Anti-Curb Cutting Rule Inches Forward
It was merely advisory, but a vote at Community Board 2 on Wednesday spoke very clearly about how most people in brownstone neighborhoods feel about curb cuts and other actions that destroy the residential streetscape: According to a post on The Local, the board unanimously voted to support the Department of City Planning’s Residential Streetscape…
It was merely advisory, but a vote at Community Board 2 on Wednesday spoke very clearly about how most people in brownstone neighborhoods feel about curb cuts and other actions that destroy the residential streetscape: According to a post on The Local, the board unanimously voted to support the Department of City Planning’s Residential Streetscape Preservation Text Amendment. The amendment would prohibit the creation of front yard parking in areas with predominantly one- and two-family houses (by implementing stricter planting rules) as well as block curb cuts for new buildings less than 40 feet wide in R4B through R8B districts. Hopefully this will be lay-up.
THANK JEEBUS
Joe — You’re right about those nieghborhoods. Those are the NEWER neighborhoods that were designed to accommodate the newfangled automobile (for the most part). The issue here is the pre-turn o’ the century neighborhoods.
Umm… and are you referring to the $100 filing fee? Or is there some ongoing tax that I’m unaware of?
What alleys in Red Hook?
There are alleyways in parts of Queens, and the very occasional on in brownstone Brooklyn (Crown Heights has one that I noted last year), plus the funky “Walks” way out in Bay Ridge. Also, you have the built up alleys (like Grace Ct Alley, and Love Lane), and maybe Verandah Place. Was Dennet Place ever an alleyway, or was it always a mapped road for houses with tiny doors?
As someone above noted, alleys in Marine Park exist, but those are mostly single family semi-detached houses built at a very different time than most of the houses in Brownstone Brooklyn.
Like Jail Bait said above, is the curb cutter compensating his neighbors for taking away one of their public parking spots?
Posted by: tybur6 at January 15, 2010 11:15 AM
See my post at 1047AM
Tybur6,
In Marine Park there are alleyways known as community driveways which allow garabage pickups to take place in the back instead of the front of the house. They also lead to backyard driveways for all but the corner houses which have garages on the side. This makes for a clean streetscape which serves both individual and community needs. There are probably hundreds in Marine Park, Sheepshead Bay, Old Mill basin and “the East side” of Ave U. These can be found behind blocks of row houses built in the 1920’s and 30’s.
Tyburg:
I actually speak with experience. I owned a house in park slope with a curb cut that we inherited. When we bought it, we actually had 2 cars(gasp!!) We parked the 1 car in front of our parking pad and the other car in driveway! After we sold the car, we often let our neighbor park in front of the driveway or our tenant just because…
b/c the curb cut had been there since 1985 most neighbors on the block respected the spot and never parked at the driveway. We were lucky and I kick myself for selling the house!
That’s right gemini. It’s antisocial.
And I mean that in a real sense. And I’ll say it again, if dense parts of Brooklyn were designed differently, then private parking would make sense and would be appropriate. As it stands, parking is a ‘communal’ endeavor and a 1:1 curb cut is antisocial and disrespectful of the owner’s neighbors. Like Jail Bait said above, is the curb cutter compensating his neighbors for taking away one of their public parking spots?
the thing about curb cuts is that is provides a spot for 1 car on a street and eliminates that car’s owner from the competition of having to circle for hours looking for spots!!!
Joe… where are all of these Alleyways? I’ve seen about 3 in this quadrant of Bklyn. I think they were all in Red Hook. And are they two lanes wide so you can park too? Or, if single, are there back yard parking spots? If not, it’s not an alleyway.