Gowanus Pushes For More Details As Rezoning Process Resumes

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — Residents and community board members alike were hungry for more details as city planners ended a months-long pause on the Gowanus Rezoning proposal Thursday, which is set to start its application review clock in January.

More than 300 people tuned in to Community Board 6's Landmark/Land Use Committee virtual meeting to hear the Department of City Planning's latest updates about the rezoning, a proposal to reimagine the neighborhood by changing zoning rules that has been in the works for nearly a decade.

The presentation was the start of a series of pre-certification meetings that will be held leading up to January, when the final application will enter the city's time-limited review process for approval.

But for many, it came more with promises for answers on outstanding questions at a later date than new details.

"That was really not enough to go through the detail and the minutia of what you guys are going to be presenting and what we have to vote on," committee member Jerry Armer said. "When we talked about pre-certification meetings we meant more than this."

DCP's Project Manager for the rezoning, Jonathan Keller, said those answers would be coming in the next round of meetings, which he announced dates for Thursday. They include a "Gowanus Green" update on Nov. 19, an infrastructure update on Dec. 2 and an affordability update on a to-be-determined date.

"Tonight was not [to] get into the weeds — we are going to get into the weeds on a lot of plan components at the Gowanus Green update and at the infrastructure update," Keller told Armer. "We’re happy to come back to as many meetings as you can stand from us."

Keller pointed to the later meetings when asked Thursday about the Gowanus Green parkland, a new stormwater rule's impact on the rezoning, the school and transportation portion of the proposal and the environmental impact statement, which he said won't be fully available until January.

One of the biggest outstanding questions, not covered in one of the upcoming meetings, though, will be is whether the Gowanus Rezoning will include funding for improvements at the neighborhood's two New York City Housing Authority developments.

Residents and Council Member Brad Lander have said the funding is a sticking point on whether they will support the city's plan.

Keller said city planners didn't schedule a meeting about NYCHA because they didn't want to "get hopes up" that a definitive plan is ready yet.

"The unsatisfactory answer that needs to be unsatisfactory for now, is we don’t have an update on NYCHA funding," he said. "We’re working on it and we understand it is the lynchpin for this to move forward."

Questions Keller did address Thursday included whether the city should hold off on the Gowanus Rezoning altogether given economic uncertainty created by the coronavirus crisis. Critics have argued that the plan rests on a pre-pandemic landscape of Gowanus that no longer exists.

Keller insisted, though, that the coronavirus crisis has only intensified the need for the rezoning, which supporters say will address the neighborhood's need for affordable housing and infrastructure improvements.

"The past nine months have really laid bare the persistent inequities in our society, particularly it's highlighted the tenants and principles that are really embedded in a lot of our work in Gowanus," he said. "Has the need for the plan changed? Frankly, no. It is clearly even more urgent."

Those who did not get to ask questions Thursday are encouraged to submit their comments in a portal Community Board 6 has created, which DCP will review before the next meetings.

Read More:

• Gowanus Rezoning Process Resumes This Week: What To Expect
• Gowanus Rezone To Be 'Opposite Of Gentrification,' Officials Say
• Gowanus Rezoning Opponents Gear Up For End Of Coronavirus Delay