BROOKLYN COMMUNITY BOARD 6
LANDMARKS/LAND USE COMMITTEE
OCTOBER 14, 2010
ATTENDANCE:
PRESENT:
B. ATKINS P. FLEMING G. KELLY
M. KENTON R. LEVINE T. MISKEL
A. REEVES R. RIGOLLI E. SHIPLEY
L. SONES B. STOLTZ P. THOMAS
EXCUSED:
J. ARMER P. BLAKE W. BLUM
M. BROWN M. MURPHY D. SCOTTO
M. SHAMES R. SLOANE E. SPICER
ABSENT:
R. OBERLENDER A. PUGLIESE
GUESTS:
HON. STEPHEN LEVIN - CITY COUNCIL MEMBER
HON. BRAD LANDER - CITY COUNCIL MEMBER
M. SZPICEK – PARK SLOPE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
E. LEMANSKY A. ORRICHIO S. DOBA
P. BRAY J. CASSON D. ALQUIST
M. METZ J. LIEF V. FARRAR
*** MINUTES ***
The meeting was called to order at 6:23pm and Landmarks Chairman, Bob Levine made the opening remarks. The minutes were taken by Glenn Kelly.
PUBLIC HEARING on the (Proposed) Park Slope Historic District Extension.
Bob Levine invited the audience’s questions for Kate Daly, Executive Director of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 200 people were at the homeowner’s outreach meeting a few weeks ago. There are 4,000 buildings involved in what is Phase One at the southern end of Park Slope. There will be a public hearing on Tuesday, October 26th at 12:30pm at One Centre Street, New York on the 9th floor. The website is www.nyc.gov/landmarks.
Brad Lander, City Council Member thanked everyone for their input. Process and timeline: • 1st Community Board 6 meeting
• 2nd Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing • 3rd LPC designation • 4th City Planning Commission • 5th City Council hearings
He is enthusiastic about the expansion.
Bob Levine clarified that this hearing is so that CB6 can take a position on the expansion. Q. Are iron railings included? A. Kate Daly said yes – permits are required. LPC cannot require maintenance.
Q. Can a letter be sent as testimony for the hearing? A. Yes. It can be sent by fax to (212) 669-7797.
Q. Is a permit required for concrete work? A. Yes- for any landscape. No permit needed for maintenance painting (as long as it is the same color).
Q. Are grants or loans available? A. Ms. Daly said that information is available on the website. Grants for $10,000 to $40,000 for façade renovations. The NY Landmarks Conservancy also provides low interest loans. It is not affiliated with
LPC.
Q. How do regulations affect storefronts and businesses? A. LPC regulates business and storefronts – does review signage. 95% of applications are dealt with at staff level. Restorative work is quickly processed – other work probably requires a permit and a public hearing.
Q. Why are more modern buildings included? A. LPC does not usually carve out individual buildings unless they are at the edge of the district. They are included so that these buildings do not further impact a district negatively. A “no style” building does not contribute to the district.
Q. Mitchell Szpicek of the Park Slope Chamber of Commerce, representing 105 businesses is concerned with staffing. A. Ms. Daly said that the permit staff was increased from 12 to 17½.
Q. How long does it take to get a storefront permit? A. It depends on the level of expertise of the applicant – usually 1 – 2 months. Landmark Conservancy has contractor recommendations. An expeditor is often used to complete an application to speed things up.
The Department of Buildings will collect fees for LPC - $50 for work up to $25,000. No fees are required for work which does not involve DOB permits.
A permit is required for roof work which is visible but not a flat roof.
Q. How long does a simple application take – like changing a door? A. About 2 to 3 weeks. There are detailed specifications on the LPC website.
At 6:55pm. The public hearing begins. 10 people signed in as “PRO” landmark designation. There were no “CONS”.
1. Peter Bray, Chairperson of the Park Slope Historic District Committee for the Park Slope Civic Council spoke eloquently in support of the expansion to continue to connect people to their neighborhood and maintain the sense of place.
2. John Casson supports expansion because developers come to Park Slope and detract from the community by building inappropriate projects. He has seen examples of LPC protecting the integrity of the Landmark District.
3. David Alquist supports expansion which has been desired and fought for for a long time. Over 37 years since the existing district was designated. Let’s finish the job! 4. Mary Metz lives in the proposed expansion area and supports it. Only two people have told her they were against it.
5. S.J. was interested in saving P.S. 133, a historic building which was torn down – very supportive.
6. Jonathan Lief supports expansion and hopes to be in phase 3 of a future expansion.
7. Stephanie Doba supports expansion and lives and owns in the proposed district – willing to bear any additional costs and work to maintain the character of her neighborhood.
8. City Council Member, Stephen Levin supports the expansion and through campaigning met very few people who are against landmarking. Most people are concerned with the gradual disintegration of our neighborhood’s character.
Bob Levine closed the Public Hearing. Peter Fleming, Lou Sones, Glenn Kelly and Ben Atkins support the landmark designation.
Peter Fleming makes a motion to endorse and support the expansion of the Landmark District of Park Slope – extension Phase One. The motion was seconded by Tom Miskel.
Bette Stoltz made a motion that LPC continue its work on the expansion of the Park Slope Historic District with the intention of continuing on to future phases. Glenn Kelly seconded the motion.
Request that the LPC move quickly to implement the designation of the Phase One extension of the Park Slope Historic District and that they continue their policy of including non-contributing buildings and areas in order to maintain the integrity of the district.
Motion to request that LPC hold open the record until the full board meets was made by Peter Fleming and seconded by Roger Rigolli.
Motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting was made by Roger Rigolli and seconded by Peter Fleming.
At 7:41pm, a motion to adjourn was made by Lou Sones and seconded by Tom Miskel.