Queens CB chairs suggest using NYC coastal zoning plan to block homeless shelters

The Queens Borough Board heard a proposal for city-wide changes to zoning laws for coastal resiliency

Photo via nyc.gov

By Rachel Vick

Four Queens community board chairs say New York City should use a zoning plan intended to shore up coastal communities to also limit density in their districts, with two chairs suggesting the proposal could block homeless shelter development. 

The Department of City Planning says the resiliency proposal is not a tool for blocking projects unpopular with community board members.

The board chairs gave their perspective Monday during a meeting of the Queens Borough Board, which features representatives from Queens’ 14 community boards and Acting Borough President Sharon Lee. The board heard a presentation from the Department of City Planning on the Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency, a land use proposal to reinforce buildings and improve infrastructure to protect against climate crisis sea-level rise.

Community Board 14 Chair Dolores Orr, whose district covers the Rockaway Peninsula, said she thinks the plan is a good start but should also limit density and prevent homeless shelters. Rockaway residents have recently challenged construction of a new shelter in Far Rockaway — the latest front in an ongoing battle between Queens residents and the city’s Department of Homeless Services.

“We should not be adding to the population because we don't have the resiliency measures in place to protect us,” Orr said. She criticized post-Sandy development on the Peninsula, including a 2017 rezoning in Far Rockaway that allowed for higher density and more affordable housing.

Orr and Community Board 10 chair Betty Bratton honed in on a zoning proposal to limit new nursing home development in areas at high risk for flooding and said the same provision should apply to senior housing and homeless shelters. 

Bratton said “any facilities that have overnight sleeping accommodations should be restricted from residential areas that would have to be evacuated.”

Orr agreed, responding that such a provision would actually protect “vulnerable populations” like shelter residents.

“I believe shelter populations, not temporary housing but certainly shelter, full-time permanent shelters in the area, that’s another vulnerable population,” Orr added.

Community Board 5 Chair Vincent Arcuri, who represents Middle Village and Glendale, supported a restriction on shelters too.

Community Board 7 Chair Eugene Kelty, who represents Flushing, said he is concerned about adding more housing to his district because the sewage system may not be able to handle a major storm. 

But DCP Senior Planner Manuela Powidayko said the coastal zoning proposal is designed to allow for flexibility and build long-term resilience, not dictate population density or shelter siting.

“We’re not proposing any changes in density, this is just a fix of the zoning resolution and what we have in the books that are making it difficult,” Powidayko said. “This is by no means changing density patterns.”

The existing zoning provisions are more than five years old and were established as a temporary fix to jumpstart recovery after Sandy, she said.

The new plan outlines four recommendations to improve resiliency: expanding the area that is designated as part of New York City’s floodplain, updating resilient building standards, amending zoning to allow for the relocation of essential equipment like electrical systems and updating laws to facilitate faster rebuilds in case of future disasters. 

“It's really just fixing what we need to fix in order to enable buildings to incorporate sea level rise projections to add power systems to provide backup power — anything that anyone would do on a  practical basis,” she added. “We’re just adding optional regulations to enable resiliency; we're not changing land use patterns — that’s not the goal.”

Representatives from the DCP will deliver community-specific presentations before each board before the Borough Board vote tentatively scheduled for Dec. 28 before it is put before City Council.