Don't Upzone Lefferts Place

It's important for communities to come together to protect the neighborhood and promote responsible development.  Currently, a developer is trying to pull some backhanded moves on Lefferts Place, where they are trying to upzone the street in order to build a large senior resident complex. More info, and a petition to support blocking the upzoning, follows from the Society for Clinton Hill:

Dear Friends:

Our neighbors on Lefferts Place and St. James are in need of help. They are concerned about the plans of a company called CNR which provides assisted care and housing for seniors. They want to build a new facility on Lefferts Place, which is a gorgeous street with beautiful brownstones, some free-standing mansions, and very old row houses.

The problem is that CNR wants to build a building larger than our R6B zoning allows. They do have options such as:

a) build a structure that conforms to the zoning regulations,

b) apply for a variance for that one building,

c) locate the building on Atlantic Avenue or Fulton Street which have the zoning they would need and those streets need development.

d) find another more appropriate location all together.

Unfortunately, what CNR apparently wants to do is to change the zoning on the entire block to be the same as that on Atlantic and Fulton. (As you know, when developers are pursuing your block, you have a hard time getting the full and accurate story in time to do anything. And, what you are told constantly changes. This situation is no different.)

Of course, the immediate community and we are extremely concerned about this. First, and obviously, what would this mean about our years of work to get the new zoning? Would every developer just go in and undo what years of work produced? And, if CNR really just wants to build one building and isn’t planning to do more on that beautiful street, why would they want the entire block up-zoned??

Consequently, our friends on Lefferts Place are circulating a petition to demonstrate that the community opposes the audacious proposal to change the zoning we all worked so hard for years to achieve. We don’t need or want giant structures within the brownstone buildings. The Planning Commission, City Council, CB2 and others agreed with and approved the down-zoning, so this planned request is a slap in the face to everyone, and specifically to all those who live on this quiet residential street.

Please support our Lefferts Place neighbors by signing the attached petition and forwarding it on to others who support keeping Clinton Hill at a Clinton Hill scale.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Dont_Upzone_Lefferts_Place