: 1173448935

The lack of trust between members of a Queens Community Board and the New York City Economic Development Corporation came to a head last week at an at-times-unruly meeting filled with terse comments, tossed papers and a growing feeling of futility among board members.

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) was the first to admit the wariness. “What the EDC says today,” Avella said, “will be different from what they say tomorrow.”

The tension between Community Board 7 and the EDC was clearly expressed in an exchange of comments that took place at a meeting between the two organizations at the College Point Corporate Park Office.

A clear example came up in the discussion of buffer zones, and whether corporate purchase of them for private use sets dangerous precedents. The discussion regarded Skanska USA Civil Northeast, Inc., a large contracting company that sits near the Whitestone Expressway and wants to add 19,000 square feet of office and parking space. In order to do this, the company must comply with zoning laws and purchase the city-owned 60-foot buffer zone that sits on the property.

Buffer zones are meant to keep separate commercial and residential areas, and CB7’s concern was that allowing a developer to purchase the land would devalue them.

While one senior project manager for the EDC did not provide a clear answer to CB7’s question regarding the use of buffers, Joan Vogt, a representative of State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) said she, too, was concerned about setting such precedents.

In discussing plans for the New York Times’ Queens plant expansion, which is bringing about 200 employees and adding 60,000 square feet, CB7 expressed frustration that neither the Times, nor the EDC informed the board of its plans. Board members and area residents are concerned about the effect the expansion will have on the surrounding community and nearby wetlands.

Times’ Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer David Thurm tried to reassure CB7 members, and said the majority of additional employees would operate at night and all an environmental specialist would be on site 24 hours during construction. EDC Assistant Vice President Andrew Hollweck agreed to communicate more openly and frequently with local community members, though plans have already received city approval and construction has begun.

The most hotly contested two-decade-old matter was that of the Linden Place reconstruction, where four lanes will be built to help alleviate congestion and traffic. The problem with the expansion is that the four lanes will end at 23rd Avenue, where there will remain only one lane in each direction, inevitably causing more congestion and traffic on the residential block.

Members of CB7 were outraged and said the EDC’s plans for the reconstruction were misleading.

“You are a disgrace,” CB7 member Joseph Governale said to EDC Assistant Vice President Jawad Assaf, who said he had no knowledge of any previous neighborhood concerns regarding 20th Avenue. “I don’t trust you one inch.”

But Governale’s fury, which he unleashed on a color-coded EDC map of the expansion area, crumpling it and throwing it to the floor, achieved nothing – construction on Linden Place will begin in the spring.

To end the loud-tempered meeting, the two organizations debated over the 77-acre abandoned Flushing Airport property that the EDC wants to develop. Avella, CB7 members and residents said they were worried that development would destroy the neighboring wetlands.

Avella hired an environmental consultant from Pace University, Dr. James Cervino, to document the development’s affects on the wetlands. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation also expressed concern over the wetlands, and required that 38 acres of the property, to be called “Forever Wild Site,” be restored.

There are no plans yet for development, and the EDC currently does not have either the permits or funds for the project.

Local community leaders left the meeting feeling disappointed and disrespect by the EDC’s lack of answers and what they termed a “knowledge deficiency.” Often evading issues, EDC officials were visibly hesitant to discuss the history and futures of some of the issues.

Until they get some answers, Avella and CB7 members said they would vote down the projects. However, community boards are advisory in nature, and, as recent history has shown, their input sometimes is ignored or simply not asked for.