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u - I J . i i _ ________ Manning v,omm. noids HearingOn Special Atlantic Ave. ZoningBY DAN ICOLARIContending that Atlantic Avenue %u201c isn%u2019t at all worth preserving,%u201d attorney Abram Schlefstein was the only voice heard in opposition at the June 12 City Planning Commission hearing on the proposed Special Atlantic Avenue Zoning District.Schlefstein represents the owner of a vacant lot at the corner of Atlantic and Third Avenues who would like to lease it for construction of a Burger King restaurant. He contends that the district%u2019s standards as to scale, new constrution, storefronts, types of use and other design considerations will prevent development of the Avenue.But speakers in favor of the district-among them representatives of the Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill Associations-feel designation will foster the kind of development already taking place on the street, which borders the historic districts in the area.Robert Higginbotham of the Atlantic Avenue Committee was one of the speakers. %u201c I poiimd^but that the Committee has iirfprovecl the look and atmosphere on theAvenue in only five months by hiring a field force representative who effects liaison between merchants and residents, and between the community and the various city agencies. I told the Commission that all of this has been done with the Committee%u2019s own money-only $50 per year for merchants and $10 per year for residents. I think they were impressed.%u201dAnother speaker was Dennis Holt, president of the Boerum Hill Association, who said: %u201c In the opinion of the Boerum Hill community, the proposed zoning program will assure the unity of the street, will further encourage the establishment of new and popular small shops, and will serve as another meaningful tool in the blending of the old and the new...Architect H erbert Kaufman, chairman of the Brooklyn Heights Association%u2019s zoning committee, says he told the Commission that the Association regards the Special Atlantic Avenue District as %u201c a logical and essential extension of preservation activity in the Heights and in the adjacent historic districts of Cobble and Boerum Hill.%u201d*------ %u2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Neighborhood Gov'tCoalition FormedConcern over the future of neighborhood government under the Beame Administration brought representatives of several community groups from Park Slope, Sunset Park and South Brooklyn together this week. The meeting was promptedy by the City%u2019s eleventh-hour cancellation of a forum attended by City officials and residents of these communities. No official reason was given for the cancellation.The ad hoc committee of community groups, calling itself Coalition for Neighborhood Government, met on June 17 at the offices of the Fifth Avenue Merchants Association to draft a course of action designed to insure City responsiveness to community needs. The removal of director Sam Azadian from the communities%u2019 Urban Action Task Force and the instability which has characterized the operation of the Task Force since has caused local activists increasing concern about the future of neighborhood government in Park Slope, Sunset Park and South Brooklyn.%u201c Neighborhood government, by its nature, is a rather amorphous topic,%u201d observed Gaye Sibirsky of the Triangle Parks-Flatbush Avenue Improvement Committee. %u2018%u2018It means different things to different neighborhoods. We know what it means to us, and our main concern is to let the City know our position.%u201dThe best way to let the City know that position was the subject of some controversy at the meeting. Peter Morisi, president of the Fifth Avenue Merchants Association was of the ''pinion that a mass community meeting was the best way to get the City%u2019s ear. Noting that it%u2019s an election year, supporters of this approach felt sheer numbers would induce official responsiveness. The opposing group felt that the drafting of a position paper from representatives of various community grolups would prove------ ----------------more effective, especially now that summer is at hand and a major community meeting would be difficult to mobilize.The group agreed to draft a general statement advising the City that if, in fact, the Mayor is still formulating his policy on neighborhood government, the Slope, Sunset Park and South Brooklyn communities want to be involved in that process. If the Administration%u2019s policy is already determined, the group wants to know what it is.Throughout the summer, the Coalition plans to draw up position papers on various issues, enlisting the help of experts in particular areas. In the Fall, the Coalition will hold a series of public workshops at which the position papers will be refined and submitted to the City.%u201c We have experience in local government,%u201d said Ms. Sibirsky. %u201c We know what has worked and our input should be valuable to the City if they are sincere in wishing to establish effective machinery for neighborhood government. If the untimely cancellation of the meeting by the City was a delay tactic, they succeeded because summer will, in some measure, slow down community action and reaction. They may have won round one, but it%u2019s hardly a knockout,%u201d concluded Ms. Sibirsky.In addition to Ms. Sibirsky of Triangle Parks and Morisi of the Fifth Avenue Merchants Association, the meeting was attended by Kenneth Arbeeney, formerly of the Mayor%u2019s Urban Action Task Force; by Harry Tarzian, Merchants for Seventh Avenue Betterment; Bernadette Traham, Seventh Avenue Betterment Committee; John Nikos, HANAC, a local Greek ethnic group; Emily Arbeeney and Mary S. Hartman, Women%u2019s Association for a Clean Cobble Hill; Steve Mueller, United Block Association; and Selma Coyne, Community Action Program.The Special Atlantic Avenue Zoning District would includerulings on sign height and standards in an effort to enhance themany Victorian storefront structures stiii extant on the Avenue.One unusual factor is that the proposed district went before the City Planning Commission before being discussed by the local Community Planning Board 6,which has postponed consideration of the district until September. Board member Nat Levine has written a letter to the Commission asking that it delay its decision untilthe Planning Board has had time to study the proposal and make a recommendation.Lloyd Kaplan of the Planning Commission says that while the usual procedure is for planning boards to submit their recommendations before the Commission holds its hearings, %u201c communities still have time to get their licks in at Board of Estimate hearings-and we always make sure the boards are at least aware of proposals before we make decisions.