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Community Builders seeks approvals for 81-unit Post Nickel Place; ZBA declines to be lead agency amid environmental and public-safety questions
Summary
Community Builders reintroduced an 81-unit Post Nickel Place proposal at the former Seward equipment site, a DEC brownfield, seeking use and area variances; the Zoning Board declined to act as SEQR lead agency and requested more remedial documentation and coordination with the planning board.
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 timeline.
Why the zoning relief is sought: the property was rezoned in 2023 under the city's Recode/Rico Troy process to a Business Development district that no longer permits general multifamily dwellings except under specific conditions (conversion of existing nonresidential structures or limited live-work allowances). Community Builders said the rezoning created a unique hardship for this parcel because it previously had approvals for multifamily development under the older industrial designation; the applicant requested a use variance and two area variances (including an Ida Street setback and roof-form relief).
Environmental and technical points: the team said the site has routine BCP documentation (remedial investigation, remedial action plan) and that a final DEC "decision document" and waste-characterization sampling will follow in the remedial timeline. They said the site sits within a floodplain and therefore proposes ground-floor parking (residential levels above) and has modified the plan to address fire department concerns, including increased turning space and moving the building edge away from existing high-voltage lines.
Public-safety and neighborhood comments: Deputy Fire Chief Jared Behringer urged caution, describing a pattern the fire department has observed where some recent larger multifamily affordable developments have generated high emergency-service call volumes. "We're at our breaking point as the fire department," Behringer said, noting examples and stating that concentration of vulnerable populations in several new developments had led to increased EMS, police and fire responses in nearby blocks. A neighborhood resident also raised concerns about preserving the city's comp plan and the Recode/Rico Troy vision for business and light-industrial development along the waterfront.
Board action on SEQR lead agency: the applicant asked the ZBA to serve as SEQR lead agency to allow concurrent variance and environmental review. Board members declined, citing lack of sufficient environmental documentation in the record and preferring the planning board or a coordinated lead-agency approach. Several members stated they did not have the materials necessary to act as lead agency that night and required additional DEC documentation and remedial plans.
Project finance and operational details: Community Builders said the project would use Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and a limited-partnership ownership structure common in affordable housing finance; they said their organization would act as long-term owner/operator under extended-use regulatory agreements. The applicant said they did not currently have a PILOT in place and earlier IDA requests had been denied.
Next steps: the board did not take final action on the requested variances and instructed the applicant to provide DEC remediation documentation, health-and-safety plans from the remedial action plan, and to pursue coordinated SEQR review with the planning board. Community Builders indicated it would supply the DEC and BCP materials and continue dialogue with the fire department and neighborhood stakeholders.
