Contentious Gowanus rezoning plan paused again
In-person vs. virtual hearings, affordable housing, pollution are all issues
The city’s rezoning plan for the Gowanus neighborhood has taken twists and turns at every level.
Now, as of Friday, Justice Katherine Levine of Brooklyn Supreme Court issued a ruling that pauses the review process for the rezoning, forces the city to include an in-person public hearing to address tech-access concerns, and raises many other questions, according to the Voice of Gowanus, a local organization that opposes the plan.
Justice Levine is the same judge who, on April 19, lifted a restraining order on the plan, allowing the ULURP process to go forward. According to Patch, it had been delayed since January by a Voice of Gowanus lawsuit panning the use of virtual hearings instead of in-person meetings during the coronavirus crisis.