Full Board To Vote Dec. 12
By Charles Maldonado
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
CARROLL GARDENS — Negotiations over a developer’s controversial plan to build 113 units of housing in the Columbia Waterfront District continued Thursday night at a packed, three-hour meeting of Community Board 6’s Landmark/Land Use Committee.
The committee voted to approve the rezoning of three sites to allow for large-scale residential use after the developer downsized the project following a raucous October meeting.
L&M Equity, which is partnered with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development on the project, premiered the plan during the October Land Use Committee meeting.
Despite the approval Thursday, many residents still were concerned that the project would tear into the fabric of the historic, predominantly four-story neighborhood.
“We are not like Brooklyn Heights yet,” said Adele Heff, who has lived in the neighborhood for over 30 years. “We have a lot of small buildings, which is why we live here.”
Originally planned at 165 units, including a modern eight-story, 100 unit building, the proposal drew sharp criticism from neighbors who thought it wasn’t contextual with the neighborhood.
L&M came back this month with the scaled-back proposal: 113 units, including 41 affordable units. None of the buildings at the sites, bounded by Congress, Warren, Columbia and Hicks Streets will be above six stories, “with a strong four-story base,” said architect David Gross. They will also be pushed back 14 feet from the street.
The new rendering, unveiled Thursday, has a more “traditional” tone than the older one, with the buildings all a dark red brick.
Many residents said they were pleased with L&M and HPD’s willingness to cooperate with neighborhood concerns.
“I want to express my thanks to [L&M] for their sensitivity,” said Community Board 6 member Greg O’Connell, who’s lived in the neighborhood for 35 years. O’Connell worked closely as a mediator between the company and the community in creating a redesign that would address neighbor’s concerns.
“I was pleased,” said L&M principal Ron Moelis. “There seems to be progress as far as people communicating on this.”
Conditions of Approval
Thursday’s approval, which followed nearly two hours of public comment, came with some conditions: a cutback on the amount of property to be rezoned and that the affordable units remain so permanently. But conditions to the approvals are currently non-binding, according to HPD spokesman Seth Donlin.
When asked whether the 41 units would be permanent affordable housing, Moelis responded, “probably not,” noting that they would be for at least 30 years.
The committee also voted to recommend changing the proportion of affordable housing types. The current plan calls for half of the 41 units to be priced to accommodate residents making 130 percent of the area median income (AMI) and half to be priced for residents making 60 percent of the median income. The committee voted to recommend 30 units at 60 percent and 11 units at 130 percent.
All of the properties are currently zoned for manufacturing. HPD and L&M are requesting an area of a block along Columbia Street south of Congress be rezoned to allow for 70-foot tall buildings, even though they are only developing two parcels, both of which will be under 60-foot tall. Many residents did not want to open up the block to future market rate, high-density developments.
HPD filed the rezoning application on Oct. 15. It was certified on Nov. 13. It is currently in the midst of a 60-day Community Board review process, set to end in January, at which point it will go before the City Planning Commission.
The full Community Board will vote on the rezoning at its Dec. 12 meeting.
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