Dozens of Brooklyn residents testified against a developer's plan to build a residential tower that would cast a shadow onto parts of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden during a City Planning Commission public hearing on Wednesday.
Real estate developer Continuum Company is asking the city to rezone 962 - 972 Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights so it can build a 14-story residential tower. The lot is currently zoned for buildings that are six to eight stories.
Continuum said the building will bring 119 affordable apartments to the neighborhood.
One concern mentioned at the meeting included the impact on the sewage system and water supply if the city approves a zoning amendment that would allow the developer to build 475 apartments. In addition, overall rent in the area will likely rise, residents said.
"If this was in Florence, Italy, there would be no hearing," said local resident George McCracken. "This is going to affect the long-term environmental and socio-economic health of the neighborhood. Once it's degraded, it won't stop. Once amenities are destroyed, we'll never get them back."
Jack Kaplan, a resident who spoke at the meeting, said there was a need to stop this development, in order to "prevent future developers from doing the same."
"Rent is always going up," said Fred Baptiste, the chair of Community Board 9, which represents parts of Crown Heights. "[This] will encourage landlords to raise rents to keep up. Two years ago, CB9 voted in opposition because there were too many threats to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. This is deja vu all over again."
The opposition Baptiste referred to was the previous proposal made by Continuum starting 2019, when the firm wanted to construct several buildings, two that would reach 34 stories, in the same lot. This led the BBG to launch the Fight for Sunlight campaign because the structures would cast long shadows over the garden that would ultimately harm its plants.
"It would've damaged the garden, especially where the sunlight is most radiant" said Elizabeth Reina-Longoria, the director of marketing and communications at the BBG said about the old proposal. "It would've effected our tropical plants, nursery, conservatory and the greenhouses."
The current proposal is Continuum's second attempt to get the city rezone the lot. Residents said they remained concerned that other nearby locations, including Ebbets Field Apartments, will also lose sunlight if a 14-story building is erected.
In July, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynosos held a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) hearing about the rezoning at Borough Hall, where dozens of Crown Heights residents spoke out against the plan.
Ten days later, Reynoso declined the proposal. He wrote in his recommendation to the City Planning Commission that while affordable housing is needed, this plan is "simply the wrong place for this proposed building because of its adjacency to a critical, public sunlight-sensitive resource."
Continiuum Company said it had no comment on the issue when reached by BK Reader.
With the City Planning Commission hearing complete, the community will wait for a decision in about two months.
CB9's Baptiste seemed to have faith that the city would listen to constituents' concerns.
"Our hope, per the resolution we passed in June, is that the commission follows our recommendation to disapprove the project entirely and that the City Council and the Mayor will do the same," he said.
