30 JUNE 22, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
City is looking to save industrial districts from large self-storage facilities
Ridgewood Times Rental Guide
Listings selected at random. Courtesy MLSLI
RIDGEWOOD
Norman Street 67th Street 64th Street 74th Street
1-bedroom
1731 Cornelia Street
$1,900
Completely renovated
Close to public transit
John Zakowski
McZaks Realty
2-bedroom
1635 Norman Street
$2,000
Recently renovated
Close to the L train
Anthony Fernandez
Keller Williams Realty Liberty
3 bedrooms or more
53-15 Metropolitan Avenue
$2,275
Modern bathroom
Close to transit & shops
Christopher Tscherne
Tscherne Realty
GLENDALE
1-bedroom
79-80 77th Road
$1,800
Eat-in kitchen
One month security required
Pedro Leon
Century 21 American Homes
2-bedroom
79-25 71st Avenue
$1,850
First-fl oor unit
Access to front porch
Michael Tirelli
Kaye Realty & Development
3 bedrooms or more
70-02 67th Street
$3,500
Entire duplex home
Pets welcome
Elizabeth Dryjas
Charles Rutenberg Realty
MASPETH
2-bedroom
53-92 64th Street
$2,000
Hardwood fl oors
Income & credit check required
Thomas Song
Century 21 American Homes
2-bedroom
58-40 Fresh Pond Road
$2,400
Separate dining room
Access to backyard & garage
Pedro Leon
Century 21 American Homes
3 bedrooms or more
61-30 56th Street
$2,300
Second-fl oor unit
One month’s security required
Xiaofen Wu
Winzone Realty
MIDDLE VILLAGE
1-bedroom
57-45 74th Street
$1,800
New modern kitchen
Covered terrace
Christopher Tscherne
Tscherne Realty
2-bedroom
62-12 69th Place
$1,995
Lots of closet space
Close to public park
Yolanda Portilla
Exit Realty One
3 bedrooms or more
78-21 69th Avenue
$2,700
Close to shopping & transit
Small pets allowed
Ha Lam
East Coast Realtors
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Self-storage facilities are popping
up all over Queens, including in
some of the borough’s industrial
hubs.
Hoping to protect manufacturing
zones in the borough, the city Department
of City Planning (DCP) is looking
to require a special permit if those
facilities wish to open in a manufacturing
district.
DCP brought their proposal for a
Self-Storage Zoning Text Amendment
to Community Board 5 (CB 5) on
Wednesday, June 14, at Christ the King
High School in Middle Village so the
board could hear their pitch and vote
on the proposal.
The proposal states that a special
permit would be required, under the
jurisdiction of DCP, for all new self-service
storage facilities in the newly designated
areas within manufacturing
districts, or Industrial Business Zones
(IBZs), to ensure that the development
of these facilities would not limit
future siting opportunities for more
job-intensive industrial uses in those
areas.
This special permit would play into
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Industrial Action
Plan, which seeks to protect designated
industrial areas from other uses.
The unregulated development of these
self-storage facilities actually detracts
from the city’s goals of growing jobs
in IBZs.
“These uses tend to be very low in
generating new jobs,” said Tom Smith,
a city planner with DCP. “You could
have a very large facility but a very
small staff , because really all you have
to do is have someone to let people in
and out … and they tend to occupy large
sites along truck routes and highways.
So these are the sites that you most
want to market to actual production
or manufacturing uses because they
have the most viability.”
In Queens there are a total of 63
self-storage facilities. Of those 63,
25 are located in IBZs, another 26
are in other M districts, two are in
C8 districts, and 10 are legal and
non-conforming because they were
grandfathered in before any zoning
changes were made. There are also
four pre-construction facilities in the
city, with one of those in an IBZ.
A special permit would be granted
to new self-storage facilities on sites
that are not appropriate for other
industrial uses based on a number of
conditions. Existing self-storage facilities,
however, will be able to remain
and even expand within their original
zoning lot.
The special permit would require
developers to go through the Uniform
Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP)
process instead of being able to build
self-storage facilities as of right in IBZs.
The full board voted unanimously,
36-0, in favor of implementing the text
amendment.
REAL ESTATE
Photo via Google Maps
The city is looking to prevent
large self-storage facilities, like
this one, from opening in IBZs as
of right.
