TESTIMONY
Valerie Mason, Chair of Community Board 8, on Conditional Approval and Concerns Regarding a Proposed Building Development
1:17:35
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145 sec
Valerie Mason, Chair of Community Board 8, presents the board's conditional approval of a proposed building development, focusing on community concerns about building height, affordability, and loss of parking spaces.
- Mason stresses the board's conditional approval, emphasizing that the development's height and its fit in a mid-block location are principal concerns.
- She highlights the community's need for affordable housing and the board's intention to work with the council member and developer to address this.
- Mason mentions the significant loss of parking spaces due to the development, questioning the validity of a parking study done in 2019.
- She expresses hope for fruitful negotiations that would lead to a development providing affordable housing with an appropriate height for the area.
- The loss of over 10% of parking in the area, particularly impacting disabled community members, is raised as an important issue.
Valerie Mason
1:17:35
Okay.
1:17:36
Thank you so much.
1:17:37
I'm I mean, I'm about 6 hours away, so I apologize.
1:17:42
I am the chair of Community Board 8 right now.
1:17:44
I just wanted to reiterate the concerns expressed by my fellow board member, Elizabeth Rose.
1:17:51
I wanted to assure the community that this was a conditional approval and that we have many of the concerns that the community has about the height of this building, about its efficacy and efficiency for a mid block.
1:18:04
This community is desperate for affordable housing.
1:18:08
And so we are really looking forward to working with our council member and the developer to see if we can do something here.
1:18:16
We are not forgetting about the height, as Elizabeth mentioned, this building and the width and its scope and height, is not anything like which should be in a mid block that needs to be worked out.
1:18:28
Our approval is conditional on meeting some of our Meaning most of our conditions, height being the most important to us.
1:18:35
We think we can get a lower height.
1:18:37
We're hoping that we can have a reasonable and it goes negotiation with a developer, and we're hoping that whenever we come to agreement with our council member, that that will be acknowledged and agreed to by the city council.
1:18:51
There's just one other point I wanted to raise, and that has to do with the destruction of parking.
1:18:57
The one of the buildings that's part of this development has 400 parking spaces that will be that will be gone.
1:19:04
And their parking study was done in 2019.
1:19:08
We don't think that it's a valid parking survey, especially with perhaps us going into congestion pricing mode.
1:19:15
That's 400 spaces that are gonna be lost to the community in a lot.
1:19:18
We had disabled community members come to our meeting who were very concerned about the loss of parking.
1:19:24
That represents over 10% of the parking in our in that particular area.
1:19:29
Again, I just I I look forward to working with our council member and the very interested members of our community to see if we can get something done here.
1:19:38
And, again, I would hope that the city council will keep us involved and would accommodate us help us get to a transaction that will put affordable, much needed affordable housing in our neighborhood with a reasonable height that that is be fitting a mid block in a residential neighborhood.
1:19:59
Thank you very much.
