DUMBO — Saying the Walentases had every right to build on their Dock Street site but that he also had to be true to himself and to Brooklyn, Borough President Marty Markowitz revealed his recommendations for changes to the project at the annual meeting of the Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA) Thursday night.

Those recommendations include reducing the entire development by 35,000 square feet and changing its configuration so that it is further away from — and preserves public views of —the Brooklyn Bridge. “I heard the community loud and clear,. The bowl must be preserved,� he said, referring to the more than 100 people who spoke at his public hearing Jan. 27, as well as the term (bowl) coined by community members to describe the geographic dip and current size of the manmade structures surrounding the bridge’s Brooklyn anchorage.

Markowitz also said that Two Trees Management Co., David and Jed Walentas’ firm, can build — “as of right� — a hotel of 30 stories, and that is why he is asking for structural changes to the proposal rather than denying it.

“I support the concept but I am not supporting the project as it is proposed,� he told the assembled BHA members and guests.

Among the elements of the BP’s recommendations are the following:

• Designing a more slender tower at 57 percent less bulk (with a setback), which could be increased from 18 to 25 stories to recoup some loss of square footage.

• Setting the tower back 70 feet from Front Street increasing the distance from the bridge to 150 feet. • Limiting the height of the portion along Water Street to 80 feet and the section along Front Street to 85 feet.

“I am also asking for a legal mechanism to lock in the affordable housing element,� he said, referring to Walentas’ promise of 20 percent affordable units.

As for the proposed middle school, Markowitz said that what was presented to him was a zoning change request only, and he applauds the offer to include one, but he is recommending that the Department of Education, Community Education Council 13, Community Board 2 and local elected officials analyze and ascertain which grade configuration will best serve the needs of the community. Calling his development staff the best of any borough, he then introduced Richard Bearak, deputy director of planning and development, who walked attendees through a slide show of images to show possible alternative configurations for the Dock Street DUMBO development.

His staff spent weeks conducting digital modeling and simulation and personally visiting the site to calculate views and spatial considerations, according to Markowitz.

“I feel we’ve taken their proposal and made it more relevant, more responsive to the community and more respective of the Brooklyn Bridge,� Markowitz said at the conclusion of his presentation. Reached Friday, Jed Walentas said he was pleased that Markowitz was “generally supportive� of the project and appreciated the attention he and his staff applied in reviewing it.

“We are grateful,� he told the Eagle. “We will be conducting, with our architects and designers, a thorough analysis of their recommendations.�

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