Burden to Carroll Gardens: Rezoning Will Take a While

It doesn't seem to us that anything has changed dramatically, but Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden recently noted in a letter to Borough President Marty Markowitz that there will be a fairly long time line for rezoning Carroll Gardens (as per significant local sentiment) and that she can't "commit to a precise timeframe." She writes, in part:

As you know, rezonings in Brooklyn have been a priority for the Administration as we work to preserve the character of lower-scale neighborhoods from out-of-context buildings. The Department has taken on a very ambitious workload in order to bring the zoning in line with the prevailing character of these neighborhoods... Since the Mayor took office, the Department has seen 78 rezoning proposals adopted into law, representing over 5000 blocks, including Greenpoint/Williamsburg, Park Slope, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, and Downtown Brooklyn.

We are aware that members of the community are concerned about out-of context development in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood. We agree that a study of Carroll Gardens is warranted and are committed to pursuing it. However, because of the numerous neighborhood rezoning efforts we have underway in communities throughout Brooklyn, we are unable to commit to a precise timeframe. We continue to maximize our limited resources in pursuit of more finely tuned zoning in Brooklyn, and citywide, with studies underway in Sunset Park, Canarsie, Brighton Beach, DUMBO, Gowanus, Coney Island and, at your request, Victorian and East Flatbush.

In other words, it's very likely that significant political pressure will need to be forthcoming in order for the neighborhood to stand any chance of a speedier process, given all the neighborhoods ahead of Carroll Gardens in the rezoning line. The Carroll Gardens group CORD has posted a letter that residents can send to Mr. Markowitz asking him to turn up the heat.