The recent article in Brooklyn Paper below is terrible news for the Gowanus Community that has been consistently and vehemently opposed to this re-zonining plan for years and registering very vocal and public complaints. Brad Lander has been tone deaf to the community consistently.
"The city’s Gowanus rezoning will officially start its public review process on Jan. 19, city planners announced Monday. LINK
The neighborhood-wide land use changes will go through the city’s lengthy Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, giving the public, local politicians, and planning officials a chance to weigh in on the large-scale proposal. "
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"The plans call for taller buildings of up to 22-30 stories in the low-rise nabe, allowing for some 8,000 new homes by 2035 — 3,000 of which will be earmarked as “affordable” units tied to residents’ income levels. If the idea goes according to plan, the change could bring some 20,000 new people to the neighborhood bordering the noxious canal." LINK
"The largest single affordable development, dubbed Gowanus Green, is planned for the polluted city-owned lot known as Public Place at the corner of Smith and Fifth streets, which is slated to bring almost 1,000 of the below-market-rate units to Gowanus. However, one local federal environmental guru recently voiced concerns about the site’s century-old contamination that developers must address before they can safely build there."
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"As with the recent meetings, the coming hearings are slated to remain virtual due to the pandemic. While officials and some locals have argued that the Zoom hearings give more people the chance to tune in than would have been able to show up in person to community meetings on weeknight evenings, opponents have decried the online-only move as muzzling critics of the plans." LINK
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"After the beep votes, the project then moves before the City Planning Commission, a 13-member panel appointed by the mayor, the five borough presidents and the public advocate, which gives the first binding vote."
"If CPC votes in favor, the proposal goes to the City Council for another binding vote, which usually follows the lead of the local council members — in this case Brad Lander and Stephen Levin — according to an informal rule known as member deference."
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"City officials have remained tight-lipped about any improvements to public housing, citing Gotham’s COVID-19 budget woes." LINK
CG CORD
For More Information:
Councilmember Brad Lander and His Awful Connections with Too Many Developers
https://carrollgardenspetition.blogspot.com/2020/08/councilmember-brad-lander-and-his-awful.html
