BYLAWS REVISED: After taking heat from a group of neighbors upset about a drug treatment facility proposed for Kings Highway, Community Board 15 voted to revise a section of their bylaws that would require more intense community outreach in the run-up to a hearing for similar facilities in the future.
Archive for the tag 'bullet points'
Built for expansion: This owner of this Beaumont Street home violated the terms of their special application, so they tore down their home and rebuilt this structure so they could apply again. (Source: CB15)
“Bullet Points” is our format for Community Board 15 meeting coverage, providing takeaways we think are important. Information in Bullet Points is meant only to be a quick summary, and some issues may be more deeply explored in future articles.
Enlargement denied: Community Board 15 said a Manhattan Beach homeowner’s request to expand his home would set a bad precedent after learning that the homeowner previously dodged zoning laws, got caught, tore down his home and rebuilt it – all to try for the permit for a second time.
Owners of the home at 282 Beaumont Street, one house in from the water, sought to expand their two-story home by adding a third story, bulking out the building in the front and the rear, and doubling the floor area allowed by zoning standards. But, during questioning at the public hearing, Community Board members expressed concern that the homeowner had previously got caught dodging zoning, and rebuilt a shoddy house with the intention of coming before the Board for a new application.
“Since [violating zoning laws and having the permits revoked,] the owners constructed a new home that appears to be purposely built to be destroyed,” said neighbor Samuel Falack, who lives on the block and also spoke on behalf of the Manhattan Beach Community Group. “It has a shabbily built second floor and a flat roof that has pipes leading to what they hope will be an attic or a third floor with the expectation that a second special permit will be granted.”
Falack called the application disingenuous, and urged the Board to oppose it.
Keep reading to find out what happened, and other information from the Community Board 15 meeting.
“Bullet Points” is our format for Community Board 15 meeting coverage, providing takeaways we think are important. Information in Bullet Points is meant only to be a quick summary, and some issues may be more deeply explored in future articles.
Councilman Fidler Lays Out Green Vision For Coastal Protection: If anyone thinks a seawall will protect Southern Brooklyn from future Sandy-like tidal surges, they need look no further than Sea Gate to put that false theory to rest, Councilman Lew Fidler told Community Board 15 at their meeting last night.
“A lot of people think that you can just build a wall and that will solve all the problems. I suppose if you know people in Sea Gate, you can ask them whether or not that solved their problems,” he said.
Fidler added that the cost of erecting a seawall around the southern end of New York City would be around $5 billion, a hefty price tag for an uncertain solution.
Instead, Councilman Fidler, who said he has held and attended numerous City Council committee hearings on Superstorm Sandy and preparations for future threats, said the city should fight nature with nature.
“Bullet Points” is our format for Community Board 15 meeting coverage, providing takeaways we think are important. Information in Bullet Points is meant only to be a quick summary, and some issues may be more deeply explored in future articles.
Neighbors Demand Board Rescind Support For Drug Counseling Center: Residents of East 17th Street near Kings Highway rallied at last night’s Community Board 15 meeting, demanding the Board rescind a letter of support for a proposed drug treatment facility at 1670 East 17th Street.
Led by Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association President Ed Jaworski, a group of residents took to the podium, claiming that the Board failed to inform the community that the issue would be discussed and voted on in December.
“The City Charter and the Community Board bylaws say that the Community Board should serve the community, should communicate within the community, should act as a liaison agency, should review services, should develop plans for the community. None of this was done regarding the drug center being located on East 17th Street,” Jaworski said. “What took place at the November meeting was a shortcut. It was cutting the community’s input.”
The center, One World Counseling, received a letter of support from Community Board 15 in November with a 31-4 vote. Dmitri Oster, a rep for One World, told the Board then that they intended to target immigrants in the Sheepshead Bay area who have turned to drugs to cope with cultural integration. They would offer only counseling and would not distribute medication.
Pera Cafe Loses Bid For Sidewalk Cafe: Community Board 15 denied an application for a sidewalk cafe at Pera Cafe, a new Turkish restaurant and lounge at 2255 Emmons Avenue, in a near-split vote after members raised questions about pedestrian safety and the restaurant’s own track record.
St. Mark Church to House Group Home for Developmentally Disabled Girls: Community Board 15 gave the green light to St. Vincent’s Services to move an intermediate care facility into St. Mark Roman Catholic Church, located at 2601 East 19th Street.
