32 JUNE 21, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
REAL ESTATE
Community Board unanimously against citywide zoning change
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
As the city attempts to limit the
development of new hotels through a
widespread zoning amendment, one
Queens community board has voted
against it because of one provision it
believes undermines the purpose of
the proposal.
Community Board 5 voted unanimously
against the Department of
City Planning’s proposal to require
new hotels in light manufacturing
(M1) zoning districts to be subject to
a special permit review at its June 13
meeting.
Citing a specifi c provision buried
deep within the city’s proposal, Zoning
and Land Use Review Committee Chair
Walter Sanchez explained that “transient
hotels” would be exempt from the
special permit review process.
“The committee would typically
be in favor of any change to zoning
text which allows community input,”
Sanchez said. “However, it could be
argued that not having private commercial
hotels built in an M1 district
leaves the land available for the city to
take it over, and we worry about that
… When the statement spends so much
angst stating this type of use hurts the
character of the neighborhood, why
would they leave it open for transient
hotels?”
In the city’s proposed amendment,
it explains that M1 districts are
currently “well suited” for hotel construction,
and that has led to a boom
in such construction in the past decade.
Across the city, 13 percent of existing
hotel rooms are in M1 districts, and
30 percent of hotel rooms slated for
development are in M1 districts.
The amendment states that the
proliferation of hotels in some of the
city’s few remaining vacant or underdeveloped
sites could take away from
“other uses better equipped to fulfi ll
neighborhood development objectives
and needs.”
If the amendment were to pass, it
would force new hotel developments in
M1 districts to obtain a special permit
that has to be approved through the
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure
(ULURP). That procedure involves
input from the community board,
borough president, City Planning
Commission and City Council.
The amendment would not require
transient hotels to undergo that same
review, and the Board 5 zoning committee
is recommending that the city
change that exemption.
Before the unanimous vote, the
proposal sparked a discussion
amongst the board about how their
vote may be perceived with regard to
the homelessness crisis. One board
member, Sarah Feldman, explained
that with the rising cost of housing
in the neighborhood, there needs to
be more sympathy toward the people
who have fallen on hard times and
need help getting back on their feet.
“What I want in this conversation is
more feeling for the people who have
lost something,” Feldman said. “These
hotels are being turned into homeless
shelters for a very big reason, because
of overpopulation.”
When Board 5 Chair Vincent Arcuri
responded that the city should then
properly apply for a homeless shelter
location rather than use a hotel, Feldman
said that people still don’t want
shelters in general, citing Glendale as
an example.
Sanchez added that the committee
agrees with Feldman’s sentiment and
has recommended two potential locations
for shelters in the community
already.
Ridgewood Times Sales Guide
Listings selected at random. Courtesy MLS
RIDGEWOOD
Norman Street 59th Street Clinton Avenue 84th Street
Under $600,000
63-15 Forest Ave.
$439,000
Condo
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Iwona Wojcik
Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc.
$600,000-$1,000,000
60-36 70th Ave.
$997,000
2-Family Other
6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Erin Cashell
PURPLEBRICKS Inc
Over $1,000,000
1701 Norman St.
$1,495,000
2-Family Colonial
6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms
Gabriel Kashi
Keystone Realty USA Corp.
GLENDALE
Under $600,000
70-10 80th St.
$599,000
2-Story, 1-Family
2 bedrooms 1 bathroom
Teresa Jasinski
Exit All Seasons Realty
$600,000-$1,000,000
64-22 80th Ave.
$705,000
1-Family Colonial
3 bedrooms, 1 full, 2 half bathrooms
Jacqueline Lobo
Over $1,000,000
80-72 59th St.
$1,150,000
2-Family Colonial
5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Andrew Gouzoulis
Kirsch Realty
MASPETH
Under $600,000
62-15 53rd Ave.
$328,000
Co-op
2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Jordan Donner
Landmark International R E LLC
$600,000-$1,000,000
54-07 68th St.
$985,000
2-Family Colonial
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Helen Keit
Keller Williams Realty Landmark
Over $1,000,000
64-09 Clinton Ave.
$1,400,000
2-Story, 3-Family
7 bedrooms, 3 ½ bathrooms
Zhi Xu
Keller Williams Realty Landmark
MIDDLE VILLAGE
Under $600,000
69-06 78th St.
$569,000
2-Story, 1-Family
3 bedrooms, 1 ½ bathrooms
David Kueber
Coldwell Banker Kueber Realty
$600,000-$1,000,000
64-58 84th St.
$725,000
2-Story, 1-Family
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Jason Furnari
Exit Realty Achieve
Over $1,000,000
61-64 81st St.
$1,098,000
1-Family Townhouse
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Christine Lopinto
Century 21 American Homes
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