Due To Holidays, Community Board 15 To Meet This Monday (Updated)

(UPDATE: 3:30pm): We were just informed that Cherry Hill has been removed from the agenda for Monday and will be pushed back until January.

Original post: 

Community Board 15 is meeting Monday, December 15, at 7:00 p.m. at Kingsborough Community College  (2001 Oriental Boulevard) in the faculty dining room. The meeting is more than a week earlier than their regularly scheduled meeting so that it will not conflict with the holidays.

Among other items, the Board will consider an application for a zoning text amendment from the City Planning Commission to permit food stores with no limitation within the landmarked Lundy’s building (1901 Emmons Avenue) – an alteration requested by Cherry Hill Gourmet Market. The business currently operates in violation of the Sheepshead Bay special zoning district, which dictates the kind of businesses that can operate along the Emmons Avenue waterfront.

Food markets are currently prohibited, and the business opened in 2009 with initial plans to have both a market and restaurant. Though there is a cafe, the restaurant – which was slated to take up 70 percent of the floor space, including the second flood – never materialized. According to owners, that’s because local groups and community leaders including former State Senator Carl Kruger opposed the market use, eventually earning a Stop Work Order that impeded construction.

After five years of operation in violation of zoning, the business is now asking that their food store be allowed. They say they remain one of the building’s only viable tenants and bring jobs to the area, and the change in use will allow them to move forward with plans of establishing a second-floor restaurant. Opponents say, nice as the market may be, legalizing the use would reward a business owner who disregarded the law, and also further weaken the Sheepshead Bay special zoning district intended to preserve the waterfront for recreational use.

Aside from the Cherry Hill Gourmet Market, other items on the Board’s zoning agenda include:

• 2311 Quentin Road – An application for a special permit to allow the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
• 1963 McDonald Avenue – An application to legalize a variance for floor area, lot coverage, rear yard and open space regulations.
• 1620 Shore Boulevard – An application for a special permit to allow the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
• 2018 East 7th Street – An application filed for “Revocable Consent” due to the open steps and garden wall encroaching 5.1 ft beyond the lot line at the front of the property.

In addition to the zoning items, the board’s chairperson and district manager will deliver their monthly reports. There will also be time to hear residents’ concerns and discuss various committee reports, and elected officials may be in attendance.

You can view the full agenda here. Refreshments will be served.