Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises · Thursday, January 5, 2023
The one where a Lincoln dealership rezoning turned into a referendum on Northern Boulevard traffic deaths
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A Queens zoning subcommittee heard a packed slate, but one item ate the room: a proposed Lincoln dealership rezoning at 5802 Northern Boulevard (C 210389 ZMQ). Unions and the applicant pitched jobs and a 'low-impact' use; a wall of opponents , invoking Vision Zero, a planned high school, and pedestrian fatalities including 19-year-old Sarah Perez , called the corridor a 'sacrifice zone' and warned a car-centric use was the wrong fit. CM Julie Won pushed back on framing crash deaths as immigrant-driven. Quieter items moved too: a Forest Hills temple rebuild, a Brooklyn MIH rezoning by veteran c
From the room
“Based on feedback that we received from the community board, we made changes to the plans to increase the number of supermarket accessory parking spaces”
— Alison Carreri
“holding the funerals for Queen's District Attorney the Honorable Richard A. Brown and for a deputy chief police officer, both of blessed memory”
— Mark Kaiserman
“by mapping a C2 commercial overlay over the entire property while leaving the existing underlying residential zoning districts in place”
— Alison Carreri
“community board two has rejected this application with a resolution opposing all new auto-related uses on the Northern Boulevard corridor”
— Julie Won
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The decisions
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01LU 0155-2022C 220250 ZMQZoning MapLaid over
97-27 57 AVENUE
The applicant presented a request to map a C2-4 commercial overlay onto the existing R6A/C1-2 and R6B districts at 97-27 57th Avenue, opening the door to ground-floor commercial use at the site.
Testimony established that the site's restaurant closed more than a decade ago and current zoning bars reactivating the building for commercial use, leaving the property unable to take on a new commercial tenant without the requested change.
Jobs split between salespeople and administrative personnel who are members of the United Service Workers Union; repair work at Jamaica facility served by United Auto Workers Union
Repairs are not permitted pursuant to the zoning being sought; site operates like a retail store, not a traditional dealership
Project benefits include redeveloping vacant site, public EV charging stations, sustainability features, new on-site and off-site union jobs
Bike parking, solar panels on roof, pervious pavement system for natural stormwater infiltration, plus EV chargers at rear
Reusable gray water for irrigation, landscaping surrounding the site, green roof element with plantings, solar array
Applicant committed to Queens Borough President's conditions to use porous concrete and passive landscaping
The Reform Temple of Forest Hills sought to rezone its R1-2A site to R7D paired with an MIH text amendment, a density increase tied to required affordable housing; the temple, formed in 1994 from four merged congregations, has served Forest Hills for nearly three decades.
community-board feedback to enliven the ground floor experience consistent with neighborhood green spaces; applicant incorporating ground-floor greening
in response to Council Member Schulman and others, applicant will provide only the required 60 parking spaces (not additional) and use leftover space for additional bicycle parking; EV chargers also provided
applicant asked to exceed DOB and DEP minimum requirements for site drainage; will install roof drains controlling stormwater flow plus rooftop retention or detention tanks
HPD requested up to $5 million in capital funding from ESDC for the Gowanus Green affordable housing development, plus financial assistance for revitalizing commercial and residential properties at the site.
Mandatory inclusionary housing
Conditions
city requests council make findings required under Empire State Development guidelines for the Restore NY grant application
Finding 1: proposed project is consistent with the municipality's local revitalization or urban development plan
Finding 2: proposed financing is appropriate for the specific project
Finding 3: project facilitates effective and efficient use of existing and future public resources to promote economic development and preservation of community resources
Finding 4: project develops/enhances infrastructure and/or facilities in a manner that will attract, create, and sustain employment opportunities
Applicant offers to work with the council office or city to incorporate barriers and expand landscaping via a revocable consent with DOT to physically prevent cars from parking on the sidewalk; pervious pavement, street trees and landscaping planned; states no intention to illegally park cars at 5802 Northern
Site will operate 9am-7pm Monday through Saturday, closed Sundays — unlike normal dealerships (9-9 with deliveries to 10-11pm); positioned as low-intensity retail-like use
Applicant committed to a green roof (min 50% coverage, 80% drought-resistant flora) and solar at the site to comply with local laws and abatement applications, plus low-flow toilets and LED lighting, and is exploring alternative energy sources
Land-use review
CB Brooklyn Community Board 3 Approve
Questions & answers
S10: Chair raises questions, noting District 12 representation where Boston Road is filled with car-related uses, then defers to Councilmember Wan
S10: Chair offers optimistic closing remarks — hopes the four-car model will transition other dealerships on the block; urges applicant to address sidewalk-car issues with the community board and pick low-traffic times for moving cars, noting Innovation Queens density
S12: Councilmember statement (not a question): blaming car traffic deaths and crashes on immigrants is xenophobic and she will not condone such sentiment
S12: Do you have evidence that new adult drivers are (1) immigrants and (2) the leading cause of traffic death and crashes in New York?
S10: This project is under the square-footage minimum and barely exceeds the minimum unit threshold for MIH — how can we have confidence your development will include enough units to ensure MIH applies?
+3 more exchanges
Procedure
Chair opens the subcommittee on zoning and franchise; asks phones on silent — Kevin C. Riley
Three rezoning proposals in Queens, one in Brooklyn, and an Empire State Development Corporation grant in Brooklyn to be heard — Kevin C. Riley
Meeting held in hybrid format; public may testify in person or via Zoom; register online or submit speaker card — Angelina Martinez Rubio
Remote witnesses register at council.nyc.gov/land use; written testimony to land use testimony at counsel.nyc.gov with LU number/project name in subject — Angelina Martinez Rubio
+3 more procedural steps
Where it standsCB Brooklyn Community Board 3 ✓→Committee→Full Council
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The people
Public testimony: 12 in favor
Practitioners & applicants
Janet Ryan · John Starks · Nicholas Dipolito · Michael Di Giuseppe · Rosamond Gianutsos · Laura Shepherd · Riley Owens · Mary Catherine Madden · Thomas Ryan · Rita Manton · +14 more
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The intelligence
Every parcel, owner, and applicant in this meeting, cross-referenced against Zonable’s NYC ownership, enforcement & legislative graph — the record behind the record.
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Owner portfolios, open OATH/ECB violations, 311 & DOB permits across every parcel discussed, developer track records, and an “ask this meeting” chat. For this meeting: 393 oath/ecb hearings across the 2 sites discussed.
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