When City Councilman Steve Rose was reviewing the freshly refurbished limits for the controversial mixed-use ordinance — that will be debated by the Council at tonight’s 7 o’clock meeting — his eyes stopped roaming when he reached the novel concept known as Community Benefits.
Too vague, too broad, Mr. Rose contends.
As a group, the City Council cheered last July when Councilman Scott Malsin introduced Community Benefits as a compromise solution between builders who strive for bigness and neighbors who, almost uniformly, prefer petite structures.
No Supporter
In noting that “I have issues with some of the recommendations for tonight,” Mr. Rose admitted that he is in the Council minority. “I am not enamored of Community Benefits,” he said.
He vowed to challenge the numerous options laid out for the City Hall meeting by Community Development Dept. Director Sol Blumenfeld.
Instead of permitting builders to choose their bonus provision from a panoply of options, Mr. Rose wants the Community Benefits alternatives restricted to two:
Open space or (metered) public parking.
A New Idea
Community Benefits is a novel principle. It allows a builder to exceed legal standards by providing a bonus service that would somehow enrich the city while he is expanding a project that is larger than community activists think is feasible.
To the consternation of builders, residents have protested for months that one new development after another was outsized for their neighborhood.
When Councilman Rose noticed that “day-care unit”was one of the options listed by Mr. Blumenfeld, his eyebrows unhappily elevated.
Hmm, What to Select
“Are we talking child day-care or senior day-care?” Mr. Rose asked.
“Is a distinction drawn between not-for-profit providers, such as the YMCA, and for-profit (senior) day-care businesses?
“Too complicated. I don’t want the city staff to have a three-year discussion over the distinctions.
“The core problem,” the Councilman argued, “is that ‘way too many options are involved. Community needs change over time.
Clarity Is Primary
“I am a black-and-white guy. I want this (restructured) ordinance to be very clear. Then it will be much easier for City Hall to administer. Here is another reason I think that in its present form the options are too many, too vague and can lead to chaos.
“What if a builder offers to add a room for something other than day-care? Just a community room? Say an anti-war group wants to use it? Is that a community benefit. What if the John Birch Society wants it? Is that a community benefit.
“Limit the choices to two,” Mr. Rose declared.
These Dimensions Are a Go
As reported last week, the broad outlines of the modified mixed-use ordinance are likely to be endorsed this evening, although the vote may be 3 to 2, 4 to 1 or 5 to 0.
Generally, residential units per acre would be reduced from the present 65 to 35, or in some cases 45. Building heights would shrink from the mid-50s to the mid-40s.