Amendment to Sunnyside Special District Debated
From the Times Ledger
09/13/2007
Residents doubt Sunnyside Gardens permit rule
By Jeremy Walsh
The Sunnyside Gardens Historic District has been approved by the City Planning Commission and is on its way to the final City Council vote on Oct. 9, but a new amendment intended to streamline the construction-permit application process is raising eyebrows among historic-preservation boosters.
The proposed amendment would end the requirement that Sunnyside Gardens homeowners submit construction-permit applications to both the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Planning Commission, leaving the LPC in charge of enforcing regulation.
The LPC has already taken over de facto authority for permits in the neighborhood, but supporters of the historic district worry that the amendment would also take away specific Planning Commission regulations included in the neighborhood’s 1974 designation as a special planned community preservation district.
“Our goal, and our assumption, was that the protections that the neighborhood had under the special zoning would remain and would be incorporated into the landmark-designation rules,” said resident Jeffrey Kroessler. “The proposed rules that city Planning have put out do not seem to do that. They seem to be upzoning our neighborhood.”
Spokesmen for the Planning Commission said the amendment would preserve the 1974 special zoning regulations. The text of the amendment shows the older restrictions have been retained, although it also states that R4 zoning regulations will generally be in place throughout the district. The majority of the structures in the neighborhood are already zoned R4, which allows residential structures up to 35 feet high.
At a Community Board 2 meeting last week, Amanda Ikert, a city planner, told residents the changes would mostly affect buildings in the district south of Skillman Avenue where, according to a zoning map available on the Planning Commission Web site, buildings are zoned R7-1 and C4-2 for medium-density apartment buildings and regional commercial centers, respectively.
The LPC has been monitoring changes and additions to homes in the new historic district since the agency approved the designation in June. According to Lisi De Bourbon, LPC director of communications, the commission has approved 13 changes over two months.
Resident Laura Heim, who has presented a pair of applications to both agencies, said the LPC has “clarified the process.”
“I approached city Planning about these two projects a year ago, and they seemed unwilling to confirm that they didn’t require their approval,” she said. The LPC, she said, approved them quickly.
Under the current rules, the Planning Commission requires the extensive Universal Land Review Process for any proposed change. Many historic district supporters said the complication of ULRP meant most homeowners attempted to make changes under the Planning Commision’s radar.
“It did not work in terms of allowing people to do work legally,” said Dan Allen, an architect and Sunnyside Gardens resident. “Only two permits issued in 33 years is not a great track record.”
De Bourbon said it was her understanding that the older zoning regulations would be retained. She was optimistic about the amendment.
“We have the expertise and the tools and the experience to regulate this kind of work,” she said. “We do it in other districts, and we can do it in this one.”
But before enforcement can be handed off entirely to the LPC, it must pass the scrutiny of two borough government entities. The Planning Commission forwarded the proposed amendment to Community Board 2 and Borough President Helen Marshall on Aug. 20 for a 60-day review period. Though it is not required, Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley said the community will have a chance to discuss it and suggest further changes.
“I can’t imagine not having a public hearing,” Conley said. The community board plans to hold the hearing at the Sunnyside Senior Center sometime during the week of Oct. 8.
Neighbors have clashed over the historic district designation effort, which began four years ago. At an April 17 LPC hearing on the subject, 138 residents spoke in favor of it and 27 residents opposed it. The LPC approved the designation in June. Miriam Allen, an opponent of the landmarking process, said she and other landmarking foes were considering legal action.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.