ESDC will meet Thursday (presumably) to approve document saying 25-year Atlantic Yards buildout won't be too burdensome; public comment welcome

As indicated December 10 by a Forest City Ratner executive, the Empire State Development Corporation on Thursday apparently plans to approve a required document asserting that a 25-year potential buildout of the Atlantic Yards project doesn't require a Supplemental Impact Statement (SEIS) and that the community impacts of such a timetable wouldn't be too burdensome.

Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman, in her November 9 ruling on the Atlantic Yards timetable in favor of two community coalitions, did not resolve the issue.

Rather, she remanded the proceedings "to ESDC for findings on the impact of the Development Agreement and of the renegotiated MTA agreement on its continued use of a 10 year build-out for the Project, and on whether a SEIS is required or warranted." A hearing is scheduled for December 22.

Board meeting Thursday

According to an ESDC press release, the Board of Directors of the New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a the Empire State Development Corporation, will meet Thursday, December 16, at 10:30 am.

Empire State Development
37th Floor Conference Room
633 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017

The meeting will be webcast, and is open to the public for observation and comment. Those planning to attend should RSVP by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, December 15, to (212) 803-3794.

Rules on commenting

Public comment is welcome, though it won't be easy to comment cogently if the document to be approved is not made available ahead of time (and there's no indication it would be).

According to the agenda:

To ensure maximum opportunity for participation, speakers representing themselves may speak for up to 2 minutes each, and those representing groups may speak for up to 4 minutes (1 speaker per group). Speakers’ comments may address only items considered at today’s meeting.

Atlantic Yards is the first of 23 items to be considered following the approval of the minutes:

ATLANTIC YARDS LAND USE IMPROVEMENT AND CIVIC PROJECT
2. New York (Kings County) - Atlantic Yards Land Use Improvement and Civic Project – Adoption of Findings Related to the Atlantic Yards Land Use Improvement and Civic Project