Attempted end run around Atlantic Avenue zoning

The folks who are currently developing the green" project at Nevins and Pacific have on tap as their next project the redevelopment of the site on Atlantic and Third Avenue where Hank's bar sits, together with the lot behind Hank's. The development is to be known as The Doray (a reference to the former embodiment of Hanks, The Doray Tavern) and doesn't appear to be particularly massive from the picture on their website. The only problem is that it seems that that rendering, which shows a building no more that 50' 0" or so, is not what they intend to build. A neighbor got a notice in the mail of a BSA hearing on June 2nd at 6:00 pm in the community room of Borough Hall where the developers will be asking for variances to the FAR, height, and street wall zoning requirements. A call to the attorneys handling this attempted end run around the zoning laws reveals that the developers want to build 14,000 SF instead of the 6,600 SF allowed, want to go to 64' instead of 60' at the street wall, and want to extend up to 88' overall instead of the 70' allowed. This ain't no small potatoes like trying to get 10' 0" ceilings instead of 9' 4". Is this mass a big deal on the corner where it's located? Well, maybe not except for the folks who bought in the condo building next to the vacant lot behind Hank's whose (illegal) lot line windows will be blanked off. My concern, admittedly somewhat self-serving since my garden backs up to the lots on the North side of Atlantic, is that an exception for this site will generate a bunch of "me too" demands from developers of projects along the rest of Atlantic. Obviously some folks are using "green" as a cloak for profiteering. It's the American way I suppose.

I urge all my neighbors, especially those with properties on or one block behind either side of Atlantic, to attend the hearing (you can pre-register to speak by calling CB Two at 718 596 5410; written comments have to be received the day before the meeting) to attend the meeting and protest this attempted erosion of the zoning laws.

John Ife