BARTEK, city planning staff, presented a redevelopment concept for properties along Broadway and Garrigan Drive and told the committee the Common Council had initiated an eminent‑domain process to acquire and redevelop roughly 42 parcels totaling about 3.5 acres.

Bartek said the city had prepared a full Environmental Assessment Form and that the council earlier identified the project as a Type I action under SEQR and had previously named itself lead agency. "The resolution in front of you tonight is a resolution for a negative declaration, meaning that the common council has identified that there is no potential significant adverse impact on the environment," Bartek said, summarizing the SEQR inputs addressed in the environmental review: air quality, groundwater, traffic, solid waste, soil erosion, vegetation and wildlife, consistency with the comprehensive plan and local waterfront revitalization plan, impacts on historic resources, energy use, and cumulative impacts.

Committee members asked questions about project scale and design. Staff said conceptual renderings show the redevelopment could support about 200 housing units and roughly 30,000 square feet of commercial and nonprofit space organized as a walkable urban neighborhood; staff also noted that the environmental review considered acquisition and redevelopment together to avoid segmentation under SEQR and that future site‑plan submissions would require updated analyses if they materially differed from the maximum envisioned development.

Several committee members spoke in favor of publishing findings and moving forward with the eminent‑domain determinations. Council member Steve (identified in the transcript as a committee member who grew up near the project area) described personal and historical ties to the site and urged redevelopment rather than letting the lots remain vacant. Council member Michelle cautioned the committee to prioritize reparative actions for families displaced by past urban renewal and emphasized centering displaced families and prioritizing their input.

The committee voted to approve the SEQR negative declaration (motion and second on the record) and later voted to adopt and publish the determination and findings under Section 209 of the New York Eminent Domain Procedure Law in connection with the proposed condemnation of the identified parcels. The committee passed both resolutions with affirmative voice votes recorded as "Aye." No roll‑call tallies with individual names were recorded in the committee transcript.

The adopted findings list public use and benefits, reasons for the selected location, environmental and neighborhood impacts, and responses to comments received at a public hearing on Oct. 29, 2024; the committee directed the city to take necessary steps to comply with the Eminent Domain Procedure Law to implement the resolution.

Next steps in the transcript: the plan will proceed through the Common Council and related planning and legal processes; future site plans or materially different proposals would require additional SEQR review and possible revisions to the city’s findings and environmental analysis.