The city pledged last week to protect the low−rise nature of Carroll Gardens, initiating a rezoning aimed at preserving the neighborhood’s particular aesthetic.
“This is a vibrant, stable residential area,” said Purnima Kapur, director of City Planning’s Brooklyn office. “Economically, it’s doing well, property values are doing well. This effort is really about preservation — keeping what’s working, going,” she told the Land Use Landmarks Committee of Community Board 6, which assembled May 14 inside Public School 58 on Smith Street.
The initiative will restrict building heights to of 50 or 70 feet in Carroll Gardens as well as the Columbia Street Waterfront District.
According to the agency, the rezoning was developed in response to community concerns about “recent out−of−character development.” The rezoning replaces the existing R6 zoning with contextual zoning districts — R6B and R6A — that have height limits which better reflect the existing, predominantly row house character, the agency asserts.
The rezoning also fine−tunes commercial overlays to better reflect existing development patterns and preclude commercial intrusions onto residential side streets, while promoting vibrant, mixed−use corridors on certain local commercial thoroughfares.
The proposal must now undergo a formal public review, and must ultimately be approved by the City Council and the mayor.
The Board 6 committee greeted the proposal with hearty applause. “I find that this is a plan that reflects what the community wanted — and what it needs,” said committee member Jerry Armer.
