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They’ve seen enough! Ridge community board nixes upzone proposal

Bay Ridge gave two big thumbs down to Mayor DeBlasio’s controversial housing plan.

DeBlasio’s up-zoning plan is so bad that members of Community Board 10 say they didn’t need to dissect the entire 600-page proposal before voting it down on Nov. 16. The board’s land use committee chairwoman spent 20 minutes rifling off the committee’s gripes with the proposal, but even that just scratched the surface, a board member said. Throughout a summer-long review process, board members complained they didn’t have the time or expertise to fully comprehend the far-reaching plan, but more time would only have cemented their distaste for it, another detractor said.

“If we had more time, we probably would have found more concerns,” said committee member Brian Kaszuba.

Rather than comb through the several hundred pages of text, the board picked the highlights for deeper analysis, the board’s district manager said. And that was enough to sour them on the idea, another board member said.

“It gets to a point where you recognize that what you’ve already identified is sufficient in and of itself to make a determination,” said member Steve Harrison.

The so-called Zoning for Quality and Affordability plan would let developers tack five feet onto buildings as of right in the city’s medium- and high-density districts or add up to two stories to certain structures if builders promise to include senior or below-market-rate housing. A separate measure called Mandatory Inclusionary Housing would compel developers seeking a rezoning in designated neighborhoods to create below-market-rate units as a part of new development. So far, the mayor has only announced intentions for Mandatory Inclusionary Housing in East New York.

Proposed changes to building code could destroy shared backyards across the city, and a stipulation letting builders erect below-market-rate housing separate from luxury units — or to simply contribute to a fund for affordable housing — rubbed committee members the wrong way, land use committee chairwoman Ann Falutico said.

Not all of the proposal impacts Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, but board members approached the vote with the whole city in mind — particularly neighboring areas that affect Bay Ridge, Harrison said.

“If this causes a density increase next door to us in [Community Board 7], for example, that would mean the subways become more crowded and it does have an impact on us,” he said. “So you can’t look at this particular plan in a vacuum.”

The board’s vote is merely a recommendation — Council will formally vote on the plan early next year.

Reach reporter Dennis Lynch at (718) 260–2508 or e-mail him at dlynch@cnglocal.com.