Boerum Hill Downzoning Moves Forward

Boerum Hill is the last brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood to be downzowned, said Boerum Hill Association President .

"We call ourselves 'orphan blocks,'" he said.

Not anymore. The Boerum Hill Association has been working for some time with the Department of City Planning to develop a proposal for downzoning in the neighborhood. After careful consideration and some back and forth, a proposal has been drafted (see the PDF). The proposal will be presented to the community at Thursday's general board meeting of the Boerum Hill Association, at 7 p.m. at the Bishop Mugavero Senior Center at Hoyt and Dean streets.

Much of the neighborhood will be changed from zoning code R6 to R6B or R6A, which will limit the height that new developments can be built to as well as how far they are setback from the street.

When the rezoning of the neighborhood was first discussed, in question was whether residential blocks between 3rd and 4th Avenue would be downzoned to R6 or kept at R7, as they are currently zoned. The proposal has St. Marks Place and parts of Dean and Pacific streets downzoned to R6B.

"We think [this proposal] is really good, it makes sense," said Kolins, who added that City Planning was very receptive to the neighborhood's concerns. Members of the Boerum Hill Association did a walk through the neighborhood with City Planning representatives in October, said Kolins. They pointed out the streets between 3rd and 4th Avenues that needed to be downzoned.

Residents are encouraged to attend the meeting and voice their opinions, said Kolins, adding that he hopes the proposal will make it to the City Council for a vote by July.

And they already have a "yes" vote from local Councilmember Steve Levin, who "fully supports" the downzoning.

"We believe this is a win for everybody," said Kolins.