By Dustin Brown
Speaking at a land use hearing in Borough Hall last week, officials from Community Board 5 disputed a property owner’s claim that a 70-unit housing development proposed for Admiral Avenue could not turn a profit if scaled down.
The controversial plan was presented to Borough President Helen Marshall last Thursday at the first land use hearing she has presided over since beginning her term in January.
Developer Henry Fabian of HRF Construction hopes to build 70 units in a combination of two- and three-family homes and one apartment building on the triangular property at the end of Admiral Avenue in Middle Village, next to the Metro Mall.
But to do so he needs to receive variances that would allow housing to go up on a site that is zoned for manufacturing.
Citing neighborhood opposition to the size of the project, Community Board 5 voted overwhelmingly not to endorse it at a meeting in January.
The borough president will offer her opinion on the proposal before it is heard by the city Board of Standards and Appeals, which considers local input but renders its own decision based on a predetermined list of criteria.
“We’re probably not going to have a recommendation for at least another couple of weeks,” Marshall’s spokesman, Dan Andrews, said.
Attorney Janice Cahalane, who represents Fabian, told the community at a December public hearing that the developer could not scale down the project because the profit margin would then be too small.
But Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano disputed that claim at last Thursday’s hearing, indicating his own calculations showed the development could be profitable even with fewer than half the units currently proposed for the site.
“I believe that the property owner could make a very good return on investment even at 30 units,” Giordano told Marshall and Deputy Borough President Karen Koslowitz, along with other Queens officials who gathered in the Borough Hall conference room for the hearing.
Walter Sanchez, the chairman of the CB 5 land use committee, said the board only voted against the project because Fabian refused to compromise with the community.
“I don’t like to come here and oppose a project,” he said. “My job is to try to work out a compromise. We felt with fewer units we might have come to a compromise.”
A small handful of nearby residents came out to the hearing to express their own distaste for the project, which they claim would render the streets unsafe for children by greatly increasing traffic in an area where no parks are accessible.
“It’s way too big for the neighborhood,” said Joseph Werkmeister, a resident of nearby 65th Lane. “It’s just ridiculous for the neighborhood.”
Cahalane said current zoning would allow an enormous warehouse or commercial building to go up on the site, while Fabian’s residential proposal is “least offensive and works best with the community.”
“I’d be much more afraid of this project not going through,” she said.
But residents said Cahalane misstated their objections by saying they would prefer to see the lot remain undeveloped.
“That lot has been an eyesore for 35 years,” said Carleen Papa, a neighbor who supports some form of development on the site. “But the scale of this project is overwhelming.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
