‘It Sucks!’ CB 15 Votes Overwhelmingly Against Mayor’s Zoning Proposal

Members of Community Board 15 voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to reject Mayor Bill de Blasio’s zoning proposal — citing concerns the plan would fundamentally alter the character of the neighborhood and make parking spaces more scarce.

The board voted 17 to 1 against the mayor’s plan after a presentation by the Department of City Planning (DCP).

“This plan, it sucks,” board member Maurice Kolodin told the DCP officials. “So somebody who is 80 years old is going to have to sell their car, because they can’t find parking anymore, and they’re going to have to take their walker to Walbaum’s, buy some groceries, and try to wheel back?”

Tuesday night’s vote is not a final decision on the zoning plan, called Zoning for Quality and Affordability. Instead, the vote will be presented at the next board meeting, where all 50 members will determine whether to make adjustments to the plan or reject it entirely. Their decision will be presented to the City Planning Commission before it sends its conclusions to the City Council for a vote.

Daphne Lundi, who gave the DCP’s presentation, recommended community board members be more specific in their criticism.

“It is not productive to just say the proposal sucks,” she said. “Are there parts of it that you like, are there parts of it that you don’t like? If we know that, we can modify it accordingly.”

De Blasio’s administration is introducing zoning proposals in neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs as part of the mayor’s 10-year plan to create and preserve 200,000 affordable housing units. In Sheepshead Bay, changes would allow developers to build one or two stories higher, if they include affordable units for low-income residents and seniors. The plan would also eliminate parking requirements for almost all mixed-income buildings east of Bedford Avenue.

Board member Morris Harary said it was outrageous for the city to conclude seniors and low-income families wouldn’t own cars.

“I was a case worker in the Department of Social Services and I’ve dealt with low- and moderate-income people. There’s no such thing as preventing them from having cars or discouraging them from having cars. Cars are a means of upward mobility,” he said. “I think you’re deluding yourselves if you think cars are going to disappear as a result of these buildings being built.”

The board also rejected, by a 17 to 1 vote, the Mayor’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing proposal, which would require at least 25 percent of units in new developments to be affordable for lower-income renters. Many board members said the plan contains too many loopholes that would allow both tenants and property owners to game the system. However, the inclusionary housing plan is not being proposed for Sheepshead Bay at this time.

Donald Brown, the lone board member who voted in favor of both proposals, said the neighborhood is already getting crowded by new developments, such as the 30-story residential tower on Voorhies Avenue and the condo building being constructed on the former location of El Greco Diner. The community might as well benefit from more affordable housing, he said.

“When my father became infirm, he moved from Nassau County to an affordable, assisted living facility right here on Emmons Avenue. Affordable housing benefited me because I would have had a very difficult time going from Sheepshead Bay out to Nassau County to visit him and take care of him,” Brown said. “We already have a parking problem, but there needs to be some kind of consideration for more affordable housing.”

Board member Margarita Dubovoy disagreed that the proposals would benefit the community and argued they would spur more developments that are out of character with Sheepshead Bay.

“A lot of high rises are being built in the neighborhood. It’s becoming like Manhattan,” she said. “Now, it looks like there are so many loopholes for developers to overwhelm what used to be a small fishing village.”