With part of Gowanus likely to be rezoned to allow buildings of 10-12 stories–and many residents of neighboring residential streets likely to be very upset about it–the question about where the boundary is drawn is not an academic one or a mere planning exercise. Buildings on the west side of Bond Street are generally only two or three stories, as are those on the residential streets between Hoyt and Bond Streets. Marlene Donnelly of Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG) has sent out an email that is very much worth reproducing in part:

…the Gowanus re-zoning won’t stop at the middle of Bond Street. City Planning doesn’t like to draw zoning lines down the middle of a street; this is a basic principle to keep a street balanced. The zoning change is typically drawn 100 feet into a block. We should expect that any up-zoning for the Gowanus will come at least 100 feet up towards Hoyt…we should expect a chunk of our current residential zoned area to get the same up-zoning they hope to apply to the Gowanus.

We have also herd chatter about how the residential area between Hoyt and Bond is so under built–consisting of one and two family homes. It seems Planning doesn’t feel that one and two family homes are appropriate for the community any longer. Those of us who live in this area between Bond and Hoyt NEED to be concerned. When a building doesn’t make full use of it’s allowed building size under zoning, it can be classified as “blighted” regardless of the condition of the building. Given the Mayor’s Office plan to build housing for millions more people by 2030, we all should be aware that our neighborhood looks ripe for the picking…

We know that Bayside has drawn up plans for buildings as tall as 12 stories, the Public Place discussion has been about 10 stories, and the discussion at the City Planning community meetings centers around 10 stories. We should be thinking about buildings this size going up on the west of Bond too. (Have you noted all the sales for property on the west side of Bond? Clearly property holders seem to be aware of something. And could the owners of 333 Carroll be waiting to be included in that change in order to continue with their high-rise?)

If you want to learn more, check out FROGG’s monthly meeting, which is happening on Monday, August 20 at 6:30 PM. It will take place at Smith & Vine, which is located at 268 Smith Street.