By James DeWeese
If the plan is approved by the Borough Board, the borough president and the city Planning Commission, Enterprise will find a new home for its operations as leases at two other near-LaGuardia locations expire.
And residents of the Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and North Corona communities covered by the board will see a vacant eyesore sandwiched between 108th and 110th streets along Astoria Boulevard cleaned up.
“I can show you the conditions right now. It's really quite a dump,” said Augusto Tiongson, chairman of the board's Land Use committee.
As part of Enterprise's development plans for the lot, the company will landscape the perimeter, erect a fence and eliminate a number of curb cuts, Tiongson said.
The variance issued would also lower the lot's use group rating, meaning that heavier industrial uses would not be permitted there without community board approval, Tiongson said.
In other news, the board approved amendments to city zoning laws supporters say would link parking requirements for new community facilities, including houses of worship, more closely to actual traffic by measuring the capacity of their largest rooms.
As the zoning text currently stands, planners use fixed seating to determine the amount of parking a community facility must provide, a loophole that can be exploited by some houses of worship that do not have traditional seating, said Frederick Lee, the Planning Commission representative to Community Board 3.
While tightening parking regulations in some of the most residential areas, the changes would also eliminate the requirement for areas zoned for denser development.
In its comment on the changes, CB 3 recommended the city keep current regulations in place for R-6 zones, one of the densest categories covering apartment houses.
Tiongson said areas of Corona that fall into the R-6 classification are plagued by chronically poor parking.
The one opposing vote came from board member Arthur Teiler, a member of the Jackson Heights Kehillah, a coalition of borough Jewish organizations. He said synagogues should not be required to provide parking because their members must walk to Sabbath services under religious law.
“I didn't feel I could get up there and make the case,” Teiler said, “(but) I figured I'd vote my conscience anyway.”
Lee said under the changes, community facilities that can demonstrate their members do not drive can petition the city for an exemption from the parking requirements.
The changes, sponsored by the city Planning Commission, are currently making the rounds of the borough's community boards for approval and comment.
Reach reporter James DeWeese e-mail at news@timesledger, or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
