By Trudy Whitman
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

GOWANUS -- Amanda Burden, director of the Department of City Planning (DCP), had a stunning announcement for a large group of citizens gathered at P.S. 32 on November 17.

They had come to hear about a rezoning proposal for the Gowanus Corridor. But what they were told first by the head of City Planning was that her staff had been “redeployed� in order to present a downzoning plan to the community of Carroll Gardens by June.

In this case, “downzoning� means keeping the low-rise character of the picturesque area, known for its brownstones and large front lawns, intact.

Community groups and elected officials have been fighting for more development regulation in Carroll Gardens for some time, but they were always told by DCP to get in line.

The department’s budget blues have certainly not gone away, but, Burden continued, City Council Member Bill de Blasio had convincing arguments about how time was of the essence in Carroll Gardens. And de Blasio made her aware of these arguments — repeatedly.

Gowanus Plan

Burden then turned to the business at hand — DCP’s presentation of a rezoning plan for the Gowanus corridor to Community Board 6’s Landmarks/Land Use Committee. “ULURP [a public approval procedure] is a complicated process,� she said. “We need a sense of a common goal.�

The plan would change 25 blocks of the 60-block area that connects Park Slope with Carroll Gardens from predominantly manufacturing zoning to mixed-use designation. Jen Posner of the Brooklyn division of DCP took the group through a PowerPoint presentation of the proposal, which has been devised with community input and review.

Among the many concerns of those who worked on the changes was keeping businesses and manufacturing in the area, ensuring affordable housing, clearing pedestrian access to the waterfront, making space for artists and artisans, and cleaning up toxic soil and water.

As soon as the floor was open for questions, a great rift became apparent among audience members. Proponents of the plan complimented the DCP for its careful planning and attention to community concerns.

Environmental Opposition

For the most part, opposition focused on environmental issues. Diane Buxbaum of the Sierra Club, New York City Group, insisted that development of the area must not proceed until the contaminants in the Gowanus Canal, as well as their location and pervasiveness, are identified.

She also noted that the draft E.I.S. of Sept. 8, 2008, does not consider “sea surge, sea-level rise, or Katrina-like storms.� Bette Stoltz, a CB 6 member and executive director of the South Brooklyn LDC, also said that asking developers to remediate is akin to asking Wall Street to self-regulate.

Although the adversaries of the Gowanus Corridor rezoning plan were numerous and vocal, it appears that most local elected officials, CB 6, and a consortium of community, trade, and labor groups that have worked with DCP on the plan have officially signed on. (CB 6 recently “conditionally� approved an application for a zoning amendment for a 577-unit residential complex proposed by Toll Brothers for land the company owns on the canal.)

To underscore the support of what a press release called the “Gowanus Summit� for the DCP project, Council Members Bill de Blasio and David Yassky organized a press conference before the meeting to introduce summit members and discuss their guiding principles.

Councilman de Blasio said that DCP had been open to “fundamental citizen participation� offered by the grassroots group during the process. “Good land use choices only occur within a context like this,� he said.

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