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April 7, 2008
Hidden law could undo Willets Point rezone plans
Queens Times Ledger
By Stephen Stirling
Even though a recent discovery in the City Charter has nothing to do with Atlantic Yards, many NoLandGrab readers following other development controversies around the city may find this to be very interesting:
While pouring through the City Charter recently in an effort to find a way to ward off a rezoning of the area around Harlem's 125th Street, first year CUNY law school students Giselle Schuetz and Kathleen Meyers, along with two others at Vote People, a legal services group, came across a 110-year-old clause that has given hope to those opposed to the Manhattan rezoning.
The clause, outlined in Section 200 of the City Charter, states that if a petition is signed by more than 20 percent of the landowners in and directly adjacent to a proposed rezoning area approved by the City Planning Commission, the City Council would need a 75 percent majority to approve the measure rather than a simple majority.
This discovery could have implications for property owners in Willets Point who are fighting eminent domain:
Schuetz's and Meyers's discovery has also piqued the interest of business owners at Willets Point, who are currently fighting the city's plan to remake the 60-acre swath of land into a sprawling mixed-use development with more than 1 million square feet of office and retail space and 5,500 housing units.
When word of the century-old clause reached members of the Willets Point Industry and Real Estate Association, a group of 11 property owners united against the city's plan and lawyers for the group immediately began pouring over the language of the City Charter.
"Everybody's looking at it," said Rick Wynn, general counsel for Tully Construction Co., one of the largest businesses in Willets Point. "It's certainly interesting from our point of view - let's put it that way."
NoLandGrab: Since Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards is the result of a NY State takeover, which supercedes all local zoning, and the NY City Council never had an official vote on the plan, this discovery doesn't apply here.
More locally, however, this could affect the Toll Brothers project along the Gowanus. Toll Brothers is seeking a special rezoning through the City's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, even while future rezoning plans are being contemplated for the rest of the Gowanus basin.
Posted by lumi at April 7, 2008 4:57 AM