Deutsch Says Mayor’s Zoning Plan Must Be Changed To Protect Waterfronts
City Councilman Chaim Deutsch told the Community Board Tuesday that he will stand with his colleagues in passing two controversial pieces of the mayor’s affordable housing plan so long as he can secure agreements from City Hall that will protect waterfronts from overdevelopment.
“The issue is that some [City Council] members are really desperate for more affordable housing in their areas,” he said. “If this passes, and I don’t weigh in on this, then we are going to have two plans that will not benefit my district.”
Community Board 15 voted unanimously in October to reject the proposals, which involve changing zoning regulations to spur development and create more affordable housing. The board members argued the new regulations could lead to overcrowding, parking scarcity, and might rub out the character of their neighborhoods.
Theresa Scavo, chairwoman of Community Board 15, said she is satisfied with the changes Deutsch is proposing.
“He’s doing the best he can under the situation,” she said. “I think the councilman is seeing that if it passes, he’s going to make sure that his district is protected.”
Deutsch explained the proposals, Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), part of the mayor’s 10-year plan to create 200,000 affordable housing units, need 26 votes to pass the City Council. The vote will take place at the end of March.
Deutsch said he took issue with the ZQA’s plan to make more than 75 percent of his district into a transit zone — which would eliminate parking requirements for developments that include senior and affordable housing. He wants the plan redrawn so that the waterfront areas are not affected by the new regulations.
The city argues that residents in transit zones are less likely to own cars and the parking spots take up valuable space that could otherwise be used for affordable and senior housing.
“The study they had to make the transit zones, they must have done it in the middle of a storm, because it’s impossible to come into the district and say there is plenty of parking,” Deutsch said. “The fact is we get thousands of tourists and guests that come to visit our waterfront communities.”
Deutsch argued that a construction boom around the waterfronts in Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach, which are already experiencing a surge in developments, would overburden the neighborhood’s infrastructure. The antiquated sewer system, which sent water surging into the streets during a high tide earlier this month, can’t bear additional housing, he said. And seniors living in flood zones would be put at risk if the plan goes through to allow more development along the waterfront.
“During Hurricane Sandy, I saw how difficult it was to evacuate senior citizens. so if we’re just bringing more seniors to the waterfront area, we’re possibly putting them in danger,” he said.
The zoning proposals have drawn nearly universal scorn from communities throughout New York City. Many community boards voted to reject or revise the plans. However, the proposals sailed through the City Planning Commission with only minor tweaks.
Ed Jaworski, a community board member and president of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association, has been highly critical of the plan. He said City Hall needs to start over, but was sympathetic to Deutsch’s effort to make the changes more palatable to the neighborhood.
“It’s really a conundrum. Because you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t,” he said.
Jaworski attended a meeting last week, organized by Deutsch, that included community stakeholders, residents, and representatives from the mayor’s office and City Planning.
“The kind of meeting that they had with us last week, they should have done a year-and-a-half ago,” he explained. “Instead of sitting down with the real estate folks first, they should have sat down with the folks that Chaim put together.”