the lot they hope
to build on, but will take
responsibility for keeping
them safe in the event
that the city Department of
Homeless Services (DHS)
places a shelter nearby.
The surrounding area is
no stranger to construction
as of late. The adjacent lot
is undergoing a transformation
into a self-storage
building and, down the
road, 78-16 Cooper Ave. has
been in a tug-of-war between
the city and Councilman
Robert Holden over a
proposed homeless shelter
or a public school.
“Cooper Avenue is very
commercial, there’s actually
a lot of children oriented
businesses,” Martins said.
“So the daycare facility
which is proposed to be operated
by Children of America
seems the natural fit in
this area, they had identified
a need for daycare in
this area that is not being
served … Obviously this
will be a highly supervised
facility and it’s not like an
open playground where
children will be potentially
impacted by a potential
nearby homeless shelter.”
The 83,000-square-foot
lot, which also encompasses
the storage facility,
needs a special permit to
operate a mixed community
facility and commercial
retail space under the current
M1-1 zoning, but Martins
wants to use a special
permit mechanism from
the BSA which allows daycares
in these zones under
some circumstances.
Just across the street
from the proposed daycare
is R4 zoning and although
the daycare is private, they
will offer Universal Pre-K,
Martins said.
Children of America
will oversee about 167 children
in 15 classrooms of the
proposed facility which be
a total of 15,212 square feet
and will have a fenced rooftop
playground. About 3,986
square feet of the building
will be used as commercial
floor space that can
be subdivided into smaller
tenant spaces which the developers
hope will attract a
medical facility.
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Martins, a land-use attorney
who last year represented
the Sun Equity in
its controversial effort to
built retail space for Target
with housing in Elmhurst,
said they will provide more
than the required parking
with 32 spaces and a special
driveway off Cooper Avenue
for drop off and pick up areas.
They do not anticipate
any major traffic impacts.
The five-story storage
facility and daycare
will not share the same
vehicle entrance.
Children of America
currently has daycare facility
in Jackson Heights and
Queens Village, and hope to
not only expand into Glendale
but Bellerose as well.
Board 5 will examine
the matter further during a
presentation at the board’s
next public meeting, on
Feb. 13 at Christ the King
High School in Middle Village.
The session begins at
7:30 p.m.
A daycare could be sharing a lot with a storage facility in
Glendale if CB5 and the BSA approve a special permit.
Photo by Mark Hallum
/www.rubensteinandrynecki.com
/www.rubensteinandrynecki.com
