Community Builders seeks approvals for 81-unit Post Nickel Place; ZBA declines to be lead agency amid environmental and public-safety questions

Community Builders and development partners reintroduced a planned 81-unit mixed-income development at 244 First Street (the Post Nickel Place site) and requested the Zoning Board consider use and area variances tied to the property's rezoning. The proposal drew detailed questions about brownfield cleanup, floodplain construction, parking and public-safety impacts; the board declined to serve as SEQR lead agency and directed applicants to work with planning staff and the planning board.

Proposal and site history: Jesse Badis, senior vice president for development at Community Builders, said the site is the former Seward equipment property, nearly two acres and entered into the state's Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP). The project team said the site has a BCP agreement with the DEC and that they aim for a Track 1 cleanup (removal of contaminated material), but that elements of the remediation process — including final waste characterization and DEC decision documents — remain part of the ongoing permitting and funding…