Community Board 1 last night passed a resolution recommending that the Landmarks Preservation Commission approve esplanade plans for Pier 15 in the South Street Seaport Historic District and voted against an amendment to the resolution that objected to "cut-outs," which one board member liked to "Swiss cheese," in the proposed project.

At the same meeting, Julie Menin, the board's chair, said that the board intends to hold various meetings over the next six months on the proposed redevelopment just to the north of Pier 15 of the South Street Seaport by General Growth Properties and that a new school at the site was a high priority and that the company "didn't say no" at a recent committee presentation. One board member urged that the project include affordable housing. The plan calls for erecting a 42-story mixed-use tower on the present site of the Tin Building, which used to house the Fulton Fish Market and which would be moved in the proposal to the eastern edge of Pier 17.

Both projects have been designed by SHoP architects.

The Pier 17 esplanade project calls for a substantial portion of the pier to be divided into two levels "reminiscent of structures historically located on piers in this area" with the lower level for maritime and educational uses and the upper level, "whose 'roof' edge is made of ship-shaped wood," devoted to recreational uses.

The resolution noted that "the upper level has been fashioned by the landscape architect Ken Smith to include some meadows, lawns, and 90 feet of recreational space, ending in another lawn at the water," adding that "the 'roof' of the upper space would include a giant open cut-out to the south, filtering light to the lower level,' and 'lights on the columns of the outer pier railings would be blue, vaguely recalling Mary Miss's blue harbor lights along Battery Park City's southern esplanade, and the pier would be surfaced with large, 16-inch hex pavers colored five different shades of gray, and pavilions under the FDR Drive are meant to 'echo' industrial sheds, with glass 'shop' windows that retract and would be programmed for various purposes, and lighting would glow slowly without glare, because they would be embedded, not surface mounted or on poles, and more generally, the esplanade's furniture system would be modular, evoking shipping containers and crates and would be made of cargo wood."

The resolution also noted that "where four historic slips once existed, broad stepped 'get-downs' would be installed, going almost to the water, bracketed by planters." The resolution maintained that while the only "get-down" subject to review by the landmarks commission is adjacent to Peck Slip, "others would be located at Wall Street, Rutgers Street and Pike Street" and "at high tide, waves would splash up to the 'get-downs,' again recalling Mary Miss's floating dock in Battery Park City."

"While not everyone can embrace every element of this sweeping proposal," it concluded, "it appears that the architects have responded to...CB#1's wishes while maintaining a vision of urbanity and sophistication not seen on this large a scale in Manhattan for many years, and although the plan doesn't attempt to reinstitute hoop skirts, gaslights and oyster piles, it does deal with matters of history in a thoughtful way, while integrating into a cosmopolitan 21st century program forces as diverse as a major overhead artery, an underused waterfront, some of the oldest buildings in New York City, an emerging neighborhood and the future needs of our downtown's edge."

The board also approved the final design for Peck Slip noting that "the east side of Lower Manhattan has virtually no park space" and that the design is "very respectful of the area's maritime history."