Space and Community at Sunnyside
Part 4. The Sunnyside Foundation
Era
Sunnyside Gardens interior courtyard,
showing formerly common space that has been fenced in
by current property owners
|
Following a series of meetings in the
late 1970s and early 1980s, during which community members
exchanged ideas with a variety of architects, preservationists,
and land conservation experts, the Sunnyside Gardens Conservancy
was created. The conservancy, also known as The Sunnyside
Foundation, became the vehicle through which residents concerned
with restoring the community’s original appearance attempted
to realize their objectives. Working with a non-profit consulting
organization called the Trust for Public Land, The Sunnyside
Foundation initiated a series of repairs and renovations to
neighborhood buildings, streets and common spaces; additionally,
through its Conservation Easement Program, it created incentives
to restore the historical easements set up by the CHC. More
recently The Sunnyside Foundation has also involved itself
in a debate over the rezoning of Sunnyside Gardens.
Among the physical improvement projects
sponsored by The Sunnyside Foundation in its first few years
were facade restoration drives, tree pruning campaigns, Sunnyside
Park cleaning initiatives, and the coordination of the 1988
Skillman Avenue revitalization. Perhaps more importantly,
the Foundation took action to revive the common courts, physically,
politically and economically. As a first step, it donated
$500 to each court association to help these failing community
groups reorganize. Court associations, initially set up to
oversee and enforce easements, had become increasingly anachronistic
in the years following 1966. By reestablishing these small
organizations, The Sunnyside Foundation hoped to remind the
community of its history and to involve new generations of
Sunnyside Gardeners in the process of planning and preservation.
Each court association is made up of a President, a Vice President,
and a number of trustees; the president of each court association
sits on the board of the Foundation.
The reinvigoration of the court associations
did not directly address the fencing of the common courts,
however. Realizing this, members of the Foundation initiated
an incentive program designed to prod community residents
to take down their fences in exchange for Federal tax abatements.
The Conservation Easement Program, as the initiative is called,
was instituted in 1985, following three years of lobbying
by the Foundation’s first director, Franklin Havelick. Under
the program, individual homeowners can agree to renew the
easements on their slice of common court, and thereby receive
Federal tax breaks for one year. Residents continue to own
these pieces of land, but agree to limit the use they can
make of it. Once designated a conservation easement, these
parcels of common court are protected as open space in perpetuity.
The Sunnyside Foundation collects annual fees from those who
agree to participate in the program, fees which range from
$100 for a one-family house to $150 for a three-family house.
80% of these fees go into court maintenance, and the other
20% to the Foundation for the administration of the program.
Not surprisingly, however, a single year of tax breaks followed
by annual maintenance fees has not provided substantial incentive
for most Sunnyside Gardeners. Twenty-four homeowners currently
participate in the program, barely enough to keep it alive.
Historic Preservation has also been a
central issue for The Sunnyside Foundation. Formed just as
the Historic Preservation movement in the United States was
beginning to gain momentum, the Foundation was from its inception
an organization interested in getting Sunnyside Gardens registered
on Local, State and Federal lists of historic places. As its
promotional pamphlet describes:
"In many areas across the country,
historic preservation activity has instilled pride in a community,
thereby encouraging housing repairs, rehabilitation and often,
enhanced property values. This process begins with an extensive
survey, culminating in listing on the National Historic Register
of Places, part of a national program to identify, evaluate
and protect historic buildings."
Following the completion of the Facade
Improvement Program in 1983, the Foundation managed to get
Sunnyside Gardens and Phipps Houses placed on the New York
State Register, and on August 7, 1984, they were added to
the National Register. Local landmark status has never
come to a vote, however, owing to the objections of those
who believe that its restrictions would limit homeowners to
an even greater degree than current zoning provisions do.
In spite of the strict zoning requirements
adopted in 1974 and the concerted efforts of the Sunnyside
Foundation to codify its preservationist agenda, many residents
of the neighborhood have continued to demand more control
over their property, a few even going so far as to take matters
into their own hands. The most colorful example of this phenomenon
concerns a man named Val Visilis, who decided in the late-1980s
to cut the curb in front of his house for a driveway. Mr.
Visilis had obtained permission to do so from the Buildings
Department, which apparently failed to consult the local zoning
ordinance before handing out a permit. When the cement truck
arrived at Mr. Visilis’ house, two members of the Sunnyside
Foundation saw what was about to happen, ran over to the sidewalk,
and sat down to stop construction. The cement truck left,
but returned to complete the job on a Saturday, when the Foundation’s
office was closed. In the three years that followed, the Foundation
initiated a number of court proceedings against Mr. Visilis,
who was eventually arrested at the airport (he was going on
vacation to Greece) for failing to repave the curb in front
of his house. Mr. Visilis finally fixed the curb in 1992,
and died soon thereafter.
Such disputes underscore the adversarial
relationship which continues to exist between the Sunnyside
Foundation and its antagonists, the Sunnyside Civic Association.
Since the early 1990s, the disagreements between these two
organizations have been translated into the context of dueling
proposals for the modification of the neighborhood’s Special
District zoning. These proposals both focus on the construction
or reconstruction of decks and enclosed porches in original
rear yards (not common court space), as well as the addition
of dormers to buildings. The Sunnyside Civic Association has
suggested that these additions be allowed as-of-right, requiring
only a building permit, whereas the Sunnyside Foundation has
called for Special Zoning Permits for any work except reconstructing
a porch or constructing a deck. Queens Community Board 2 has
endorsed the Sunnyside Foundation’s suggestions and intends
to endorse the revision of the Special District zoning once
the Foundation has assembled a rezoning plan.
While the 1974 zoning ordinance has discouraged
most Sunnyside Gardens residents from seeking to modify their
homes, one example of a successful variance proposal does
exist. Margaret Weiri, who owns a home on Lincoln Court, applied
in 1991 for a special permit to build a one-story, 157.5 square
foot addition to the back of her house. In its assessment
of Ms. Weiri’s application, the City Planning Commission,
after noting that the proper SEQRA, CEQR, ULURP, and public
hearing requirements had been met, wrote that:
>"The enlargement will relate to
the existing buildings in scale and design and will not seriously
alter the scenic amenity or environmental quality of this
section of Sunnyside Gardens. Since the enlargement will not
create additional dwelling units, no additional parking or
traffic will be required or generated. The enlargement will
not reduce the amount of open space or landscaping on the
subject property because it will be constructed on the cellar
roof."
Interestingly, the CPC’s analysis of
Ms. Weiri’s proposal was not limited to the addition itself,
but addressed the broader issue of Special District zoning
in Sunnyside Gardens generally. Admitting that the Planned
Community Preservation text is vague and inappropriate to
Sunnyside Gardens, the CPC accepted Queens Borough President
Claire Shulman’s suggestion that a subcommittee of the Queens
Zoning Task Force be formed to assess the zoning proposals
made by the two Sunnyside Gardens community organizations.
The CPC’s willingness to take another look at the 1974 zoning
provision, as well as to approve Ms. Weiri’s addition, signaled
the start of yet another chapter in the complex planning history
of the community.
|
