C.B.6 Public Hearing On Toll Brothers' Gowanus Condo Project Coming Up

Bond Street looking towards the Gowanus canal

CB6 Land Use Committee Meeting on Thursday, Sept. 25

Public Hearing On Toll Brothers' Project

The Toll Brothers, the development firm which has its sight set on developing a huge parcel of land along the shores of the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal, had applied for a zoning change a few month back. In order to build their planned condo development, the City Planning Department has to agree to rezone the lot from industrial to residential in advance of an overall rezoning of the Gowanus area planned by the city. The Toll Brothers just released their Environmental Impact Statement and the City Planning Department certified the developers application.
The next step in the Uniform Land Use Review Process (U.L.U.R.P.) is a hearing in front of Community Board 6. The hearing is scheduled for September 25th at the Landmark/ Land Use Committee.
I encourage everyone to attend this meeting. This development will change the Gowanus area forever and will open the door to out-of-scale development. In addition, there are serious concerns about the proposed clean-up of the canal. Will it be extensive enough to truly make it safe to live along the canal? For decades, industrial waste was dumped into the waters and the surrounding area is heavily polluted.
It is important for the community to be involved in the rezoning process. Too much is at stake. So mark your calendars and plan on being there.

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