Curb Cut Crack Down in Carroll Gardens
[nggallery id=”47866″ template=galleryview] Yesterday the Brooklyn Paper wrote about curb cuts in Carroll Gardens; in particular, 4th Place has been turned into “a trailer park,” in the words of one resident. Because of a loophole in city zoning, the front yards on First, Second, Third, and Fourth Places are part of the street and not…
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Yesterday the Brooklyn Paper wrote about curb cuts in Carroll Gardens; in particular, 4th Place has been turned into “a trailer park,” in the words of one resident. Because of a loophole in city zoning, the front yards on First, Second, Third, and Fourth Places are part of the street and not the homeowner’s property, which gives the city control of what goes there. Evidently, many of the curb cuts were done without permits, which now gives the city the ability to start handing out violations. But many residents claim the homes had curb cuts before they even lived there. We checked out Fourth Place between Smith and Court, which the Brooklyn Paper calls “the wild west of inappropriate use of the very front gardens that give the neighborhood its name.” There were around six homes using their front lots for parking. Cheese-tacular!
‘Lots’ of Problems on One Carroll Gardens Lot [Brownstoner]
Gemini: This isn’t “all of a sudden” This has been part of the deal since the establishment of Carroll Gardens. The fact that people flagrantly disregarded an unenforced zoning provision doesn’t make it right; it makes them lucky to have gotten away with it for so long at their neighbors expense. The fact that the tide has turned the other way means their ride is over, plain and simple. Don’t take it personally, be grateful you had it when you did and move on. Sheesh, how can you make an arguement for continuing an ILLEGAL practice (which was illegal before you got there) at the expense of your neighbors.
yeah, the longtime resident with the NJ license plate.
I think some people are showing their suburban attitude.
Gem, I often wondered about that, too. It gets really interesting, especially when you come across homeowners who somehow don’t know about the duty to keep the sidewalk clean/snow free until a lawsuit pops up!
See this is something I don’t understand
Why is the sidewalk out front of my house MY responsibility to clean and make sure it’s flat so no one slips and if because of my own neglect I would be held responsible if that person decided to sue me – but then ALL OF A SUDDEN the 18 feet of DRIVEWAY space which is the same sidewalk space I have to shovel when it snows and sweep when it gets dirty etc belongs to the city and they have the right to do what they please with it????
I gotta agree with snappy and LRD.At the very least homeowners with curb cuts should be paying for them on a yearly basis. They make private use of a public street. It’s a special privilege. While I don’t necessarily like the way it looks, I agree it’s not a great reason to stop the practice. But not paying for it is a real reason.
Curbcuts don’t take away from on street parking!
I had a driveway and I parked my car IN THE DRIVEWAY so by my car sitting in MY Driveway I left one more open space on the street and guess what my neighbor when he couldn’t find a spot would park in front of my driveway and all I had to do was ring his bell if I had to leave! – So by me having a curbcut I effectively GAVE 2 spots away to onstreet parking!
and what a rude thing to say about these folks – so what – so they don’t care to have the PRESERVATION police come and change up their hood so they prefer to use their front yard as a driveway instead of a garden of eden – gimmeabreak! – most of these folks are Italian and had tomato gardens in their backyards WAY before the “hipster farmer elite” came along wanting to plant their own organic gardens all over the place
Sorry but it bugs me when people want to tip apart long time residents who don’t adhere to how the NEW Brooklyn wants to look!
I think if people are going to attack these curb cuts, it’s best and most effective to do so on a legal basis – as found in LRD’s post above. Going on aesthetics gets you nowhere fast, as everyone has differing tastes and opinions on what looks good and what’s ugly. And for the homeowners who claim ignorance about the illegality of their long-existing curb cuts, shame on their representatives during the sale for not finding that out. If they did know and just rode the convenient parking train until the wheels fell off, well, that’s to be expected. Lack of enforcement for so long will lead many people to just go with the tide and use it for as long as they can.
Parking in those courtyards is illegal and inconsiderate. Anyone who wants to live with such “convenience” at the expense of their neighbors should move to the suburbs. It is not just a matter of aesthetics and definitely not a matter of jealousy. Curbcuts take away on-street parking from the public. There are plenty of places that allow for this type of living and CG isn’t one.
Here are the sections of the Admin. Code that explicitly forbid the use of the courtyards for parking:
Code §19-132 Restrictions on First Place, Second Place, Third Place and Fourth Place in the borough of Brooklyn. The buildings to be erected upon the lots fronting upon First place, Second place, Third place and Fourth place in the borough of Brooklyn, shall be built on a line thirty-three feet five inches and a quarter of an inch back from the sides or lines of such places as they are now established by the map of the city, and the intervening space of land shall be used for courtyards only.
Code§19-136(b) Obstructions: It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, to use any portion of a sidewalk or courtyard, established by law, between the building line and the curb line for the parking, storage, display or sale of motor vehicles.
dirtyhipster:
Different strokes for different folks. Some people prefer convenient and ugly/tacky and others prefer beautiful and inconvenient. It probably matters a great deal if one owns a car.