City Island Civic Association

The meeting was brought to order at 7:35 p.m. by Bill Stanton, president. The reading was waived for the October minutes, which were accepted as distributed. As of January 1, John Doyle will be the corresponding secretary; Fred Ramftl and Tom Smith will remain in their current board positions as First Vice President and Treasurer, respectively.

The attorney and architect for Sea Breeze Estates, a development at the east end of Marine Street, presented an update of their plans, which were first proposed two decades ago. The plans must now be modified to become current with today’s environmental standards and New York City requirements. The new plans call for two buildings each with 16 units; 93 parking spaces below grade; and 41 boat slips, 9 of which will be available to the public, which will have access to the waterfront through the development. The developer is currently seeking three approvals: 1) to authorize trees to be located behind the property, 2) allowance for the building to be 1.5 ft from the sidewalk, and 3) City Island certification relating to the waterfront design. Their plan is to have high-end housing and a homeowners’ association. Residents expressed concern about the contaminated ground resulting from the marina that was originally on the site and may require superfund environmental cleanup. Concerns were also expressed about increased traffic on Marine Street, contamination from vehicles removing hazardous materials, and public access to the property. The attorney assured residents that there will be several agencies monitoring the cleanup and that there would be security precautions such as cameras and lights.

The residents asked that a study be done to ensure that there will be a market for the relatively expensive units, as there are plenty of houses available on the Island. The plan is being submitted to the city authorities and there will be additional hearings on this in the future.

Sandi Lusk from the Westchester Square Homeowners Association addressed the meeting to ask that we join the fight to help stop the city from turning new developments into homeless housing as they have done in Westchester Square without alerting the public. Apparently, the landlord is fact receiving approximately double the normal rent rate from the city’s homeless agency. WSHA has initiated a lawsuit against the city to address this issue, and they are seeking support from all local groups, which may experience similar situations in their own neighborhoods.

There have been a number of recent burglaries involving both residences and businesses on City Island, all of which are being investigated. Residents were urged to report anything suspicious to the police, who will handle the calls anonymously.

The City Council recently approved the construction of the new Police Academy in College Point, Queens, but not until it was agreed that 99 percent of the gunfire at Rodmen’s Neck will be relocated there, thanks to quick work by Council Member Jimmy Vacca. The bomb squad will remain at Rodman’s Neck. The Police Academy is scheduled for completion by 2014.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10pm.