In the next month, the Seward Park redevelopment project (SPURA) enters an important new phase. On October 11th, the city is holding two “public scoping” meetings, a chance for Lower East Side residents to weigh in on the sweeping environmental review that will soon get underway.
Over the summer, city planning officials released a draft scoping document, a detailed description of what “impacts” they believe should be studied (you can read that document here). At the hearing, representatives from Community Board 3 will offer testimony. Last night, they released a preliminary version of their statement, which generally praises the city for finally moving forward with SPURA. But it also criticizes the omission of various aspects of CB3’s planning guidelines, including a commitment to set aside 50% of all apartments for affordable housing.
Anyone who wishes to provide testimony is encouraged to do so. The meetings will take place October 11th, at University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street. The daytime session will be held from 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m. The evening session begins at 6:30 p.m. Written comments on the draft scope can also be submitted to the NYC Economic Development Corp. via email at mlee@nycedc.com or by mail to: NYEDC, Attn: Marilyn Lee, 110 William St, New York, NY 10038 until 5:00 Friday, October 21, 2011.
If you’d like a refresher on the SPURA process, check out our previous coverage here.
