A proposal to rezone 17 and 21 Wharton Place drew tough questions Tuesday night at a Brooklyn Community Board 5 Land Use and Housing Committee hearing, where members focused on affordability, building size and whether the project fits the surrounding neighborhood.
Richard Lobel, an attorney representing the applicant, said the site is currently zoned R5 and the application seeks an R6A rezoning. He said the proposal calls for a seven-story building with 73 dwelling units, about 1,341 square feet of community facility space and no required parking under the scenario presented to the board.
Lobel said 25 percent of the units would be affordable under Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. He described Option 1 as requiring units at 60 percent of area median income, with 10 units at 40 percent AMI, and said that would translate to rents of about $1,700 for a studio, $1,800 for a one-bedroom and $2,100 for a two-bedroom at 60 percent AMI. He said the 40 percent AMI units would be about $1,100 for a studio, $1,200 for a one-bedroom and $1,400-plus for a two-bedroom.
One of the sharper exchanges came when Lobel said the area’s R5 zoning is more than 60 years old and “could honestly use a little bit of a refresh.” Committee Co-Chair Odessa Fynn pushed back, saying the neighborhood “was designed in that way for families” and that the existing zoning reflects the fabric of the community.
That exchange highlighted one of the main issues raised during the hearing. Committee members repeatedly came back to whether a larger building belongs on a block lined with smaller homes and longtime residents.
Fynn also challenged the affordability numbers as they were presented. After Lobel gave the projected rents, she said those figures are based on federal AMI and “not the local zip code AMI that represents the residents of East New York.”
Committee Co-Chair Paul Muhammad said the discussion was about more than one building. He said the community wants development that protects local families and keeps pathways to homeownership open for the next generation.
“I want him to own a house like I do,” Muhammad said, referring to his son. He added that the community wants “the opportunities that we want to preserve here for our people is to have it to live not stacked on top of each other.”
Another tense moment followed when Muhammad told Lobel, “I guarantee where you live at probably not a whole lot of affordable housing going on.” Lobel replied, “That’s a personal statement,” and another board member stepped in to say the discussion should stay focused on the facts because the meeting was public.
Lobel also told the board that the affordable apartments would not be separated from the market-rate units. He said the MIH program requires the affordable units to reflect the same unit mix as the rest of the building and to be integrated throughout the property.
Board members also raised questions about the apartment mix. Muhammad noted that the existing homes in the area include three-bedroom units, while the proposed building, as described, would consist of studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms.
The applicant also argued that the site is near public transit and next to an area the city has identified for neighborhood industrial use. Lobel said the property is within about a tenth of a mile of the J train, near at least two bus stops, and across from an M1-1 district the city has labeled “neighborhood industrial.”
The proposal is expected to go before the full Community Board 5 at its General Board Meeting on Oct. 28 at 127 Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn.