Monday, November 24, 2008

Sunnyside streetscape now sucks

I can't believe the guy got permission to do this.
It's so out of proportion to the rest of the street, which is quite pretty as you walk toward 43rd Avenue.
Also, I don't think the owner has been doing much construction on it because of the bad economy.
So it's going to look that way for a while.

Hey, how about a mudslide? But seriously, these are 2 weirdly-configured three-family homes with three off-street parking spaces for the one on the right but only one for the one on the left. I can't imagine how that's possible. A stop work order was recently rescinded, so you may see more activity there soon.

11 comments:

hoover factory said...

Been watching this monstrosity go up for a while now, and knew it was only a matter of time before it made its QC debut.

Anonymous said...

It looks very oriental.

Anonymous said...

Right from the City Planning website

Basic Data
R5: General residence district

Minimum lot size:
Detached, single- or two-family: 3,800 square feet lot area; 40 foot lot width
Other: 1,700 square feet; 18 foot lot width
Maximum FAR: 1.25
Maximum lot coverage: 55%
Minimum lot area per DU: 605 square feet
Maximum DUs per acre: 72
Front yard: 18 feet minimum or 10 feet exactly
Side yards:
Detached (2 required): 13 feet total (minimum); 5 feet minimum
Semi-detached (1 required): 8 feet minimum
Other (2): 8 feet each (minimum) or 10% of building length
Maximum building height: 40 feet; street wall height 30 feet
Maximum street wall length: 185 feet
Required parking: One space per dwelling unit or 85% of dwelling units if grouped


Looks to me like the parking requirement is being overlooked. The neighbors may be able to get him on that.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this. I saw some construction taking place on the house last Wednesday around noon; since then, nothing. But I guess eventually it's going to be finished and the owner will move into that horrid thing. Ugh!

Anonymous said...

Has the lot been subdivided?

If those are two semi-detached buildings, I believe there is supposed to be a side yard on EACH side.

And based on R5 zoning, 5 spots are required for this property.

Unfortunately, the word "other" allows the DOB to makeup their own laws and rules on zoning.

Maybe Crappy can correct me if I'm wrong.

Anonymous said...

CitySwamp:
When it comes to these types of hideous construction, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. The politicians and the city will NOT help you. Once you can prove that the construction violates some zoning laws, they WILL start to listen. You just have to be persistent. Organize your neighbors and keep them informed of everything that's going on. Some neighbors want to get involved, they just don't know how. If we don't protect our neighborhoods, no one will.

Anonymous said...

Oriental? huh.

QC - I understand that you think this is crap, but do you really want to be a stickler for parking requirements this close to good transit service? Does this street really NEED any more than 4 off-street spaces for 6 units?

Italian girl - these are attached, so no side yard required on both sides. At most, as the end of a row of attached houses, they would require one 8 ft side yard.

Anonymous said...

Organize your neighbors and keep them informed of everything that's going on.


Does no good. They will find someone who is not very bright and willing to compromise. They will be the media star, the one quoted in the newspapers.

They will become the leader. The group will think they are making progress and your hardline faction will melt away.

Then compromise is reached! Everyone is happy!

It will take months of waiting before everyone relizes nothing will happen.

The will blame you for your hard line position. You should have reached a deal when they were willing to compromise (and have your group give away the store)

Then people will shrug their shoulders and say its no use.

Which is the point.

Anonymous said...

The problem is , I can do anything I want. If I buy the house next to you, I can turn it into a church, day care center , etc. There's nothing you can do. That's the problem. Just take a look at Flushing, it all over the place. Very sad. But not Illegal.

Anonymous said...

The problem is , I can do anything I want. If I buy the house next to you, I can turn it into a church, day care center , etc. There's nothing you can do.

Simply not true.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in the house a couple of doors down. This is so sad to see, the street was once beautiful. The people who lived in the original house always took good care of it, had a nice backyard and the largest lot on the street. They also owned a terrific Italian-American grocery on Queens Blvd, betw 39th pl and 40th st.
I wonder if they sold it to a developer or if there has been another owner in between, I hope it was someone else who did this. Ugly ugly ugly. Who is buying these hideous things in this economy??