Fort Greene high-rise opponents have their day in court
Lawsuit moves forward against South Portland Ave. development
The city violated the law in rezoning a Fort Greene development site, a lawyer for neighborhood residents argued before a judge on March 19 in a court case that could have implications for development projects around the city.
This case is significant because it challenges a trend of developers easily winning the City Planning Commission’s permission to disregard zoning that protects neighborhoods from dense, high-rise development – zoning that was established with the consensus of community residents, elected officials and the City Planning Commission itself.
When the City Planning Commission and the City Council voted in 2018 to permit developers of 142-150 South Portland Ave. to build a 13-story tower, the city flouted the 2007 rezoning of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill “to the detriment of local residents,” Jack Lester said in his March 19 oral arguments before New York Supreme Court Justice Lynn Kotler.
Their decisions resulted in illegal “spot zoning,” Lester argued.