Testimony of Armando Moritz-Chapelliquen Before City Planning Commission Regarding 1010 and 1050 Pacific Street

Good morning. Thank you commissioners for the opportunity to testify.

My name is Armando Moritz-Chapelliquen and I am the Senior Economic Development Organizer with the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD). ANHD is a membership organization of NYC- neighborhood based housing and economic development groups: CDCs, affordable housing developers, supportive housing providers, community organizers, and economic development service providers. Our mission is to ensure flourishing neighborhoods and decent, affordable housing for all New Yorkers. We have over 100 members throughout the five boroughs who are working alongside communities to create economic opportunity and who have together developed over 100,000 units of affordable housing.

I am here today representing both ANHD and the Industrial Jobs Coalition, a citywide alliance of policy advocates, community organizations, and business service providers from across the city. ANHD and the Industrial Jobs Coalition oppose the proposed spot rezonings of 1010 and 1050 Pacific Street. While our advocacy has typically focused on citywide projects, such as the Self-Storage and Hotel Text Amendments, these proposals, similar to the North Brooklyn Plan and 25 Kent Avenue, have impacts for both local and citywide industrial land use policy.

02/13/2019

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Local Opposition to Project

The unanimous opposition of the local community board, Brooklyn Community Board 8, should be enough to give us pause. Brooklyn CB 8 has been engaged with the Department of City Planning for many years to enact a broader neighborhood-wide rezoning. CB 8’s proposal, called the M-CROWN, would facilitate mixed-use redevelopment so that new residential uses can create cross subsidy for new non-residential uses, including light industrial and artisan uses. Such a locally led approach is promising, especially given the broader movement on industrial land use policy, particularly when it comes to North Brooklyn’s proposed Innovation and Growth Districts.

However, the M-CROWN has yet to begin the formal land use process. The proposed rezonings for 1010 and 1050 Pacific are located within the proposed M-CROWN. These proposed developments, moving forward while the district-wide proposal stalls, undermine the goals of the M-CROWN district and set a local precedent for other developers to follow suit. Rather than advance spot rezonings in the district, the City Planning Commission should bring the proposed developments at 1010 and 1050 Pacific into compliance with the M-CROWN. A patchwork approach to outdated industrial zoning is not the solution.

We echo the concerns raised by local stakeholders to pursue the three subareas defined in the M-CROWN:

A real mixed-use district (4-5 FAR) for the area south of Atlantic Avenue between Grand Avenue, Classon Avenue, and Bergen Street that allows significant new residential development but requires a minimum amount of non-residential use and incentivizes additional non-residential use through a significant density bonus, with retail uses not permitted mid-block on side streets.
Updated M zoning (2-5 FAR) for the eastern portion of the area that will increase density, reduce parking and loading requirements, create contextual bulk rules, and create incentives for including non-office, non-retail space such as light manufacturing, studios for the full range of arts uses, or certain community facility uses as part of new commercial development.
A medium-density (6-7 FAR) commercial district on Atlantic Avenue with a Special Enhanced Commercial District for requiring a non-residential ground floor and preferential FAR for commercial uses with no restrictions.

Mixed Use with Use Restrictions

In pursuing a viable mixed-use strategy that creates space for light manufacturing, it is crucial to consider how the use groups in the manufacturing-zoned portion of the building are defined. In the absence of a citywide action to redefine the overly broad use groups in M-zoning, the community-led effort behind the M-CROWN attempts to tackle this challenge. The current applications, which make reference simply to non-residential uses, do not ensure that any manufacturing uses will ultimately occupy the final development. As manufacturing zoned land has gradually been lost, the amount of space for manufacturing uses in our city has dwindled. Innovative proposals that address this shortage and aim to bring new manufacturing space should be allowed to move forward, rather than be disregarded by private developments that undermine the goals laid out by the community.

We support Community Board 8’s effort to bring affordable housing and affordable industrial space to their neighborhood. The M-CROWN represents the best opportunity for a comprehensive approach to this critical need. We urge the City Planning Commission to amend the proposals to be in compliance with the goals laid out in the M-CROWN. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.