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Commission recommends land‑development approvals for LightPath fiber facility at 319 Chestnut Street
Summary
The commission approved waivers for preliminary plan, street‑tree planting and street‑lighting and recommended the final land‑development plan for a LightPath inline amplification facility at 319 Chestnut Street; staff had sought a leasehold plan and had recommended denial of certain waivers.
The New York City Planning Commission recommended approval of multiple waivers and the final land‑development plan for a LightPath inline amplification facility at 319 Chestnut Street.
LightPath representative Nat Tafuri, vice president of construction, described the proposed facility as an inline amplification site that “reconstructs” data signals as they traverse the fiber network. Tafuri said the building will be a single story about 18 feet tall and roughly 7,600 square feet, largely unmanned except for periodic visits by an operations person. Lucas Wilson of Site Design Concepts presented the land‑development submission and said LightPath purchased the network assets and is consolidating operations at the site.
Staff flagged multiple leaseholds and recommended denial of a waiver request until lease boundaries and responsibilities were defined. The project team explained there are existing leaseholders (including equipment pads and a small hut used by other network customers) and that LightPath will own the entire parcel and maintain an operations and maintenance agreement with the city; the applicant said tenants would be bound by that agreement.
Resident Blandon Ace raised neighborhood safety and lighting concerns given a nearby school and a stream/poor‑house run on the site. Tafuri and Wilson said the building will include wall‑pack lighting as part of the mechanical/electrical design and that the distance to the sidewalk should be sufficient for lighting and safety. Staff also confirmed the site is adjacent to the former jail parcel and that a homeless encampment on the site had been addressed by police and fire prior to redevelopment.
Commissioners voted to waive the preliminary plan, to waive required street trees (one street tree proposed due to easements), and to waive installation of new street lighting; roll calls recorded unanimous approval on the first two motions and a 3–1 vote to waive lighting (Gaines recorded a nay). The commission then recommended approval of the final land‑development plan; the motion carried by recorded vote.
Motions and votes recorded: preliminary‑plan waiver (Johnson, Velez, Burgos, Gaines — ayes); waiver of street‑tree planting under section 13‑36‑0.09 (ayes); waiver of street‑lighting installation under section 13‑36‑0.11 (ayes with Gaines recorded as nay); final land‑development plan (ayes). The commission noted staff’s recommendation about leasehold documentation and recorded that the applicant will work with staff to provide a leasehold plan as needed.
The project team said the facility’s equipment runs on a DC system (54 volts) and that the site will house inline amplification equipment rather than a high‑power, fully manned data center. Tafuri described the facility as “an inline amplification site where lots of traffic moves through the fiber network, on a minute by minute basis.” The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to city council for final action.
