Gowanus Rezoning Faces Court Challenge Months After Approval

BROOKLYN, NY — Opponents of the greenlit Gowanus Rezoning plan sued the city Monday, contending that the controversial rezoning violates environmental and preservation law on a federal and state level.

The suit — filed by Voice of Gowanus, Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus, and neighbors — argues that the Department of City Planning broke the law during its environmental review process by omitting certain documents and failing to formally include the U.S. EPA.

The agency's environmental review statement glossed over some of the project's environmental impacts (like climate change) and didn't sufficiently account for the rezoning's impact on the community (especially including its sewers), the suit contends.

Finally, the suit argues that the rezoning didn't conduct a historic preservation review of the area.

"This rezoning is rotten to its core—and it’s illegal," said Katia Kelly, a petitioner in the suit connected to Voice of Gowanus. "We tried to warn city officials they were getting it deeply wrong. Instead they sold out to developers, putting thousands of people unjustly at risk."

A Law Department spokesperson, however, rejected the entire premise of the suit.

"This suit is meritless. The approval process and environmental review were thorough and reflect years of deep community engagement around a vision and plan to make Gowanus a more sustainable and thriving neighborhood," the spokesperson said.

Voice of Gowanus and Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus are among the groups that have staunchly opposed the decade-long rezoning effort, culminating in a months-long court battle surrounding meetings held in the city's review process last year.

This latest lawsuit makes good on the groups' promise to sue the city after the rezoning passed the Council.

"Community members have run silent and they have run deep since the rezoning passed," said Maureen Koetz, co-counsel for Voice of Gowanus. "They have done their homework. They are challenging this miscarriage of state and federal legal process. And they are eminently right to do so to protect all New Yorkers from such flagrant environmental injustice and abuses."

As passed, the Gowanus Rezoning Plan is estimated to bring 8,000 units of housing, 3,000 of which will be designated as affordable, to the 80 blocks surrounding the Gowanus Canal.

The rezoning was heralded by supporters as the "opposite of gentrification" given it is the first undertaken in a majority-white, wealthy neighborhood.

Patch editor Anna Quinn contributed to this report.

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