%u201dThe Special Atlantic Avenue District, if approved, will set guidelines as to design and scale on new construction, on renovations, on new storefronts, and on signs. As conceived by the Mayor%u2019s Office of Downtown Brooklyn Development and the Brooklyn Office of City Planning working with two resident/merchant groups, the Atlantic Avenue Committee and the Turn Atlantic Green Committee, the proposal would provide a harmonious, cohesive look for the street, without the often inflexible requirements of a historic district.Charges Hotel Harrassed Tenants:Richmond Voices OppositionTo Pierrepont ConversionThe proposed conversion of the Pierrepont Hotel to a proprietary home must be rejected, charged City Councilman Fred Richmond (D. Brooklyn), as he blasted the management of the hotel for engaging in harrassment of the tenants while exhibiting an unconscionable disregard for their rights.Richmond, in a letter to State Supreme Court Judge, Abraham Gellinoff, urged the court to heed the community%u2019s opposition to the Pierrepont proposal and refuse to permit the m anagem ent%u2019s conversion.Richmond said %u201c During the past few months, there have been numerous meetings held in the community, including a number at my office, the purpose of which was to achieve a better understanding of the needs of Single Room Occupancy residents, with an eye toward developing a comprehensive program which services those needs. These sessions were attended by a cross-section of the Brooklyn Heights SRO population, as well as representatives from the various community, private, City and State agencies who are working in this field. A consensus was reached that a proprietary home located at the Pierrepont Hotel would run counter to the best interest of the future residents of this facility and of the community at large.%u201dAccording to Richmond, it has been reported that there are two specific legal issues currently in the process of being resolved in the State Supreme Court case of Shirtz vs. Walsh, under the jurisdiction of Justice Gellinoff.One of the main concerns of the community and officials, says Richmond, is whether Mr. Shirtz, developer or the Hotei, has iiie iegai right to convert the Pierrepont into a proprietary home. %u201c Has Mr. Shirtz,%u201d wrote Richmond in his letter, %u201cestablished vested rights? And have the same developers achieved proper documentation under the guidelines established by the City Planning Commission in its March, 1973, resolution? Among thnsp guidelines is a requirementthat a proprietary home obtain preliminary approval by the New York State Board of Social Welfare before acquiring a New York City Building permit.%u201dRichmond said, %u201cThis is not solely a question of the community vs. the developer. It is a double question of community opposition to a proposed project, and the matter of whether this proposal is even based on existing legal requirem ents. The Brooklyn Heights community has made its decision to oppose the project. After extensive meetings and study, I have come to the conclusion that the proposal would not benefit the community or the future residents, and 1 strongly oppose the proposed conversion.%u201d%u201c It is now up to the courts to decide the matter of legality, to determine whether the proposed conversion of the Pierrepont HotelHeights Assn.A DomiciliaryThe Brooklyn Heights Association%u2019s legal committee has filed an %u2018 %u2018amicus curiae%u2019 %u2019 brief in support of the City%u2019s Corporation Counsel in the suit between the City and the Pierrepont Hotel. The Pierrepont owners are suing the City over the revocation of the Hotel%u2019s building permit, which would have allowed the Pierrepont to complete renovations necessary for granting of Domiciliary Care Facility (DCF) status.The City revoked the Hotel%u2019s permit because (1) the Hotel had not filed with the Board of Social w onaio wild {2} GCCGJCC CT 2Board of Estimate ruling calling for a moratorium on renovation for DCF status. The Hotel is claiming the amount of renovation completed warrants a vested-rights ruling allowing the permit to stand.The BHA, in addition to the brief, submitted to the Court 19into a proprietary home for adults is founded on the proper and legal use of City Planning Commission guidelines that were established for the protection of the very people the Pierrepont insists il wishes to accommodate.%u201dIn addition, Richmond contends that the proposed size of 480 beds at the Pierrepont is inappropriate in view of the June 1st ruling of the New York State Board of Social Welfare limiting proprietary homes to 200 beds. The Board felt that by limiting the size of these homes, the quality of care and of services provided would be maximized.Richmond added, \the courts will agree with the community and decide that the State and City guidelines will not support the proposed conversion of the Pierrepont Hotel.%u201d Judge Gellinoff is expected to hand down his decision in a couple of weeks.Opposed toPierrepontaffidavits from persons living in or near the Hotel documenting that much of the renovation completed by the Hote1 was done during illegal hours, between 6 p.m. and midnight.Besides the Brooklyn Heights Association, other local groups have taken positions on the Domiciliary Care Facility issue. The executive board of iocal Community Planning Board 6 recommended that all city and state agencies withhold action on all DCF proposals in Brooklyn Heights until after a public hearing in September.Several prominent innai residents and community groups have also issued a collective statement opposing, specifically, the conversion of the Pierrepont intoaDCF. Supporters of this statement include State Senator Carol Bellamy, Assemblyman Michael Pesce.-EILEEN BLAIRJune 20, 1974, PHOENIX, Page 3