Pins and needles. That’s probably a good way of describing the mood on Community Board 13 this week as the group anxiously awaited the arrival of the recently certified Coney Island redevelopment plan.
The community board has just 60 days upon receipt of the plan to act on it. Community Board 13 is the first stop in the long ULURP — Uniform Land Use Review Procedure — that also includes the Borough President, City Planning Commission, City Council and Mayor’s Office.
At this point Community Board 13 is anticipating holding two separate hearings on the massive plan to change Coney Island’s current C7 zoning. It is hoped that the zoning change will facilitate the development of 4,500 new units of residential housing and the construction of a 27-acre year-round amusement park.
At least one is tentatively scheduled for March 3 at Lincoln High School.
The public hearings on Coney Island’s future are expected to be highly contentious, to say the least. Earlier episodes degenerated into shout fests filled with bused-in demonstrators and flying recriminations.
If all that wasn’t enough, Community Board 13 will also be holding public hearings in the upcoming weeks on the controversial proposal to rezone 50 blocks in Brighton Beach.
According to Community Board 13 District Manager Chuck Reichenthal, budget cuts have left his group with “almost nothing” and will make getting the word out about the upcoming public hearings tougher to accomplish.
The city is desperate to get its Coney Island redevelopment plan realized by the end of this summer, but significant opposition from ride advocates and local elected officials remains.
While hearings on the redevelopment of Coney Island are expected to be held at Lincoln High School, Community Board 13 anticipates holding the public hearing on the Brighton Beach rezoning proposal during its regular monthly meeting at Coney Island Hospital on February 25.