The battle over Garfield Sparta, Mexican starchitect Enrique Norten's planned addition to the Park Slope landscape (oft derided for being more Miami than Brooklyn), is getting hotter than the South Beach sun. The developer is still seeking a zoning variance to allow for a revised design at 580 Carroll Street that includes three new townhouses cutting into that big front yard. His "hardship" claim that the project will lose money otherwise already drew the scorn of the community, but now Brownstoner reports that the Board of Standards & Appeals will hear the case tomorow. 'Stoner also has a revised rendering that shows some pretty significant aesthetic changes to the first-edition Garfield. How are the neighbors reacting?
Brownstoner's color on the dispute:
Opponents to the variance have collected 130 signatures against it from residents between 4th and 5th avenues on Carroll Street and Garfield Place (which the project also fronts) and neighborhood ringleader Johnny Werbe has sent a strongly worded letter to the BSA that says, in part, the following: "A return on their investment, unwisely made, jeopardized by poor judgment, leadership and planning, and put at risk, not so much by the inherent conditions, as by sloppy work, disorganization and arrogance cannot be a reasonable proposition...Variances, if permitted, would make the property, the block, the neighborhood too dense."They're right: This isn't Miami! If it was, instead of trading such harsh words everyone would've been drunk off Cuba Libres and having chickenfights in the pool by now.
· Battle Over Carroll St. Norten Build Heats Up This Week [Brownstoner]
· 580 Carroll Street coverage [Curbed]