Hello from CG CORD!
Below is a press release sent to us from FROGG regarding the postponement of the Review of the Gowanus Historic District Listing on The State Register of Historic Places:
Press Release by the
Friends and Residents Of the Greater Gowanus (FROGG):
Comments on the New York State Office of Historic Preservation
(SHPO) Regarding Postponement of the Review of
the Gowanus Historic District Listing on
The State Register of Historic Places
SHPO
was originally scheduled to meet on March 13, 2014, to vote on the listing of
the Gowanus Historic District. SHPO was expected to approve the listing. Instead, SHPO granted New York City a 60 day
postponement, ending on May 12, for additional time to study the proposal and
prepare comments.
On
May 12, SHPO notified FROGG they would not pursue listing the district at this
time.
Background:
In
2004, a United States Army Corp of Engineers Resources Assessment found the
Gowanus Canal eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2008, FROGG began the process of formally nominating the Gowanus Canal
District to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. FROGG received funding from five major
grantors (the most important grants were from the National Trust for Historic
Preservation and the Preservation League of New York State) and from donations
from Gowanus business owners and community members. These funds and donations
totaled more than 50,000 dollars, which were used to pay for a Comprehensive
Architectural Survey of the Gowanus Canal Corridor. This Survey was required by
SHPO for the nomination to the State Register, and was prepared by the
certified architectural historian, Gregory Dietrich. SHPO reviewed the Survey
and subsequently established the boundaries for the proposed historic
district. The Gowanus and adjacent
communities were continually informed on the progress of the nomination through
FROGG meetings and activities, and at the meetings of the Gowanus Superfund
Community Advisory Group (CAG), which comprise more than 60 members and various
community organizations.
In January 2014, the
nomination process required that all property owners within the proposed
Historic District be notified through individual letters. The property owners, and members of the
community, were invited by SHPO, to attend an information meeting hosted by
FROGG and SHPO representatives. The purpose of this meeting was to inform the
property owners and the community about the significance of the proposed
Historic District. The meeting included
a question and answer session hosted by the SHPO representative Daniel
McEneny. Members of Community Board 6
were in attendance. Also in attendance
were guest speakers, Simeon Bankoff, the Executive Director of Historic
Districts Council, Gregory Dietrich, and Erin Tobin, representing the
Preservation League of New York State.
Information handouts were made available to all meeting attendees.
The
meeting kicked off a 30 day period for owners to consider the listing and
submit objection letters to the State.
The invitation letters and the information presented by Daniel McEneny
clearly informed the owners/attendees that the State would not go forward with
the listing, should over 50% of the property owners choose to opt-out of
listing their properties. Daniel McEneny
stated SHPO supported the listing, based on the historic merits of the proposed
district.
FROGG Comments:
There has been much misunderstanding and
misinformation about the Listing of the Historic District Designation. A purpose of this press release is to present
and comment on the various negative assertions about the Listing.
An attorney of the law firm Sive Paget,
representing both the Lightstone Group and several Gowanus Superfund Potential
Responsible Parties (PRP’s), released a letter in February 2014, which
misrepresented the regularity impacts of the district listing. The letter makes
the alarming and incorrect claim that the historic district regulations would
follow the same regulations of a NYC Landmark district. Two groups – the
Gowanus Alliance and the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation
(GCCDC), armed with the attorney’s letter, led a “door to door” campaign
opposing the listing. A GCCDC letter, along with the attorney’s letter, urged
property owners to reject the Gowanus Listing. The Gowanus Alliance stated in
the Daily News: “We don’t think it’s a progressive way of looking at Gowanus”.
The GCCDC stated: “This would severely limit future development”. The GCCDC
letter to the property owners falsely stated: “this proposed district could
impose significant costs, complications, and restrictions of development,
construction, renovation, maintenance and the operation of our properties.”
These letters and statements are severely
misleading and are entirely false.
The
purpose of the Designation is basically to honor the Gowanus’ industrial past
and bring greater awareness of the contribution Gowanus has made in the
development of America. The Designation is solely to encourage and reward
property owners through tax breaks, not through regulating and restricting
property owners’ actions. If the owner of a listed property wishes to receive
tax credits when planning to make alterations, only then, will the owner be required to adhere to certain
guidelines in preserving the historic nature of the owner’s property. It should be noted that only listed
properties are eligible for these tax incentives and that properties
redeveloped for the purpose of providing affordable housing would be eligible
to receive 70% tax credits.
The Designation will in no way allow SHPO to
regulate the actions of private property owners. According to a SHPO Fact Sheet, “If a
property owner wishes to alter or demolish a historic property listed on or
eligible for the registers with his or her own money, he or she is free to do
so. No consultation with the SHPO is required.”
A full copy of the draft nomination is available
on the SHPO website: www.nysparks.com. For further information please consult the
Fact Sheet published in The Brownstoner, Frequently
Asked Questions: The Gowanus Canal Historic District.
To sum up, the Designation of the Gowanus Historic
District will help preserve the historic nature only through tax break rewards.
It will not in any way require or impose any restrictions on property
owners to preserve the historic nature of their properties. Preserving the historic nature of a listed property
will be solely up to the property owner.
According to Simeon Bankoff, the executive director of the Historic
Districts Council, “The sole change that listing the district on the Register
would be to make it possible for projects in the district to apply for NY State
and Federal tax credits for rehabilitative work. That’s it. It is entirely voluntary – listing
on the Register does not place private development under any kind of
regulation. It encourages investment and
economic development with tax incentives.
But that is only a by-product of the listing. The real purpose of
listing on the National Register is to acknowledge and raise awareness of the
importance of a site to the history or our country, to change the conversation
from ‘the notoriously polluted Gowanus’ to ‘the canal which built Brooklyn’. “
At the close of the
initial 30 day review period for property owners, SHPO did not receive a
critical number of objection letters. What they did receive is a request from
NYC for a 60 day extension. They did not receive any letters from any elected
officials opposing the listing. The city submitted no comments. But SHPO did
receive numerous letters from lawyers from the firm of AKRF (which has been
employed by Lightstone - the developers of the first residential structures
along the banks of the Gowanus). FROGG
believes these challenges appear to have overwhelmed the small state agency,
SHPO, which led to the decision to table review of the Gowanus Listing at this
time.
There is no reason why the Designation will inhibit
future development or job growth in the Gowanus. Rather, the Designation will bring economic
redevelopment tax incentives to the Gowanus for owners who voluntarily choose
to participate in historic renovation and redevelopment of their
properties. And, it would bring
substantial tax credits for affordable housing redevelopment.
In addition, the Designation will in all
probability create new jobs in the Gowanus through tourism, as was noted by
Governor Cuomo, when he announced on March 24th, 2014, 21 new
nominations to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Gowanus was one of the nominees. He went on to say, “Preserving these historic
sites helps
promote
tourism, one of New York’s fastest growing industries.”
May 30, 2014
The case for Gowanus on the National Register of Historic Places: Marlene Donnelly at TEDxGowanus
 |
Gowanus
is one of America's first Urban Industrial Districts: known as the
final link in the Erie Canal System. Marlene is a founding member of a
group that nominated this unique area of Brooklyn to…
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Added on 4/24/14
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