CB 7 Committee Approves Hamilton's Rezoning Request

Standing at center rear in dark sweater CB 7 Chair Daniel Murphy; Georgia Willmont Read, one of Hamilton’s owners, and her lawyer, Vincent Petraro. Her husband, and co-owner, Kevin, was also there. In front two neighbors discuss the map.

Community Board 7’s Land Use/Landmarks committee, chaired by John Burns, held its hearing on the rezoning application from Hamilton’s (aka Lula Enterprises LLC) and Jaya Yoga East to change its zoning to a C2-4 commercial overlay so Hamilton’s could eventually file for an unenclosed sidewalk cafe license from the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. Committee members ultimately approved the restaurant’s application – though Hamilton’s still has a ways to go before the café becomes a reality.

The meeting took place in a small basement room at Good Shepherd’s Hall, around the corner from Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Wednesday, November 12. It lasted about an hour.

Current Zoning Map of Fort Hamilton Parkway. The blue buildings are schools, the church and the Windsor Terrace library. The diagonally striped areas on many of the corners are already zoned for commercial activity. The exception is Hamilton’s corner and Jaya Yoga. At present, referring to the north side, the project description says,”Within an existing commercial overlay, there are several longstanding businesses with outside seating areas on the sidewalk…”

Long before Hamilton’s can apply for its cafe license, it must be zoned within a commercial district. Currently, its corner, and that of Jaya Yoga across E. 4th street, are zoned residential, although quite a few corners along that Ft. Hamilton Parkway strip have commercial zoning. (See zoning map above.)

The architect’s plan for Hamilton’s patio on Ft. Hamilton Parkway and E. 4th Street, an unenclosed sidewalk cafe, to be open to neighborhood revision.

Many of the 45-plus people who showed up were from the immediate neighborhood. They carefully studied the maps and the eight-page summation handed out by the committee stuffed with zoning jargon, and discussed it with their friends.

Among the concerns were what the long-range impact of changing the zoning from residential to commercial on that corner of Ft. Hamilton Parkway and E. 4th Street was—especially if Hamilton’s were to be sold. Residents of E. 4th Street—unhappy with the picnic tables Hamilton’s had used there in the past, the strollers, the planters, the narrow walkway—felt the cafe area took up too much space on the sidewalk and interfered with the traffic to and from the E. 4th Street Community Garden, also on that block. Moreover, they said, Hamilton’s patrons brought noise, left bottles, broken glass and garbage behind them. One homeowner said they harassed E. 4th Street residents. Another claimed the separation between the tenants’ entrance and the sidewalk cafe was too narrow, leaving just a three-foot corridor between them. (See E. 4th Street cafe plan above.)

Lawyer Vincent Petraro, representing Hamilton’s, said that Hamilton’s corner had been zoned for commercial use in a Certificate of Occupancy issued in 1926. When the Special Ocean Parkway District was created in 1976, it included this corner and Jaya Yoga’s, which the current application seeks to fix with a commercial overlay. He said, and repeated several times, there will be no more construction on that corner, since it’s already overbuilt.

Many people—longtime residents to relative newcomers—spoke up in support of small businesses, like Hamilton’s, and welcomed the patio—especially on Ft. Hamilton Parkway. Former NYC councilman Steven Di Brienzo, whose law office is across the street from Hamilton’s, pointed out that the R-5 zoning was to keep the neighborhood low rise. “It’s kind of an anomaly that Hamilton’s doesn’t have a commercial overlay. … Its request is fairly routine.”

“The eyes and ears of the community are watching that restaurant,” he added.

Steeplechase owner Lynn McKee, agreed.

“We all worry about protecting the integrity of the community,” she said. She, like others, supported Hamilton’s zoning request and subsequent sidewalk cafe.

“It provides a family spot for people to go to,” one man said: “Ft.Hamilton Parkway is a great street. It’s great to see it rise.”

“It’s profound sitting outside,” he added.

Councilmember Brad Lander sent his support; Chair Danny Murphy said 37 people had sent letters endorsing the rezoning to CB 7.

Tables on the E. 4th Street sidewalk posed a problem for several speakers, however. Whether there was sufficient clearance for pedestrians and the elderly with canes, or whether any tables should be allowed on E.4th Street at all, and more generally, the number of tables allowed and the hours were sticking points.

“We’re getting off track,” a woman said. And picking up from that, another recommended approving the rezoning application, which could take from 5 to 6 months to go through the entire review process before it’s granted. The sidewalk cafe discussion could resume once Hamilton’s application for the license comes up for public review and approval by Community Board 7.

Hamilton’s co- owner Georgia Read tried to reassure people sand said there would be no picnic tables this time. The city’s requirement of an eight-foot clearance on the E. 4th Street side will make a world of difference, she noted. She offered to close an hour earlier than Consumer Affairs allows. (On weekends, DCA says a sidewalk cafe can stay open until 1 a.m.) She also invited people to critique the mock-up that Consumer Affairs requires licensees to submit. But all that is at least a half year from now.

Now that the Land Use Committee has approved the rezoning application, the next step is for CB 7’s full board to ratify its decision in a vote on November 19. Then the rezoning application goes to Brooklyn Boro President’s office for a 30-day review; onward to City Planning for 4–8 week consideration, and then to the City Council, which has 50 days in approve the rezoning.

Anyone who wishes to make further comment about the rezoning may write to Eric Adams, the Brooklyn Boro President, but be sure to include your name and address. And at any stop along the way, citizens are welcome to have their say. The Hamilton’s Faceboook page will post updates on its journey to becoming a sidewalk café.