Crown Heights Board Shoots Down Towers Next To Botanic Gardens

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A controversial plan to build two apartment towers next to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens has gotten its first official "no" vote in the city's review process.

Community Board 9 voted Wednesday against the 960 Franklin Ave. rezoning proposal, which would change zoning rules to make way for a building with two more than 30-story towers and 1,578 apartments.

The project has faced stark backlash —including two lawsuits — since it was first unveiled two years ago given the harmful shadows the building would cast on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, as well as a nearby playground and local college, and the level of affordability of its apartments.

Those concerns became the main points of Community Board 9's resolution to disapprove the plans, which included a clause against any modified version of the proposal.

Developers have suggested at least three new, shorter alternatives since proposing their original plans as opposition swelled against the designs.

"Any proposed modifications to the application after certification should not be considered as part of this...review as the Board has not been provided with sufficient documentation to substantiate or refute any claims made in revised presentations," the board wrote.

Members also added a line to urge no votes at all the upcoming stages of the review process. Both City Planning Commissioners and Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose votes are among the last stages of the review process, have already come out against the rezoning.

"...The magnitude of the proposed project is grossly inconsistent with the character of the neighborhood and the applicant has not acted in good faith to address community concerns," the board wrote.

Wednesday's vote followed a public hearing on the proposal this week where dozens of people spoke out against the development, including at least six staff members from the gardens who told the board both their jobs and community programs would be put in jeopardy.

The towers would leave the gardens, which need consistent sunlight, in the shadows for up to three hours a day depending on the time of year, according to an analysis of the plan.

About half of their apartments will be set aside as "affordable," the cheapest of which for those making at least $39,800, according to the plans.

The project was originally slated to face Community Board 9 in March, but was delayed by a since-lifted restraining order stemming from a legal challenge contending a lack of in-person hearings during coronavirus crisis stifled public participation. A similar legal argument also delayed the nearby Gowanus Rezoning.

Community Board 9 Chair Fred Baptiste told members Thursday that the delay was the reason the board did not have time to have its committees offer a recommendation on the proposal, given deadlines set up in the review process.

The lawsuit was the second time a court-ordered restraining order was issued against the Franklin Avenue application.

The proposal will head next to the Brooklyn Borough President's Office.