First Public Hearing On Industry City Rezoning Set Up Next Week

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The first official public hearing on Industry City's plan to rezone its 16-building campus has been scheduled for Monday, just two weeks before local officials will need to vote on the controversial plan.

The hearing, set up by Community Board 7, will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Grand Prospect Hall.

It is the first hearing set up since the community board held a "speak out" shortly after Industry City resubmitted its proposal in late October, starting the clock on a seven-month review process for the 35-acre rezoning.

Both Community Board 7 and Council Member Carlos Menchaca have lamented that the submission will make it difficult for local leaders to thoroughly review all 3,000 pages of the application. The board will need to vote on the proposal by its Dec. 18 meeting.

Menchaca had asked that Industry City hold off on submitting the proposal until the developers reach a "community benefits agreement" with neighbors about the plans, which he argues would legally bind them to a list of conditions they agreed to include in the proposal. Industry City has contended that the agreement will be reached during the review process.

Currently, Industry City's application proposes changing zoning rules to make way for 900,000 square feet of new food and retail space, 600,000 square feet of classrooms and educational facilities and a pair of hotels with more than 400 rooms.

The hearing also follows a letter Board Chair Cesar Zuniga and Menchaca sent asking Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration to meet with them before the Dec. 18 deadline. Part of Menchaca's conditions is that the city to commit to helping Sunset Park with things like a new school, job tracking and tenant protections before the private complex is allowed to rezone its property.

Here is the full agenda for the hearing, including the specific parts of Industry City's application:

• APPLICATION #C 190296 ZMK – In the matter of an application submitted by 1-10 Bush Terminal Owner L.P. and 19-20 Bush Terminal Owner L.P. pursuant to Sections 197-c 201 of the New York City Charter for an amendment of the Zoning Map, Section No. 16b:

1. Changing from an M3-1 District to an M2-4 District property bounded by:

1. 32nd Street and its northwesterly centerline prolongation, 3rd Avenue, 36th Street, a line 100 feet northwesterly of 3rd Avenue, 37th Street, and 2ndAvenue; and
2. 39th Street, 2nd Avenue, 41st Street and its northwesterly centerline prolongation, a line 245 feet northwesterly of 1st Avenue, the northwesterly centerline prolongation of former 40th Street*, and a line 560 feet northwesterly of 1st Avenue; and

2. Establishing a Special Industry City District (IC) bounded by:

1. 32nd Street and its northwesterly centerline prolongation, 3rd Avenue, a line 45 feet northeasterly of 37th Street, a line 100 feet northwesterly of 3rdAvenue, 37th Street, and 2nd Avenue; and
2. 39th Street, 2nd Avenue, 41st Street and its northwesterly centerline prolongation, a line 245 feet northwesterly of 1st Avenue, the northwesterly centerline prolongation of former 40th Street*, and a line 560 feet northwesterly of 1st Avenue;

*Note: 40th Street between 1st & 2nd Avenues is proposed to be demapped under a concurrent related application (C 160146 MMK) for a change in the City Map.

• APPLICATION #C 190297 ZSK – In the matter of an application by 1-10 Bush Terminal Owner L.P. and 19-20 Bush Terminal Owner L.P. pursuant to Sections 197-c and 201 of the New York City Charter for the grant of a special permit pursuant to Section 129-21* of the Zoning Resolution to modify:

1. The use regulations of Section 42-10 (Uses Permitted As-Of-Right); and
2. The bulk regulations of Section 43-12 (Maximum Floor Area Ratio), Section 43-20 (Yard Regulations), and Section 43-43 (Maximum Height of Front Wall and Required Front Setbacks); In connection with a proposed commercial use development involving one or more zoning lots, planned as a unit and comprise an area of at least 1.5 acres, on properties generally bounded by 2nd Avenue, the northwesterly centerline prolongation of 32nd Street, 3rd Avenue, and 37th Street (Block 679, Lot 1; Block 683, Lot 1; Block 687, Lot 1; Block 691, Lots 1 & 44; Block 695, Lots 1, 20, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, & 43), and 39th Street, 2ndAvenue, 41st Street and its northwesterly centerline prolongation, a line 245 feet northwesterly of 1st Avenue, the northwesterly centerline of former 40th Street***, and a line 560 feet northwesterly of 1st Avenue (Block 706, Lots 1, 20, 24 & 101; Block 710, Lot 1), in M1-2 and M2-4** Districts, within the Special Industry City District *, Borough of Brooklyn, Community District 7. *Note: A zoning text amendment is proposed to create a Special Industry City (IC) and to create a new special permit within the special district under a concurrent related application (N 190298 ZRK). **Note: The development sites are proposed to be rezoned by changing an M3-1 District to a M2-4 Districts, and by establishing a Special Industry City District (IC), under a concurrent related application (C 190296 ZMK) for a Zoning map change. ***Note: 40th Street between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue is proposed to be demapped under a concurrent related application (C 160146 MMK) for a change in the City Map.