Dear Community Board 13 Chairwoman Cleaver:
As a former Community Board Chair, I fully respect the critically important role of the Board in addressing the needs of their local residents and in shaping the future of their neighborhoods. Since 2003, when the City and CIDC began the process of developing a framework for Coney Island, we have worked cooperatively and, I think, successfully with your Board.
It is with this positive experience in mind that I was surprised to read about CB13's draft resolution in Grain's before the Land Use Committee's members even had a chance to discuss or review its contents at the meeting. Furthermore, many of the conditions in the resolution were not discussed previously, and as the full Community Board prepares to vote on the resolutions this evening, no one representing the City has been given the opportunity to address them.
The City's plan has two main goals: to preserve the amusements and the unique heritage of Coney Island, and to create jobs and housing for the more than 50,000 residents of this neighborhood. Several elements of your proposed resolution work in direct opposition to these goals. You ask that the amusement area not be mapped as parkland even though parkland is the most rigorous regulatory regime that is allowed by law to protect the amusements. You also ask that the Key Span parking lot not be demapped as parkland, but doing so will prevent the development of 2,700 housing units (including 540 affordable units), critical retail services, the creation of thousands of jobs and hundreds of additional parking spaces.
In fairness to the City and the members of your community, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to your committee's recommendations as distributed in the draft CB13 Land Use Committee resolution that was approved on Monday evening. I have compiled detailed responses drawn up in coordination with the Department of City Planning, the Coney Island Development Corporation, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation in the attached document and ask that you please read through the pages that follow. Thank you again for your time and consideration in this matter. We look forward to working with CB13 on Coney Island's renaissance and redevelopment, as we have been for the last several years. Feel free to reach out to me at any time.


Madelyn Wild Executive Vice President

5.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Create a SPECIAL AMUSEMENT ZONE. The City should not zone the area as parkland unless it owns all of the property involved. The Community should be part of the RFP process. Two members of the Community must be part of the RTF process.
CITY RESPONSE:
The current C7 zoning has failed to protect the amusement uses. Parkland is what protects amusements. A "Special Amusement Zone" that expands the allowed uses to include restaurants, movie theaters, and other complimentary uses will not, on its own, be able to guarantee that amusements survive in Coney Island, as the process to change zoning or obtain a variance is fairly easy. Through the mapping of Parkland, amusements will be protected and we will be able to develop a world-class twenty-first century amusement park. Additionally, it should be noted that the mapping of Parkland is what gives the City the authority to acquire property, so it is sequentially impossible to expect that the City own property before the Parkland is mapped. Should the parkland mapping proceed as proposed in the amusement area, the City will work with representatives from the amusement industry as well as local elected officials and community stakeholders to draft an RFP for a state-of-the-art amusement park.
6.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Remove any potential EMINENT DOMAIN and/or CONDEMNATION consideration in order to allow extant small businesses and rides e.g. Eldorado and its neighbors to continue operating without threats or anxiety over the future. No Eminent Domain and/or condemnation may be considered.
CITY RESPONSE:
The Community Board has misread the ULURP application.   Within Coney East, there is no threat of eminent domain for any of the properties or businesses that are north of the proposed Wonder Wheel Way, including El Dorado and its neighbors. For properties within the proposed mapped streets and within the proposed mapped parkland, the ULURP does contemplate the option of acquisition by condemnation because procedurally such mapping actions grant the City this authority and it is important to preserve this option for the effectuation of new streets, new infrastructure, and the amusement preservation strategy. However, it has been clearly stated on multiple occasions that it is the priority and preference of the City to acquire property by negotiation.   The City is actively engaged in discussions with all affected landowners.
7.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Initiate work on the antiquated INFRASTRUCTURE on the peninsula in order to safeguard any new construction. The problems of drainage, sewers, water lines, electricity, power, and other infrastructural needs must be eradicated to ensure quality-of-life for current residents of Coney Island.
CITY RESPONSE:
We agree that Coney Island's infrastructure needs work. Improvements to infrastructure are a vital component of the City's comprehensive plan. The first step towards addressing infrastructure needs in Coney Island is the approval of the ULURP before the Community Board right now. In addition, the City will continue to work with the Department of Environmental Protection on an Amended Drainage Plan which will specifically address the stormwater and sanitary systems in the area. The DEIS also details considerations for other infrastructure systems that will be upgraded throughout the district.
8.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Avoid any construction of new buildings that eclipse the height of the Parachute Jump.
CITY RESPONSE:
We agree. This recommendation has already been incorporated in the proposed zoning text.

