Carroll Gardens Town Hall Meeting Wrapup

We got an email with a very good summary of the "Town Hall" meeting in Carroll Gardens hosted by Council Member Bill de Blasio. It was prepared by Maria Pagano of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association and we are going to excerpt some large passages:

1.) [City Council Member] Bill [de Blasio] agreed to have his office give more advance notice on the dates, times and place of future Town Hall meetings, promising to use both electronic and print media to announce future meetings. [Assemblywoman] Joan [Millman] acknowledged the SRO audience and indicated that since the schools were closed, the meeting couldn't be held at PS58, although future meetings would be.

2.) Mapping Carroll Gardens: Bill is focused on establishing and formalizing boundaries required for City Planning and development. Currently approximately 75 blocks, 4000 buildings.

3.) Building moratorium in Carroll Gardens: The legalities were discussed and it was understood that a moratorium is legally possible, as indicated by Amanda Burden's open letter to CORD supporters. Bill stated that he would work on imposing a moratorium on any new building in conjunction with moving the zoning and/or land marking actions forward.

4.) Bill has been meeting with City Planning and received their assurance that they will consider CG for rezoning. Bill advocated for the strategy set in place by the CGNA, to pursue both re-zoning and land marking at the same time, to preserve the height limits thru zoning change and the brownstone character thru land marking the neighborhood as it stands, encouraging development that fits in the architectural context that exists in CG.

5.) Land Marking: Bob Furman, Four Boro Neighborhood Preservation Alliance Director and Vicent Favorito, Chair of the CGNA Landmarks Committee described and defined what LM is, how it works and the meticulous detail required to present a neighborhood to the Landmarks Commission for consideration, as they have previously at the CGNA general meetings. Residents are encouraged to learn about the process, it's protections and limits at the Landmark Commission office. Bill strongly stated that CG would be best served by pursuing both re-zoning and land marking simultaneously for maximum benefit.

6.) Bill and Joan Millman have met with 360 Smith owner Billy Stein and will include representatives from CORD when they meet with him again next week.

7.) Public Place: Bill promises full discussion on this topic. Some points presented:
* History, current use and?plans presented by City Planning.
* Size and number of buildings necessary to address profitability to developer to encourage less than market rate housing, either affordable or senior.??
* Brownfield contamination, remedies, health issues
* Questions on why the City intends to use an acknowledged contaminated swamp set in a flood plain as a site for senior citizen housing.

8.) ILA site (corner of Union and Court) has been purchased for $24M by a professional development group. Although there has been discussion with the new owners on the potential development of the site, until an architect is selected no further discussion of neighborhood concerns will occur. Buddy [Scotto] and Bill will continue contact and present strategies to address community interests with the developers...

Gowanus and Carroll Gardens are anticipating a significant influx of new residents in the next 5-10 years. The Public Place development could include as many as six buildings up to 10-12 stories tall. Toll Brothers are planning 300-400 units in their canal-side development. Another project on the Bayside Fuel terminal property could include another 300-400 condos. A bit more from the meeting notes:

The community insists that plans be in place to strengthen and improve the services necessary to accommodate the population increase. Bill, Joan and Yvette [Clarke] offered their support on:

1) Gowanus Canal: address effect of 2 yr. pump repair, revise outdated rainfall standards, identify and address CSOs, toxicity, influx of contaminants.
2) Restore express track service to alleviate the already packed F trains, as suggested by resident Gary Reilly.
3) Reinstate Engine Co #204. Hundreds of new residents being built for with the one local firehouse empty in central Carroll Gardens...
5) Establish a Post Office as part of the services in the Public Space or ILA development.
6) Develop and support local options for middle and high school students!

There it is for the record. Good coverage last week, as always, at Curbed and Brownstoner.