I hope this email finds you well as we head into what looks to be a
typical fall weekend
. It was great to see many of you at last night’s Board meeting. If you weren’t there or want to relive the magic through the written word, please keep reading.
We had a unique agenda with items from committees we don’t always hear from while not having items from some of the usual suspects. One of those usual suspects, our Permits & Licenses Committee, as was noted, will begin its next meeting at 6:00 PM on October 28th instead of its usual 6:30 pm start time.
The first agenda Item was from our Economic Waterfront Committee Development & Housing Committee (EWCDH) and concerned the retention of Gowanus businesses, including a quintessential “Gowanus Mix” of commercial, manufacturing, and arts-oriented tenants. At the September EWCDH meeting, the committee unanimously passed a motion to ask that the Department of City Planning (DCP) support these businesses with specific changes to the Draft Rezoning. We asked DCP not to de-map the end of Bond Street where it meets the canal in order to maintain full vehicle access, exempt 98 4th Street & 413 Bond Street from waterfront access requirements, and exempt 413 Bond Street from the required visual corridor between 3rd Street to the canal. The
full board approved this motion
on the condition that these properties maintain tenancies with their current use group; by a vote of 30 in favor, 0 opposed, and 1 abstention.
The second item on the agenda was from the Land Use side of our Landmarks/Land Use (LMLU) Committee, which had unanimously passed a motion at its September meeting, supporting a request from owners of The Old American Can Factory (OACF). After a presentation from OACF, the LMLU committee agreed that DCP should include the zoning envelop for the entirety of OACF properties within the ongoing Gowanus DEIS without an increase in Floor Area Ratio (FAR). The committee felt this request meshed with our desire to maintain affordable arts spaces within Gowanus Mix, and should be re-examined, especially in light of the imminent landmark designation. The
full board approved this motion
with a vote tally of 32 in favor, 0 opposed and 1 abstention.
The next action was a vote on the plans for Henry Street Park III (LICH) that our Parks & Recreations committee had previously voted to approve conditionally, so long as any water fountains are to be usable year-round. The full
board approved this motion
with a vote tally of 35 in favor, 0 opposed and 1 abstention.
The final action was to table a motion from our Transportation Committee, asking that the DCP incentivize transportation-related improvements along the Gowanus corridor in conjunction with the pending Gowanus Rezoning.
Interspersed with these votes, Senator Brian Kavanagh stopped by and spoke, and took some questions about issues such as the
new rent laws
. Councilmember Brad Lander also stopped by and talked about work he’s been doing, including the latest round of
Participatory Budgeting
. After the conclusion of the board agenda, we heard from representatives for Congresswoman Velasquez, Comptroller Stringer, Borough President Adams, Senator Montgomery Assemblymember Robert Carroll, and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon.
As always, feel free to share this information anyway/anywhere you’d like.
Signing off until Tuesday,
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Michael Racioppo, District Manager
Brooklyn Community Board 6
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