King's Landing 2 site amendments approved after community meetings; board conditions sidewalk/crosswalk work to city-engineer specs

The planning board approved site-plan amendments for King's Landing 2 after the applicant and neighborhood leaders presented a negotiated infill solution addressing the loss of two brownstones and agreed facade/color choices. Colton Hill of BDC Group said the project team met with Fifth Avenue neighborhood leaders and produced a landscape-centered infill with seating, ornamental features and screening to hide a utility transformer. Barb Nelson of TAP and Drea Leanza, a neighborhood representative, described the concept as a small courtyard/park that preserves the former stoop activity and improves sidewalks and street trees along the block.

"We've come up with an idea, which is gonna be a park setting in this area, which will have some ornamental, artwork, architectural features along with some, seating and amenity space," Nelson said. Neighborhood participants said property owners along Fifth Avenue have been consulted and are generally supportive.

Board discussion focused on sidewalk alignments and whether the driveway/entrance features would require a full sidewalk connection across the adjacent drive (Crooked Alley/Laundry Place). Corporation counsel and staff advised that sidewalk connections across entranceways sometimes require curb cuts and ADA-compliant ramps and that final layout would need to conform to city engineering standards. The board conditioned final approval on a requirement that final sidewalk and crossing details across the entranceway comply with city-engineer specifications.

A motion to grant final approval conditioned on engineering review and final design documentation carried unanimously. The applicant said they will provide final plans to staff for engineer review prior to implementing sidewalk and streetscape changes.