A controversial high-rise proposal that could overshadow the “sacred” Brooklyn Botanic Garden and damage delicate exotic plants was approved by the city's Planning Commission on Monday.
The panel voted Developer Continuum's plans for 962-70 Franklin Ave. were approved by a vote of 9-3. The plan is landscaped but still tall, and garden advocates argued that even the amendments would be devastating for prized plants such as tropical orchids, tropical desert plants and South African bulbous plants.
“@BrooklynBotanic is sacred and this unique community resource deserves special care,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. I wrote about this in a recent X post. “This proposal does not meet that standard.”
Facade renovations were carried out over the summer, the building's height was reduced from 14 to 10 stories, and the number of residential units was reduced from 475 to 355, 89 of which are income-restricted units.
The impact of shading on the garden “varies in different parts of the garden, ranging from no shading impact at all in the sun-sensitive greenhouse to 47 to 69 minutes in the Hardy. [Plant Nursery Yard] and [NY] “Plots of native vegetation where it is believed impacts can be partially mitigated,” a DCP official told the Post, praising the revised approved plan.
Continuum has also committed funding to reduce the impact of shading in other ways, such as adding lighting and upgrading structures at both the Botanical Gardens and the nearby Jackie Robinson Playground.
“With today's action, we are charting a path that balances the need for new housing with the important protection of treasured community spaces,” city Planning Director Dan Garodnick said in a statement.
“The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a borough treasure, and the special protections we have proposed will ensure the garden can continue to thrive into the future while creating much-needed housing for this community,” he said.
The proposal will now go before the City Council for a vote, and the council is known for giving weight to the Planning Commission's recommendations.
The Planning Commission's approval Monday was was overwhelmingly defeated A similar plan is set to be unveiled for a popular stretch of Franklin Avenue in 2021. That proposal would see two 39-story buildings, a far cry from Continuum's current plans.
Brooklyn's Community Board 9 also rejected the plan in June, citing “significant adverse impacts to portions of the community district, including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) and Jackie Robinson Playground.”
Despite developers highlighting their planned cuts at a public hearing last month, the proposal, if approved by the City Council, would cause “existential damage to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for generations to come,” Adrienne Benepe, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, previously said.
Rowan Blake, BBG's vice president of horticulture, also accused developers of conducting studies on shade impacts and “cherry-picking” the data, measuring sunlight in inappropriate places, such as rooftops rather than plant beds.
City Planning Commissioner Leah Goodridge, who voted against the proposal, criticized the “affordability” portion of Continuum’s plan, noting that monthly rents for market-rate studio apartments in the proposed building are “exorbitant” at more than $3,000.
“It's about housing and green space,” Goodridge said, “I understand there's a housing shortage, but I also know that from a policy perspective we're forcing people to make the decision that green space isn't important, and we're seeing that happening all across the city.”
“This is undoubtedly one of the most controversial private applications submitted to the City's Planning Commission in recent years, and for good reason – it speaks to the need to balance new housing opportunities in the midst of a generational housing shortage with the protection of one of the borough's treasures, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden,” Garodnick said at the meeting.
“I am confident that the amendments that the DCP team has put forward and are recommending to the committee have achieved the right balance,” he said.
