City To Respond To Fort Greene High-Rise Lawsuit Next Week

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — Residents who sued the city over a high-rise planned for South Portland Avenue months ago may finally see some movement on the lawsuit. An initial response from the city is expected on Monday, the group said this week.

More than 50 South Portland neighbors and members of the Preserve Our Brooklyn Neighborhoods grassroots group signed on to the Article 78 petition back in October.

It claims a zoning change approved by the New York City Planning Commission to make way for a 13-story tower at 142 South Portland Avenue is an example of illegal "spot zoning" and violates environmental and previous zoning laws meant to protect the neighborhood.

"Carving out a high-rise, mostly luxe apartment building from a local community which fought for livability and a historic presence, is the antithesis of what New Yorkers expect from our Administration," said Sandy Reiburn, an organizer with Preserve Our Brooklyn Neighborhoods. "The City Planning Commission's lack of regard for residents here is reprehensible. Thus our Article 78 Petition. "

The city's response to the 36-page petition is due by Jan. 7, Reiburn said. The group's lawyer, Jack Lester, will then have two weeks to prepare a rebuttal.

The new building, which will be built on the property belonging to Hanson Place Seventh Day Adventist Church, is designed by MDG Design. The City has committed $50 million to subsidize the development under the mayor's controversial Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, which allows developers to construct larger buildings if a percentage of the units are affordably priced.

But the residents have argued that the zoning changes allowed for that larger building violates a 2007 zoning law protecting 99 blocks in the Fort Greene residential community from such high-rise developments. Reiburn said allowing one building to not follow these zoning rules will begin to chip away at the neighborhood's character.

"This project is contravention of what long standing residents want, contravention of CB2 which voted against it, contravention of its adjacent low-rise neighbors in harm's way and most especially in contravention of the (2007 rezoning)," she said.

Lester said he doesn't usually speculate about how the city will respond, but expects they will argue that the affordable housing included in the building gives it a greater "public purpose."

The group, though, contends that what the developers plan to include as affordable units are actually too high-priced to serve low-income people in the neighborhood.

Lester said he plans to also argue that affordable units could have been included even in a smaller-scale building and that the only reason developers went for the tower was to get the $50 million subsidy.

"To say you’re doing something because you need more money is not really a rational basis," he said.

After Lester's rebuttal, the lawsuit will head to a hearing before a final ruling is issued. The entire process usually takes about four months, he said.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton.