City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden went to Gowanus last night, ostensibly to ask for consensus on the proposed major upzoning of 25 blocks of the neighborhood, but the real headline was her announcement that the city will have a big Carroll Gardens downzoning proposal ready by next June. At one point in the meeting, referring to Gowanus, where buildings up to 12 stories tall would be allowed along the shores of the picturesque Gowanus Canal, Ms. Burden asked the crowd "Is this what you as a community want?" (Some in the community want the return of feral dogs to the streets rather than new development others suggested that height along the entire canal be limited to eight stories.) The Toll Brothers are already moving ahead with a special rezoning on land they own ahead of the bigger plan. The headline moment, though was Ms. Burden's announcement that "the Department will begin a rezoning study for Carroll Gardens with the aim of producing a draft rezoning proposal for this neighborhood and beginning public review by June of 2009." The linking of a Carroll Gardens downzoning to the Gowanus upzoning--on the same timetable--could pretty much make the latter a slam dunk.
· Burden Visits Gowanus, Promises Carroll Gardens Downzoning [GL]
· City Planning Commission Amanda Burden Meets the Neighborhood [PMFA]
· Meanwhile, 25 Gowanus Blocks May Get Bigger & Taller [Curbed]
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