By Helen Klein
Canarsie residents will get their first look at the rezoning proposal crafted for the neighborhood early next month. The Department of City Planning (DCP) will be unveiling “preliminary recommendations for approximately 300 blocks in Canarsie,” said agency Spokesperson Jennifer Torres, during a community meeting scheduled for April 2nd, at 7 p.m., at the Hebrew Educational Society (HES), 9502 Seaview Avenue. City Councilmember Lewis Fidler, who has been pushing strenuously for the rezoning, said that it was his understanding that the plan had been, “walked through,” and that DCP Director Amanda Burden had, “Signed off on it. “If the community doesn’t find any problems with it,” Fidler went on, “they will put it into City Planning text and begin ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure),” the process by which land use changes are reviewed and enacted. Asked about the timing of the process, Fidler declined to hazard a guess. “It’s hard to say,” he told this paper. “There are so many forks in the plan. Will the community like the plan? How long will it take City Planning to put it into text? It will be the largest residential rezoning in the history of Brooklyn, maybe the city. “I will be pushing them,” Fidler promised, noting that he would be “disappointed” if the zoning isn’t in place by the end of 2008. So will the residents. Mary Ann Sallustro, the president of the South Canarsie Civic Association, said that, from the perspective of her members, “We’re happy. We’re thrilled. It can’t come soon enough.” In particular, Sallustro said that developers have been “working fast because they want to get in before the new zoning. A building just came down at East 99th Street and Glenwood Road. At East 94th Street and Conklin Avenue, there’s a new building up, condos replacing a one family house. It’s out of hand. Even if people want to buy a house to live in, they sell to developers if they can.” The ULURP clock starts once DCP has certified its proposal. From that point, the community board which includes Canarsie in its catchment area (CB 18) has a maximum of 60 days in which to review and make a recommendation on the rezoning. After they have weighed in, it goes to the Brooklyn borough president, the City Planning Commission and the City Council. Assuming that it is approved by the City Council, the rezoning goes into effect on the day of the Council’s vote.
