New zoning plan for 14th Street.

The city is about to release a new zoning plan for East 14th Street that, if approved, is sure to change the face and characters of the thoroughfare over the next decade.

The plan calls for significantly upzoning several specific areas for future large-scale development, while at the same time attempting to preserve the existing mid-block character of small shops and low- to moderate-income housing.

While planners see this as the best hope for improving a sometimes seedy area where crime and drug problems have persisted on and off for decades, others worry that change might force out "mom and pop" store owners.

The rezoning plan encompasses properties fronting 14th Street from Irving Place to 100 feet west of Avenue C, exlcuding Stuy Town.

Three sites, in particular, have been targeted by city planners for major upzoning: the Palladium nightclub and adjoining parking lot; the former Sahara Hotel site at 14th Street and Third Avenue; and the northwest corner of 14th and First Avenue, where a Blimpee's shop currently sits.

It is hoped that the rezoning plan, long sought-after by the 14th Street Business Improvement District(BID), will revitalize an area long thought of as a poor relative to the bustling Union Square area.

Extended Retail Corridor

"The goal is to extend the strengths of the retail corridor to the east and also to provide new opportunities for residential development," said Peter Pfeffer of the city Planning Department, project director of the 14th Street proposal. "A lot of things are happening around Union Square and we'd like to take advantage of that momentum and try to restore the eastern corridor to its former glory."

A primary target for development would be the Sahara Hotel, at the northeast corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue. The site currently has ground floor retail space - including several pornographic shops - with boarded up, vacant floors above. Rezoning would increase the value of the Sahara site and likely lead to either the sale or re-development, observes say.

Although it's less of an eyesore than the Sahara, the Palladium is another site that officials believe could form a crucial commercial retail link to the eastern portion of 14th Street. Rezoning would allow for combined commercial/residential construction, on the Palladium site, as well as an adjacent parking lot.

Assemblages at the Sahara or Palladium sites could result in structures of about 20-25 stories, according to zoning experts.

A third "soft site" marked for upzoning is the northwest corner of First Avenue and 14th Street (Blimpee's). Under the city's proposal, a structure similar to the size of Stuy Town's 11-13 story buildings could be built.

In addition, the plan recommends upzoning that would allow for larger retail space along 14th Street, running through to 13th Street.

That has raised concerns for some who fear the loss of existing service-oriented shops, many of which are family-run businesses, to pricey chain stores.

Jack Taylor, a member of Board 6, said he's concerned the plan could be the deathknell for so-called mom and pop stores. "The plan tips the mitt to the likes of the Gap, Toys R Us and any of these big retailers who need large spaces," said Taylor.

But Pfeffer, of the city Planning Dept., maintained that storefronts in many of the existing buildings would be unable to accommodate large-scale retailers. In addition, he said many building storefronts are a half-grade above street level, and are not conducive to being developed for retail space. "We don't see that happening with a lot of these tenement buildings," he said, adding that the buildings' contain residential units protected under rent laws.

To Be Avoided

Rob Walsh, executive director of the 14th Street-Union Square Local Development Corp. and BID, maintains the rezoning will resuscitate an area besieged by crime and drugs. "Right now people avoid that stretch of 14th Street, especially between Second and Third Avenues," he said.

The LDC and BID have lobbied for rezoning in order to expand and improve the 14th Street-Union Square shopping corridor. According to the LDC-BID, the recent surge in retail activity in and around Union Square hasn't extended east of Fourth Avenue. Yet the LDC-BID is making strides: the commercial portion of HELP project, on the south side of 14th Street at Irving Place, is expected to open sometime this year. The retail space, for which the BID fought vigorously, will be the only significant retail addition east of Union Square since Zeckendorf Towers went up in 1987.

"The only way we're going to shake our dilapidated and vacant eyesores, and the crime and drug dealing that goes on on that block, is by adding an anchor building," he maintained. "This (rezoning) would finally get the owners of the Sahara Hotel to sell their property, and get the Jefferson Theater back on tax rolls." Walsh several years ago tried, along with the city, to force the Sahara owner, Jay Wartsky, to seel the Sahara, even going so far as to line up a prospective buyer. But with depressed real estate prices, the owner balked at a multi-million dollar offer and prevailed against the city's attempt to force him to sell.

The Jefferson Theater has been vacant for more than a decade, and, although it only fronts on a small part of 14th Street, comprises a huge parcel on East 13th Street. The theater could be part of a tremendous real estate assemblage and, like the Sahara, rezoning will make it a more attractive and lucrative piece of property, Walsh noted.

Ed Rudin, chair of Community Board 6's Land Use Committee, which was given a review of the city's plan several months ago, said members of his committee did not object to any of the plan's major components.

"(The plan's) not very onerous for Board 6," said Ed Rudin, who received an informal presentation from City Planning two month ago. Most of the proposed changes are actually in the Board 3 area, he noted, adding that he felt redevelopment of the Sahara site - which is in Board 6's area - would be an improvement. "Basically (there are) no great problems with what they're proposing," he said.

Susan Vaughn, chair of CB 3's Housing Committee, similarly reported "no hue and cry" from members at their presentation meeting with City Planning, But, noting the informality of the proceeding and the fact that she'd been given "nothing on paper," she withheld judgment pending official release of the plan.

Historically, Board 3 has not looked favorably on upzoning plans, viewing them as attempts at gentrifying the lower East Side. Richard Ropiak, who is both a member of Board 3 and the LDC board, believes a balance may be struck on this plan because it seeks incremental father than drastic change. "There's not a lot of negative (to the plan)," he said.

Rudin added that he would have preferred to compare the city's plan with one submitted by the East Side Rezoning Alliance (ESRA), which was directed by city officials to ignore the 14th Street area in its proposal. ESRA therefore submitted a zoning plan for the area from 15th Street to 34th Street, roughly from Park Avenue South to the First Avenue.

"We're trying to rezone in such a fashion that we protect neighborhoods from being surrounded by buildings that are too tall, said Peveri, adding that she expects City Planning to certify the ESRA plan by the end of the month."