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May 3, 2012
Zoning Slows Mayor’s Plan to Remake Willets Point
The New York Times
by Charles V. Bagli
Title this one Slow Land Grab.
The Bloomberg administration has spent more than $130 million in recent years trying to speed up the redevelopment of a pockmarked, 13-block stretch of auto repair shops near Citi Field in Queens.
But even as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg plans to announce a deal with a developer for the site this month, the project at the area known as Willets Point suffered another setback, which will delay construction for as much as two years.
The proposal for a mix of retail space and housing on 12.75 acres, the first phase of the project, does not conform to existing zoning regulations and will require a new environmental review, public hearings and a journey through New York City’s often treacherous review process.
“This slows them down a lot,” said Michael B. Gerrard, a lawyer who is representing landowners opposed to the redevelopment plan.
...The problems came to light on Wednesday morning, when city officials notified the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court that a hearing next week on the project was no longer necessary. Local landowners who are opposing the city’s use of eminent domain to gain control of the site have appealed a lower court decision in favor of the Bloomberg administration.
The city said it was withdrawing the bulk of the legal findings on which it based its case for eminent domain. It plans to submit a new set of findings, after the environmental review and the public review. Those, in turn, will almost certainly generate a new lawsuit opposing the project.
Related coverage...
Queens TimesLedger, City drops bid to condemn property at Willets Point: Lawyer
Lawyers for the city have dropped their bid to use eminent domain to obtain property in Willets Point, according to a lawyer who was challenging the process.
Michael Rikon, a lawyer representing property owners in Willets Point, challenged the city’s legal bid to condemn property in the Iron Triangle to make way for the first phase of the $3 billion Willets Point Redevelopment Project, which would take the place of the auto shops and pockmarked streets in the neighborhood.
The city confirmed that it dropped its current court case to use eminent domain, but said the project was still moving ahead.
...Rikon signed a document Wednesday indicating that the city would be dropping its bid, he said, therefore putting the project on hold unless property owners were to sell their land to the city so it could continue with the development. But the document stipulations did not prevent the city from attempting to use eminent domain on the property in the future, Rikon said. If a deal cannot be reached with property owners, the city can simply file another case to use eminent domain and go through the legal process again.
Posted by eric at May 3, 2012 11:06 AM