A new plan, meant to ease congestion on residential streets in Community Board 10, would limit day care centers and medical clinics to main streets only.
Main streets, according to the city definition, are those already home to a number of businesses.
The Department of City Planning’s Lower Density Growth Management Plan, which limits new community facilities to main streets and provides provisions for mandatory off-street parking, may become the zoning law of the land in CB 10.
The plan has already been proposed and approved of by CB 10’s housing and zoning committee in a vote on Tuesday, October 5.
Members also suggested changes to DCP’s plan that would call for houses of worship and group homes to be included in the zoning amendment.
The DCP proposal is designed to tackle oversized community facilities without adequate parking by locating them on the main streets and requiring that all new facilities meet minimum zoning requirements to provide adequate parking.
“CB 10 has specifically asked that group homes and houses of worship be included in the amendment, restricting them to main streets,” said board member Andrew Chirico.
“This plan is the only way to slow development down, because we just don’t have any more room. We want to make sure that there is enough parking and space between buildings. It is an attempt to prevent additional overcrowding. Some people say that it is too late, but if we wait any longer, it will really be too late.”
The zoning amendment proposal would limit all new medical offices to 1,500 square feet of ground-level office space, and require at least four parking spaces.
For day care centers, the proposal demands 1 parking space for every 1,000 square feet of day care center space.
The call for group homes or houses of worship to be subject to similar provisions is something unique that CB 10 has requested. So far, none of the affected community boards on Staten Island, also pondering the plan,have made similar requests.
Councilman Jimmy Vacca said that he would be in touch with the DCP regarding any amendments CB 10 would like to include in the plan. It was Vacca who first proposed that CB 10 be included in the plan to control growth.
“I first saw the Lower Density Growth Management plan when I was working in the Council and I thought that this plan would be great for Community Board 10,” Councilman Vacca said. “I am going to ask that the Department of City Planning consider CB 10’s recommendations and act on them if they are feasible.”
Vacca said he must wait for the full board vote, likely to come at the next meeting, 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 21 at Fort Schuyler House, before taking any further action.
District manager Kenneth Kearns said he is also awaiting the full board vote before discussing the next steps.