The facility’s Associate Executive Director and Managing Director of Developmentally Disabled Services Janice Ashton briefed the Board on the organization’s plan, saying that 14 “profoundly disabled young ladies” between the ages of 25 and 60 will use the existing vacant rectory building – formerly a convent. All of the girls have suffered profound or severe mental handicaps from birth, and will be attended by a staff ratio of two to three clients per staff member.
“I really know these consumers and their families. We have done such a good job that many of them, they never thought they would live so long,” Ashton said. “Usually 30 to 35 [years is the average lifespan]; they’re approaching, some 60s, 50s, and in other facilities, we have 70s and 80s.”
Manhattan Beach dog run vote tabled: Besides getting a surprise visit from a process server notifying the Board that they are defendants in a $180 million lawsuit, the two-hour long meeting got heated during a hearing on the future of the Manhattan Beach dog run. The proposal to move the dog run to a new location and establish a beautification garden at its current site was tabled after several speakers went back and forth about its merits, and the full Board decided that there wasn’t enough concrete information to take a vote. We’ll have more on this story in a separate post.
Elected officials (video above):
- “I’m back kicking ass and taking names,” said Councilman Lew Fidler, who has suffered health issues stemming from a bad reaction to medication during his State Senate campaign. He added that reports of his health problems have been greatly exaggerated. Fidler discussed two issues he is working on, including a bill that will require gas stations to post all prices for all methods of payment on their roadside signs, bringing to a halt the annoyance of pulling into a gas station and finding that the price posted is for cash only. The other issue is in regards to looming budget cuts the mayor has ordered following the failure to push through the sale of additional taxi medallions and the five borough taxi plan. He said the mayor should arrange for a compromise that would allow for outer-borough taxi service and provide $600 million in revenue for this year alone. “The mayor and the administration need to get to the table, sit down, get over themselves.”
- Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein promoted her free flu shot programs, for which you can find the dates by calling her district office at (718) 648-4700. She is also hosting a free shredding day on October 11 in the parking lot of Roosevelt Savings Bank on Avenue U.
Activists blast Community Board member selection process, demand more transparency: The president of a local civic association and another active member of the community slammed the Community Board appointment process for a lack of fairness and transparency at Community Board 15′s final meeting of the season on Tuesday.
Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association President Ed Jaworski led the assault. He insinuated that there is a conflict of interest for members or advisers who also have business connections to buildings-related cases that come before the Board.
Keep reading for more of the activists’ criticism, and other Board matters from Tuesday’s meeting.
“Bullet Points” is our new format for Community Board 15 meeting coverage, providing takeaways we think are important. Information in Bullet Points is meant only to be a quick summary, and some issues may be more deeply explored in future articles.
Boardmembers push to beautify Manhattan Beach, oppose aesthetic improvements at Knapp Street sewage plant: Parks Department’s Brooklyn Chief of Staff Martin Maher came before the Board last night to provide the community with updates on ongoing projects in the district – including at Bill Brown Park, Galapo Playground, Brigham Street Park and Emmons Avenue – but the presentation quickly turned to Manhattan Beach as members barraged Maher with questions and complaints (video above).
“Bullet Points” is our new format for Community Board 15 meeting coverage, providing takeaways we think are important. Information in Bullet Points is meant only to be a quick summary, and some issues may be more deeply explored in future articles.
Board votes against naming street after activist and vocal Community Board critic Mary Powell: Members of the Board voted overwhelmingly to reject a street co-naming proposal for Mary Powell, the longtime president of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association who passed away in 2010. Members of Powell’s family and the civic requested the renaming to honor her legacy of a life dedicated to others. They have also set up a foundation in her name to encourage youths to be more involved in their community. During her tenure as president of the MMHC, Powell was an outspoken critic of Community Board 15, particularly on the issue of the politicized process of board appointments and the need for more transparency.
The board also voted to reject a street co-naming proposal for Joe Paterno, the Marine Park native whose tenure as coach of the Penn State football team won him entry to the Hall of Fame. Paterno passed away in January, shortly after retiring in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal surrounding his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
They rejected two other co-naming proposals – for Rabbi Samuel Fink, of Young Israel of Bedford Bay, and Daniel Sabatino, of Sabatino Funeral Home – ultimately approving none.
This one’s a long one! Keep reading to find out what else happened.
