Open Space Maintenance a Necessity for Bronx River Rezoning

Crotona Park East/West Farms Rezoning and Text Amendment

Testimony to the City Planning Commission

Elena Conte, Organizer for Public Policy Campaigns

July 27, 2011

Commissioners, Chair Burden, thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Elena Conte and I offer these comments on behalf of the Pratt Center for Community Development and in support of those made by our community-based partner, the Bronx River Alliance.

The Crotona Park East and West Farms neighborhoods have undergone tremendous change in recent decades, in large part due to the activism of local people working in productive partnership with government agencies to create a diverse and healthy community that supports long-time residents and welcomes new ones. The developments that will be made possible by the proposed rezoning are the direct beneficiaries of the increase in land value and desirability of the neighborhood born from these efforts. They are also the direct beneficiaries of the $120 million investment of City, State, and federal money in the restoration of the Bronx River and the creation of the Bronx River Greenway, a significant public investment that seeks a stronger mechanism for its protection.

Yet the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed rezoning reveals that still the existing amount and quality of open space in the area is grossly insufficient for the current population which is majority people of color and majority working class; the ratio of open space access is a paltry .74 acres per 1,000 people, far short of the standard of 2.5 acres that the Department of City Planning calls for. The proposed action would make an already deficient condition significantly worse – decreasing that ratio by 6.6 percent, a result identified by the DEIS as a significant adverse impact that requires mitigation.

To appropriately mitigate this significant impact, the West Farms Text Amendment should require a one-time contribution to enable the creation of a Greenway Maintenance endowment. The nexus between the rezoning, the proposed projects, their impact and the development and maintenance of the Greenway could not be clearer. This recommendation builds on precedents established in at least two recent actions: the creation of the Highline Transfer Corridor as part of the West Chelsea Zoning Text Amendment and open space capital and maintenance developer contributions codified in the Riverside Center restrictive declaration.

We are advocating for the contribution to be mandatory and not linked to any density or other development bonuses. We support the Bronx River Alliance’s proposal for the establishment of a $6.5 million fund based on maximum build-out of the rezoned area. To contextualize this request with the Riverside Center precedent: a) there the existing condition was better than the one at West Farms; b) there the impact of the development was less than the one at West Farms; c) there the mitigation measures that were settled upon included $20 million for open space maintenance, in addition to certain capital improvements.

Given this, a $2,500 commitment per built-out residential unit here is quite modest. Its impact on the viability of the project would be minimal, and future developers will be able to factor it in as they assess the feasibility of future projects. Importantly, given the admirable plans for affordable housing development that Signature Development Group has shared with us – which include a heavy reliance on public subsidies — we have no reason to believe that this mitigation proposal would impact the quantity or depth of affordable housing created. To the contrary, requiring this type of mitigation would ensure that the residents of that affordable housing truly have the opportunity to live in an environmentally sound and healthy community. And by the same token, binding measures to ensure the permanent affordability of the units created should incorporated into the proposal to prevent displacement.

It also ought to be noted that the financial means of the community surrounding the Riverside Center project far exceeds the means of the community surrounding West Farms; if it was appropriate to employ a public mechanism to ensure adequate mitigation in that instance, it is all the more necessary to do so here, among a community that has far less recourse for viable privately-funded alternatives.

It is extremely important that a required contribution to the maintenance endowment be incorporated into the zoning text change, not only for the value contributions from this project will provide, but because this rezoning will set a precedent for future developments and rezonings in the Bronx River corridor, as well as in Hunts Point and Port Morris, as the South Bronx Greenway moves forward.

There is also a structure in place to effectively administer such a fund. A public private partnership, the Bronx River Alliance, already has an agreement with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation that codifies its responsibility for maintaining new and existing parkland in the Bronx River corridor. The Bronx River Alliance also has a well-established staffing structure – the Bronx River Crew – through which it recruits and hires local residents who have been trained in ecological restoration and related skills by Sustainable South Bronx. Crew members are permanent employees, earning a living wage and benefits, and able to acquire additional skills and access opportunities for professional advancement in their field. An agreement should be negotiated to specify eligible uses of the fund, and ensure accountability and transparency in its administration.
We believe that this proposal is a logical, fair, viable and legally-sanctioned way to:

• Mitigate the significant adverse impacts of the proposed action
• Ensure that existing residents and future residents benefit from the action and
• Ensure that the value of new development is supported by quality open space

and we urge you to incorporate it into the zoning text.

Thank you for your consideration of this recommendation.

NOTE: This testimony was prepared by the Pratt Center for Community Development. It does not necessarily reflect the official position of Pratt Institute.