By Helen Klein
On Brooklyn Avenue, between Glenwood Road and Avenue H, a multi-family condominium crowds in next to one of Flatbush’s traditional old houses, blocking its windows. Across the street, another old home has been demolished and a boxy new structure rises in its stead. Construction like this, out of character with the surrounding community, has sparked concern among area residents. The recent construction, says Terrance Stroud, the president of the Brooklyn Avenue Block Association, has had, “A profound impact on the block. It’s totally changed the character of the block.” The problem, in a nutshell, is zoning. The block is currently zoned R-6, a category that allows the construction of apartment buildings many stories in height, yet the existing housing is largely made up of low-rise, one and two family buildings. This creates opportunity for developers, who make big money by buying homes on large lots, demolishing the older structures and putting up multi-family buildings in their place. It starts with one property; then another goes the same way. Before long, as residents of blocks all around Brooklyn can attest, single family homes are falling like dominoes to be replaced by boxy multi-family structures. “We know developers are targeting our area,” Stroud stressed. Because this scenario is so wide-spread, communities around the borough have been asking for and getting rezonings from the Department of City Planning (DCP). Most recently, the agency put in place rezonings which protect the residential low-rise character of neighborhoods including Midwood, Homecrest and Sheepshead Bay. Now, residents of East Flatbush hope it is their turn. At a town hall on rezoning hosted by the Land Use Committee of Community Board 17, which was held at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 3714 Avenue D, residents gave voice to their fears. “Development in the area is unprecedented,” remarked Richard Sargeant, of the East 52nd Street Block Association. “There are a lot of people who put their life savings into their homes, but their homes are being down-priced because of the new structures going up.” “We are losing a lot of things in our community,” agreed Josefina Johnson, a board member. “We need down-zoning to protect our homes,” attested Stroud. To put the brakes on over-development, the board is seeking a down-zoning for the entire community board area, according to Albert Payne, the chairperson of CB 17’s Land Use Committee. “We need to do a comprehensive rezoning.” Given the scarcity of open space in the neighborhood, Payne said, “Houses that have some architectural significance are being knocked down and they are putting in four families. They even build sideways. We are hoping that City Planning will down-zone the community, the R-6 areas especially, so that any new construction would be in conformity, in height and size, and basically the same kind of construction that is currently there.” The board would also like to see backyard space maintained for new construction, said Payne, as well as provision made for the possible future construction of supportive senior housing. “We really need to think about our seniors and long-range planning,” Payne stressed. The community should push for down-zoning before it is overrun by developers, suggested Assemblymember Helene Weinstein. “If you are starting to see problems, my advice is that this is the time to start taking action so you can protect the residential character of certain neighborhoods,” Weinstein urged. “You shouldn’t wait till someone says, ‘look what happened to our neighborhood.’” Weinstein said that in the Sheepshead Bay part of her district, a great deal of change had already occurred before the down-zoning took place. “Part of what happened is they didn’t see it coming,” Weinstein told her listeners. “It took time to get the city to see that it was a problem that was not unique to one block, and a lot of development took place, and a lot of blocks’ character has changed.” The current plan, said Payne, is to hold another public hearing, in early February, at the board office, then present a proposal at the February general board meeting. That being approved, he said, the board would forward the request to DCP and also ask its elected officials, in particular the four councilmembers who represent the area, to push for down-zoning. Questioned by one audience member as to whether the councilmembers – specifically Kendall Stewart, Darlene Mealy and Charles Barron — would be in favor of the down-zoning, Payne said, “I have no doubt in my mind they would support it.” The fourth councilmember for the area will be chosen in a February 20th special election. Under the previous Land Use Chair, Leithland “Rickie” Tulloch, the board had pushed for down-zoning of CB 17’s R-6 areas: One bordered, generally, by Lenox Road, Brooklyn Avenue, Avenue H and Bedford Avenue, and one bordered by East New York Avenue, East 98th Street, Linden Boulevard and East 51st Street. That effort, however, had not borne fruit by the time the board’s administration changed, last June, and, under Payne, the effort began again. Disputes between factions on the board should not slow down the rezoning process, community members said. “My concern is that we’re having infighting and the world is burning around us,” remarked Marie Campbell.