13.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Replace plans for amusement area stores that would entail only 2,500 square feet of uses. No Big Box stores may be allowed, but there should be an alteration to the plans for stores that are no more than 10,000 square feet of footage in order to draw potential new shop owners.
CITY RESPONSE:
Allowing retail spaces of up to 10,000sf within the amusement area will attract "mall-like" national retailers such as general clothing stores (Gap, Abercrombie, Payless, etc.), home products (Pottery Barn, Dollar General, CVS, etc.), and electronics (RadioShack, BestBuy, etc.). These retailers belong in Coney North and Coney West where the City is providing approximately 500,000 square feet of retail in the new zoning. Permitting retail up to 10,000 square feet in Coney East will ultimately drive out what is left of the amusements, and not allow small business owners to compete with national chains.
14.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Funds must be made available for needs at CONEY ISLAND HOSPITAL, which will be faced with the problems of a widely increased population of residents, tourists, work force, and visitors. Particularly needed is a new EMERGENCY ROOM to handle larger turnovers of people-n-need. Funds should also be made available for upgrading of existing Hospital facilities that need modernization to serve this new era of Coney Island.
CITY RESPONSE:
While the Modernization Plan for Coney Island Hospital is a very worthy cause, it is just one of many important improvements that the City and the community would like to see take place in Coney Island, and is the subject of its own budgeting process that is apart and separate from this ULURP application.
15.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Searches should be ongoing to determine potential sites for OFF-STREET PARKING. Restaurants and other new businesses should not be responsible for handling their own off-street parking measures; it should be the role of the City.
CITY RESPONSE:
Overall, approximately 6.500 new spaces are provided as part of this rezoning. Development in Coney North and Coney West would provide sufficient off-street parking within their respective sections to accommodate parking demand generated by the proposed rezoning. The parking associated with Coney East would be distributed to one on-site facility and several off-site facilities as previously described in the DEIS.
16.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Plans for the Block and Lots of GARGIULO'S Restaurant ownerships so that the establishment may construct new building(s) that will enable a new Surf Avenue entrance restaurant, a 1000-seat catering hall on the roof. Railroad Avenue, no longer an existing street, must be removed from all mapping plans so that the resultant Gargiulo's building will have continuity in height and architecture. Gargiulo's shall be allowed to build a parking garage atop new stores/facilities on W. 19-20 Sts., with possible six stories of indoor parking area, with an exterior facade that will match the architecture of the new building. The new building, on the southside of Surf Avenue directly across from the current Gargiulo's parking lot shall have an FAR lower than that of the northside new building.

wow... allot to read and digest here.

Bruce

This is the Sitt buster which proves that anyone who says Sitt had a hand in those 20 points are wrong

18.      COMMUNITY BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
A maximum number of three hotels may be considered with one of them a water park hotel. They will be built on the northside of Surf Avenue.
CITY RESPONSE:
The City maintains that hotels are integral to a successful year-round amusement and entertainment area. Hotels have the potential to create year-round economic activity and many employment opportunities. The proposed zoning will allow hotels north of Surf Avenue between Stillwell and West 16th Street, and within the Coney East district only on blocks that front on Surf Avenue, giving the property owners the option of developing an appropriate hospitality use on those sites.

Read the last part.  'only on blocks that front surf?  all the parcels front surf, which is why they dont want tall condo towers blocking the view of surf to the ocean.  Who driving down Surf will see any amusement rides??

Bruce

#4 is what interests me the most. Coming and leaving Coney Island.  When traffic gets bad in Coney, they dont allow people to enter Coney via Ocean Parkway into Surf Ave.  They force people to make the right turn onto West 5th, where you can be stuck in traffic all the way up to Neptune.  Going these two blocks can take you 1/2 hr.

All I read is that they are doing studies with dept of transportation, they will look into it, but they dont give any real answers.

There is no money to do this, but they should build a multilevel parking garage over the train yard north of the Belt and there is already the subway lines connecting the train yard into stilwell.  And you have easy access to it via the belt, which is above ground at this point already.  I just hope cars can enter the parking complex without stopping traffic on the belt.

Yes, this would cost $$$$$ but it is a solution.

Bruce