Brooklyn Community Board Members Lament Decision on Atlantic Avenue Rezoning Plan

When the Atlantic Avenue rezoning plan was formally approved in late May, city officials celebrated the addition of new housing and other infrastructure improvements the project will bring to the bustling Brooklyn corridor. 

In hindsight, some residents of Crown Heights and Prospect Heights say they wish they had more time to push for a deeply affordable housing option they had prioritized for inclusion in the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan (AAMUP). Instead, some Community Board 8 members now feel they voted on a plan they didn’t fully understand — and believe the approval process should serve as a cautionary tale for other community boards facing similar rezoning decisions.

It was disappointing to see the "recommendation made by the community that truly knows the trends and its population was jettisoned in its final decision,” Sharon Wedderburn, the Community Board 8 Land Use Committee Chair, said to BK Reader.  

Wedderburn was referring to CB8 members approving the AAMUP that did not include a provision that developers would make 20% of the units in a new building available to households making 40% of area median income, known as Option 3. 

After a May meeting with City Council Member Crystal Hudson who noted her preference for Option 1, which requires 25% of units in a building be set aside for those making 60% of AMI, the board approved that option instead of what they had truly wanted, according to Mimi Mitchell, a CB8 board member and Land Use committee member.

According to a recording of the May meeting obtained by BK Reader, Hudson said Option 1 would include individuals in a wider swath of income levels to be eligible for affordable housing units. 

Mitchell said she was surprised that the community board spent so much time debating various options, coming to a decision to favor Option 3, and yet the final plan didn't include what residents truly wanted. 

“The general consensus has always been the same – and that has been Option 3,” said Mitchell. “As a community board member I felt bullied into this because there wasn’t enough time to actually research and fact check what they were actually telling us. We were forced by them – not by the community board – to vote.” 

In a statement, Hudson said she presented data from the city’s Racial Equity Report that shows there are many Black households who earn between 51%-80% of AMI that are at risk of displacement and need access to housing, and a similar percentage of Black households who earn between 30%-50% of AMI.

"A majority of these residents would be left out of the affordability discussion if the Council mapped Option 3," she added.

In selecting Option 1, AAMUP will facilitate 200 more units with a broader spread of incomes that reflects community demographics, Hudson said.

"When the market rent is now over $3,000 a month, every affordable unit is a lifeline to stay in central Brooklyn," she added. "No vote was forced, and extensive information was conveyed to board members in real time, just as it would be with any other matter before a community board."

Nonetheless, board member Gib Veconi was still dismayed that the final plan did not include a deeply affordable housing option. 

“We can't as a committee continue to review new applications, make recommendations, then get overturned,” said Veconi at a recent land use committee meeting.

In hindsight, residents may have had a different understanding of what they voted on at the board meeting in May, said board member Deborah Young. 

“We need to make sure that we are clear that everyone understands what we’re voting for,” said Young, who later found that many board members voted on the plan despite not understanding the full scope of the housing options.

“This is hard baked now," said Wedderburn, referring to AAMUP being set in stone. "Both the councilwoman [Hudson] and the councilman [Chi Ossé] are taking victory laps over [the inclusion of Option 1], but what just happened is that we legislated ourselves out of the community."  

Council Member Chi Ossé, whose district covers part of the rezoned area and attended the May meeting with Hudson, did not respond to a request for comment.