City Planners Push Back On Change To Towers By BK Botanic Gardens

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A last-minute attempt from developers to offer a shorter version of controversial apartment towers planned for Franklin Avenue came in too little too late for city planners slated to vote on the plans, according to officials.

City Planning Director Marisa Lago told the City Planning Commission on Thursday that a shorter, 17-story alternative to the proposed 39-story towers near the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens was submitted without enough time to be fully reviewed by the department's experts, who typically offer analysis of applications before the commission votes.

Documents about the shorter alternative — first floated by the developers in February — were submitted to the city just this week, Largo said. The commission is required to vote on the 960 Franklin Ave. rezoning application by Sept. 22.

"I don’t see that the department has the time within the commission’s time frame to be able to do the type of the analysis the commission is used to," Lago, who is the chair of the commission, said before a hearing Thursday.

"...With rezoning proposals of this magnitude the department generally works in advance of certification with the applicant for a period that is measured not in weeks, but in months, to address environmental, land use and urban design considerations, none of which we have seen here."

Lago clarified later in the hearing that details sent in about a shorter option was not an official amendment to the application, meaning the commission's vote would only be on the original proposal.

Both commissioners and activists accused developers of purposefully withholding the 17-story option, details about which were scarce even on Thursday. The 960 Franklin Ave. project has been in the works for two years.

"We don’t even know what the alternative is — we’ve gotten very sketchy information about it," Commissioner Anna Hayes Levin said. "...Apparently they had this in their back pocket back in February when this was certified and it is only now they begin to tell us about it, but don’t show us any information.”

The City Planning Commission hearing, which included testimony from dozens of opponents to the proposal, is the latest backlash to the 960 Franklin Ave. development.

The plan was most recently shot down by Community Board 9 and has faced two lawsuits given the harmful shadows the building would cast on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and the level of affordability of its apartments.

Community Board 9 has also pushed back on attempts to modify the application, including in its recommendation a stipulation that any alternative needs to be submitted as a new application for full review.

The Planning Commission itself said it was "deeply concerned" about the proposal back when kicking off the review process in February. Mayor Bill de Blasio also already come out against the rezoning.

Developers tout the nearly 800 apartments that would be designated as affordable in the tallest form of the towers, though neighbors have said the $39,800 to $95,520 required salary range would not help those most in need of affordable housing.

The 17-story alternative would include nearly 300 apartments designated as affordable with a $31,840 to $103,480 salary range, plans show.

The City Planning Commission is expected to discuss the rezoning proposal at its next meeting. New Yorkers can still submit testimony about the application online until Aug. 9, officials said.

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