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How divided is Northern Manhattan over Columbia University’s plans to expand its athletic facilities at Baker Field in northernmost Inwood?
At Community Board 12’s Oct. 26 general meeting five public speakers spoke in favor of the resolution; five against it.
City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez spoke against it; City Council Member Robert Jackson – in whose district the project would be built – spoke in favor of it, with caveats.
And CB12 members deadlocked on the vote to support the project, with 13 in favor, 11 against and two abstaining. A resolution only passes with a majority of all votes cast.
That means that the university’s plan now goes to the City Planning Commission and, ultimately, the City Council without the board’s official stance on the project.
The university solicited the advisory board’s approval because its plan to construct a new athletic complex on the 30-acre lot did not meet all the required public benefits that a waterfront project of this size required. For instance, what should have been over 4 acres of new public space, as planned, will only be about a half acre.
In return for building a new 47,700-square-foot facility, Columbia has offered to restore a marsh adjacent to Inwood Hill Park, create public space along the waterfront and grant access to its dock.
The plan has led to a series of divisive public hearings over the last few months.
At CB12’s general meeting, those arguing against the project asserted that the university’s concessions had not gone far enough, that allowances needed to be made for on-site boat storage and that Columbia hadn’t honored previous commitments to the community.
Those in favor of the project argued that Columbia has been a good neighbor, was creating new programs for the community and providing new access to the waterfront and reclaimed marshland. They feared that if the community held out for more concessions from the university, it might risk getting anything at all.
In a telling indication of who the major players are in the community, seven CB12 members did not vote due to conflicts of interest: they have business ties to either Columbia or the Parks Department and both institutions would benefit if the project went forward.
After City Planning considers the plans City Council will have the final approval on the project, and Jackson has said that he will press for as many concessions to the community as are feasible.
The months of dialogue about the project, however, appeared to secure at least some community benefits.
An Oct. 20 letter to CB12 from Joseph Ienuso, executive vice president for Columbia University Facilities, spelled out what Columbia has done and plans to do.
Columbia has:
- Agreed to give its dock to the city and provide public access to it.
- Begun landscape improvements on the property.
- Dampened the sound on outdoor mechanical equipment.
- Mitigated the amount of field hockey lighting that intrudes into residential buildings.
Columbia plans to:
- Provide community members no fee access to the stadium track beginning Jan. 1, 2011.
- Provide community members complimentary access to several intercollegiate sports at Baker Field, not including football.
- Implement an annual neighbors appreciation day at a football game.
- Begin new rowing, tennis and environmental programs for local children.
- Mitigate traffic issues around construction and football games.
- Provide security around the waterfront.
- Install remote control lighting at the stadium to reduce unnecessary usage and create a phone number – by December – for locals to call with concerns about lighting.
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