Save Audubon Coalition v. City of New York

180 A.D.2d 348
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJune 9, 1992
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 180 A.D.2d 348 (Save Audubon Coalition v. City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Save Audubon Coalition v. City of New York, 180 A.D.2d 348 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Ross, J.

The Audubon Research Park is a biomedical research complex envisioned for a four-block area, in the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan, near Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. If the project is fully completed, the site, bounded by West 168th Street, Audubon Avenue, West 165th Street and Broadway, will be occupied by five research buildings with approximately 700,000 square feet of biomedical research space. The space is to be devoted primarily to five major areas of biomedical research: pharmaceutical research; genetic engineering; production of devices for orthopedics; production of diagnostic instruments; and related biomedical services such as database companies and testing laboratories. The project is jointly sponsored by the New York City Public Development Corporation, now named the New York City Economic Development Corp. (EDC), the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and The Trustees of Columbia University.

The first building to be constructed will be the Audubon Research Building. The structure, as planned, will be a six story building consisting of retail space on the ground floor, and commercial laboratories in the remainder of the building. It will be located on the block defined by West 166th Street, St. Nicholas Avenue, West 165th Street and Broadway. The block is owned by the City of New York and is currently the site of the Audubon Theater and Ballroom. Although the Audubon Theater and Ballroom is largely vacant and has fallen into a state of disrepair, it remains architecturally significant as an example of the early 20th century neoclassical revival style, and historically significant as the location of the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965.

The EDC, UDC and Columbia University first agreed to sponsor the project in 1987. The parties agreed that the EDC and UDC would provide substantial funding and that the University would provide a lesser amount of funding but would also act as the developer and manager of the facility. The plan calls for the City of New York as owner of the land on which the Audubon Research Building is to be built, to [351]*351lease the property to the EDC for 99 years and for the EDC to assign its leasehold interest to Columbia University.

In 1988, the cosponsoring parties submitted an application to the Department of City Planning (DCP) pursuant to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (New York City Charter § 197-c [ULURP]) for the amendments to the Zoning Map, special permits and authorizations necessary for the development of the Audubon Research Building. The DCP also had before it proposed amendments to the text of the Zoning Resolution of the City of New York which would permit the City Planning Commission (CPC) to issue special permits allowing commercial scientific research and development facilities in areas zoned for commercial use. Specifically the ULURP application sought:

(a) authorization for the disposition of the Audubon Research Building site to the EDC and thereafter to Columbia University;

(b) an amendment to the Zoning Map changing the designation of the four-block area in which the research park is to be constructed from C-4 and R8 (with a Cl-4 commercial overlay) to C6; and

(c) a special permit pursuant to proposed zoning text amendments which would authorize the construction of the Audubon Research Building itself as a scientific research and development facility in a C6 zoning district.

Apparently, the proposed text amendments to the Zoning Resolution, the application for the Zoning Map changes, and authorization for the property disposition and special permits, were subjected to a contemporaneous but discrete environmental review process. In March of 1989, the applications for the Zoning Map changes, property disposition and special permits were submitted to the DCP and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), as the co-lead agencies, for the environmental review required under the City Environmental Quality Review Act (CEQR) and the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which CEQR implements. In August of 1989, the Project Data Statement describing the proposed text amendments to the Zoning Resolution, which would allow the issuance of special permits for commercial research and development facilities in areas zoned C6, was submitted to the same co-lead agencies. It should be noted that the designation of the DCP and DEP as co-lead agencies for the purposes of the required environmental re[352]*352view comports with the law, as the Board of Estimate retained the authority to make the final determination with respect to the applications and was entitled to rely on the expertise of the DEP and DCP (see, Akpan v Koch, 75 NY2d 561, 575 affg 152 AD2d 113; see also, Matter of Neville v Koch, 79 NY2d 416).

With respect to the applications for the Zoning Map changes, the co-lead agencies determined, upon receipt of the applications, that the changes, authorizations and permits applied for would have a significant impact on the environment and that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) would be required. However, in November 1989, the DCP and DEP issued a Negative Declaration which indicated that the proposed Zoning Resolution text amendments would not have a significant impact on the environment. Thereafter, several revisions to the proposed text amendments were submitted to the co-lead agencies in January and May 1990, and in June 1990 the co-lead agencies informed the CPC that the revisions would not produce a significant environmental impact and that the original Negative Declaration remained valid.

Public review of the zoning text amendments, as required by New York City Charter § 200, began in February 1990. In April and May 1990, Manhattan Community Boards 2, 5, 6, and 8 adopted resolutions disapproving of the text amendments. However Community Board 12, under whose jurisdiction the construction site falls, adopted a resolution recommending approval of the zoning text amendments. The CPC also conducted public hearings regarding the proposed amendments in May 1990, and in June 1990 adopted a report and resolution approving the amendment, in which it found that the amendments would not have a significant impact on the environment. In August of 1990, the Board of Estimate (BOE) conducted a public hearing concerning the proposed amendments, and at its conclusion, adopted a resolution granting final approval to the Zoning Resolution text amendments, on the basis of the environmental determination contained in the City Planning Commission’s report and the Negative Declaration issued by the DEP and DCP.

The path toward approval of the applications for the Zoning Map changes, land disposition authorization and special permits, was not nearly as direct as that which led to the adoption of the Zoning Resolution text amendments. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was submitted to the co-lead agencies by the cosponsors in February 1990. [353]*353Review of the DEIS shows that it identified the historical and architectural significance of the Audubon Theater and Ballroom, and analyzed the impact of the proposed project on land use and community resources, population and housing, the general historical and visual character of the area, open space and recreational facilities, economic conditions, traffic and transportation, air quality, noise, infrastructure, public health and safety, and soil and groundwater contamination.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
180 A.D.2d 348, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/save-audubon-coalition-v-city-of-new-york-nyappdiv-1992.