CB9M Resolution on the 125th Street River to River Re-zoning

J. Reyes-Montblanc, Chairman .......................,,......... L. T. McClean, District Manager

December 7, 2007

Resolution on the 125th Street River to River Re-zoning


Hon. Amanda Burden

Chair

City Planning Commission

22 Reade Street

New York, New York, 10007-1216

Re: Application # C080099ZMM

Dear Commissioner Burden:

At its Special Meeting Meeting held on Wednesday December 5, 2007 Community Board No. 9 Manhattan voted the following resolution re: The 125th Street River to River Rezoning by a vote of 19 in favor, 3 opposeed and 5 abstentions:

WHEREAS the Department of City Planning put forth an application for the rezoning of 125th Street in Manhattan to cover the area from 124th to 126th Street between Broadway and Second Ave. and;

WHEREAS the Department of City Planning submitted the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on September 28, 2007 and certified this application on October 1st, 2007, and;

WHEREAS the area on 125th street from St. Nicholas Avenue to Broadway falls within the purview of Manhattan Community Board 9 and therefore subject to the ULURP process of Manhattan Community Board 9, and;

WHEREAS the 60-day period for community board review under the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) commenced on October 10th, 2007, and:

WHEREAS Manhattan Community Board 9 held a public hearing in accordance with ULURP rules on December 3, 2007, and;

WHEREAS the Community Board expects that the current proposed plan for a C4-4D, R7A and R7-2 (with C2-4 commercial overlays) districts along 125th Street from Broadway to Morningside Ave. will not allow for sufficient commercial space, and;

WHEREAS, the city’s proposed R7-2 and R7-A zoning designations were meant to protect existing residents, but unduly restricted commercial development; and

WHEREAS Community Board 9 supports the development of affordable housing onsite that is targeted and periodically adjusted to the income levels of Community Board 9 under the following guidelines:

· 20% at 60% or less than AMI
· 40% at 60-100% AMI
· 40% at 100-120% AMI

WHEREAS Community Board 9 has sought to preserve light manufacturing in West Harlem in accordance with its 197-a plan and recommendations, and;

WHEREAS Community Board 9 voted unanimously to support a mix of businesses coupled with arts, culture and creative services as defined by the Standard Industrial Categories (SIC) in the New Amsterdam Special District and;

WHEREAS the benefits of the 125th Street Special District applies primarily to the Core Subdistrict that is contained in Community Board 10, therefore;

BE IT RESOLVED that the ULURP Committee recommends to the full board of Community Board 9 to vote to support the Department of City Planning’s Land Use Review Application for the 125th Street Corridor Rezoning (Application #N080100 ZRM); if the following conditions are met:

(1)The Department of City Planning expand its current rezoning plan and amend the Draft Environmental Impact Statement to include the “New Amsterdam Special District”, which will cover the area from the south side of 126th Street to 130th Street between Amsterdam and Morningside/Convent Aves, and be zoned C6-3 (with a Base of 4 FAR, and 4 FAR Bonus for Inclusionary Housing or Arts/Cultural uses, totaling a Max of 8 FAR), with height limitations of 160ft. and

(2)The rezoning plan for both sides of 125th street from St. Nicholas to Broadway be changed to a C6-2A designation (with a Base of 4 FAR, and 3.2 FAR Bonus for Inclusionary Housing or Arts/Cultural uses, totaling a Max of 7.2 FAR), with a height limitation of 120ft instead of the current C4-4D, R7A and R7-2 (with C2-4 commercial overlays) designations,

(3)The proposed Arts and Culture bonus be extended to cover the area of the rezoning west of Convent Ave./Morningside Ave, to Broadway in order that the entire 125th Street corridor serve as an arts and culture district;

(4)The Arts and Culture bonus give indigenous qualifying businesses and individuals an incentive to own property;

(5)Due to the increase in development potential brought on by the proposed C6-2A and C6-3 designations, anti-harassment and cure provisions be instituted within the Special 125th Street District that are modeled on Article IX: Special Purpose Districts, Chapter 6: Special Clinton District, Section 96-110 in order to ensure that while attracting new development to Community Board 9, safeguards will be in place to prevent displacement of long-time residents.

(6)All housing developed in the proposed 125th Street Special District as recommended by Community Board 9 be affordable housing onsite and only within the site of rezoning that is targeted to the income levels of CB9, as periodically adjusted, according to the following guidelines:
· 20% at 60% or less than AMI
· 40% at 60-100% AMI
· 40% at 100-120% AMI

(7) Consistent streetscape design for the entire 125th Street corridor (i.e., lighting, benches, trash receptacles) to visually unify the districts affected;.

(8) Consistent with Community Board 9’s 197-a plan and recommendations, the rezoning application includes building code requirements that meet or exceeds Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standard as specified by the U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC) as per the goals of the Mayor’s PlaNYC 2030; and

(9)The proposed Arts & Entertainment Requirement be changed to a Local Business Requirement. Qualifying local businesses are defined as businesses indigenous to Community Boards 9, 10, or 11, or those registered as minority, woman, disabled or disadvantaged-owned businesses, and not members in a national chain.

(10) That the CB9M considers the preservation and Landmarking of buildings identified in CB9M’s 197-a Plan to be of prime importance and desire and that the complete transportation infrastructure serving 125th Street be further studied and the traffic congestion mitigated to insure the smooth development of the 125th Street corridor.