PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Madeline, Community Member, on Arrow Linen Rezoning Project
4:02:22
ยท
135 sec
Madeline, a community member living near the proposed Arrow Linen development site, strongly opposes the spot zoning change and the current proposal. She argues for more affordable housing and development that is appropriate to the neighborhood scale.
- Criticizes the lack of community engagement and the minimum 25% affordable housing units in the current proposal
- Expresses concerns about the building height, potential flooding issues, and the risk of displacement for community residents
- Calls for the city council to reject the spot zoning change and consider alternative proposals with 40% affordable housing at a more appropriate scale
Madeline Garthor
4:02:22
Thank you, committee.
4:02:23
My name is Madeline and I'm a community member living 3 blocks away from the site.
4:02:27
I strongly oppose Arrow Linen's request for the spot zoning change and the proposed development.
4:02:33
I do support development that includes sufficient affordable housing while still being appropriate to the neighborhood.
4:02:39
Arrow has not engaged with the
UNKNOWN
4:02:40
community at the time the proposal came out, nor now on a compromise that would
Madeline Garthor
4:02:40
provide more meaningful, proposal came out, nor now on a compromise that would provide more meaningful affordable housing while still being able to develop these sites.
4:02:51
As council member Hanif strongly noted and borough president Reynoso conditioned his support on, the proposal contains only 25% affordable units, which is the bare minimum.
4:03:04
The representative today said she would consider more than that, but where is that proposal?
4:03:08
The proposal's high number of market rate, I'll say luxury apartments, will push up prices in the area, push families out of the neighborhood, and the rezoning of nearby houses creates a displacement risk for community residents.
4:03:21
Given the large size of these lots, I am confident that buildings with 40% affordable housing can be built at heights that will be at the scale of our neighborhood and still be an attractive project for a developer.
4:03:34
Prospect Avenue is not a major commercial thoroughfare which can support 13 story buildings.
4:03:40
I, for 1, don't feel confident from those rote assurances today from the engineer that this building won't contribute to flooding in the neighborhood.
4:03:48
I am also one of those people who's had to renovate my building from the constant flooding.
4:03:54
The Arrow project renderings are deceptive in that they portray Prospect Avenue as a huge open space and show no contextual surrounding blocks or even the other side of the avenue.
4:04:03
All of these surrounding blocks contain 3 to 5 story buildings, excepting the Bishop Boardman senior homes on eighth and sixteenth Street, which incidentally could be a model for the Arrow site.
4:04:14
We should see the proposal the representative said today that they had considered but apparently rejected with the reduced height and lower setbacks she mentioned.
4:04:23
If the requested zoning is approved, it will propel a cascade of building and other requests for zoning changes on Prospect Avenue and the rest of the neighborhood.
4:04:32
Thank you.
Kevin Riley
4:04:33
Thank you so
UNKNOWN
4:04:33
much.
Madeline Garthor
4:04:33
The council to reject this spot zoning change.