After an 11th hour attempt by the developer to garner community
\nsupport for an R7a (4.0 FAR) upzone, Bill de Blasio and City
\nCouncil stuck to the most recent community compromise consensus
\nof support for R7b (3.0 FAR). While the outcome is technically an
\nupzoning of the lot, the tradeoff is that it will be built to a
\ncontextual height of 60 foot at
\nthe street wall and 15 foot extra on the setback with an agreement to
\nprovide a 16 foot sideyard for 81 OP.<\/p>\n
Fears that the developer would rather pull his application and build
\nunder R6 than build under R7b proved to be ungrounded. Let us make no
\nmistake, though, the building that can be built under R7b is no small
\nthing. We will still see a quite large building go up and we will still
\nsee a 35%+ increase in population and cars in this small area. This
\nfight was a fight to compromise and not be completely bulldozed. <\/p>\n
The real victory that has come of this struggle is that we now have
\na committment from Councilmember Bill de Blasio to sponsor a downzone
\nof the neighborhood and eradicate the rest of the R6 that is the bane
\nof Brooklyn. It is now more important than ever that the community come
\nout and participate in our planning workshops. We need to preserve what
\nwe feel is most important and encourage sensible development. <\/p>\n
Save the date: April 30th, 2006–second planning workshop. <\/p>\n
Interesting note:<\/b> A city planner involved in the Midwood
\ndownzoning said that the R6 in Brooklyn is leftover from the City’s
\nneed to secure federal funding by having a 5-year plan. When it became
\ntoo difficult to develop such a plan, the R6 designation was mapped
\nover most of the outer boroughs with the intent to remove it later when
\ntime could be spent on planning. It’s been 30 or 40 years and still we
\nhave R6! Communities need to do their own planning before we are
\ndestroyed!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After an 11th hour attempt by the developer to garner community support for an R7a (4.0 FAR) upzone, Bill de Blasio and City Council stuck to the most recent community compromise consensus of support for R7b (3.0 FAR). While the … Continue reading