Community Board Committee Approves Boerum Hill Rezoning Proposal

The moved one step closer to approval Wednesday night. After an extremely brief public hearing -- only one resident spoke for or against the proposal -- the rezoning plan was approved by the land use committee of Community Board 2.

Supporters of the rezoning, including members of the Boerum Hill Association, which has been pushing for the change, did not attend the meeting to voice their support. But apparently it wasn't necessary -- a motion to approve the application was made, seconded and approved, without hesitation.

Ned Tyrell, who lives north of the district, was the lone speaker, and he contested the proposal.

“Brooklyn is really expensive,” he said. “The lower the buildings there are, the less apartments there are. There’s a huge housing shortage in this city, and I feel like this is going to exacerbate that shortage.”

Both the Community Board 2 chairperson and district manager were surprised by the low turn-out.

“I would have expected more in support of the rezoning,” said Lawrence Whiteside, chairperson of the land use committee of Community Board 2. He said the lack of voiced support may be due to the fact that the Boerum Hill Association presented the proposal to the board once before, with an overwhelmingly positive response.  

“We tend to go along with the local neighborhood,” he added.

“I assumed that this was pretty much a slam dunk, and it was,” said Rob Perris, district manager of Community Board 2. “But to not show up at all...”

Under the rezoning, explained Lish Richard Whitson from the Department of City Planning, 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.

The rezoning area includes all or portions of the blocks bounded by Atlantic Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Warren and Wyckoff streets and Court Street.

The current zoning allows for taller buildings and more density, which, according to the Department of City Planning, “is inconsistent with the typical character of the Boerum Hill neighborhood.”

The proposal now goes to the full Community Board, the Brooklyn Borough President Review, the City Planning Commission Review and finally the City Council Review, with a minimum of 140 days before the final approval.

If the public hearing was any indication, the Boerum Hill Rezoning proposal will sail through without issue.

This article was edited to clarify that the land use committee of Community Board 2 approved the rezoning proposal, not the entire board.