By Ronda Kaysen
If a good compromise makes no one happy, then perhaps the Dept. of City Planning has found one in North Tribeca.
City Planning staff made recommendations to modify an application to rezone a swath of the North Tribeca waterfront. The Jack Parker Corp. had proposed rezoning four blocks of the neighborhood bounded by West, Washington, Watts and Hubert Sts. to make way for a residential development along West St. Many local residents opposed to the proposal, saying the large buildings would block light and exacerbate traffic congestion at the Holland Tunnel entrance on Canal St.
This week, City Planning proposed several changes to the application, including reducing the floor to area ratio, or F.A.R., from 7.5 to 6.5 along West St. F.A.R. determines how bulky a building can be. City Planning also suggested reducing the base height from 150 feet to a maximum of 102 feet and cutting out a provision that would have allowed the developer to transfer bulk from one part of the rezoned area to another.
“We’re obviously disappointed,” said William Wallerstein, vice president of Jack Parker, which owns one of the four blocks in the proposed area. “We proposed the same zoning that City Planning had shown the community a year ago and we thought that that was where City Planning was. To have them make modifications, it’s very disappointing.”
Wallerstein was most disappointed by the reduction in F.A.R. and the provision to prevent transferring bulk because he will not get to build as many stories with river views on West St. “With every reduction, we look at where we are and what our options are.”
The developer is not considering selling the property yet, said Wallerstein. “We’re still at a point in the process where it’s not done and we need to see where we go with the City Council next.”
City Council will vote on the proposal after the Planning Commission vote on July 12.
In a fight between residents and the developer that has seen little common ground, both sides can now agree on one thing: City Planning’s changes are less than what they’d hoped for.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough,” said Carole De Saram, a Community Board 1 member and president of the Tribeca Community Association, a neighborhood organization. “We can’t have rezoning for the betterment of one person.”
Residents have long wanted to see the entire North Tribeca neighborhood rezoned — not just the Parker site and three other blocks — and insist a large development like the Parker proposal warrants an Environmental Impact Statement to measure the impact on the neighborhood. “What they have done is basically left out the community,” said De Saram. “Where are these children going to go to school? We have to address the traffic problem, which is not going to go away.”
Both C.B. 1 and the borough president rejected the application, which is in a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, a process that requires approval by the City Planning Commission and the City Council. C.B. 1 and the borough president serve an advisory purpose in the process.
“We got some of what we wanted, we didn’t get all of what we wanted,” said C.B. 1 chairperson Julie Menin, adding that the board would still not support the application even with the proposed changes. “The waterfront is one of the best amenities that this community has. We still feel strongly that it [the F.A.R.] needs to be lower. It’s going to block the light, the air.”
City Councilmember Alan Gerson has indicated that he will throw his weight behind the local residents if the application comes before the City Council (if the Planning Commission rejects it, it will die there) and vote down the application. Typically councilmembers follow the lead of the local councilmember in land use issues.
Although Gerson had not reviewed City Planning’s modifications, he doubts they would be enough to garner his support. “Until there’s been a change that results from an overall neighborhood process, that remains my position.”
Ronda@DowntownExpress.com
Downtown Express photos by Tequila Minsky
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