Brooklyn zoning tweak would reserve part of midblock nonresidential bonus for light industry and community uses

The Department of City Planning on Aug. 20 described a follow‑up zoning text amendment to the Atlantic Avenue Mixed Use Plan that would limit part of a midblock nonresidential floor‑area bonus to light industrial and certain community facility uses in Community District 8. Jordan Fraad, senior borough planner at DCP’s Brooklyn office, told the Brooklyn Borough President’s ULURP public hearing the proposal would “limit 0.5 FAR of the 1.1 FAR in the mid block areas to only the uses shown above while exempting small sites of less than 10,000 square feet.”

Why it matters: the change is intended to encourage mixed‑use buildings that include space for jobs and community facilities rather than general commercial or office space, responding to Community Board 8 priorities and council input. The follow‑up text amendment is in a 60‑day joint review and would proceed to the City Planning Commission and City Council, with anticipated approval in mid‑ to late‑fall if advanced.

DCP staff said the underlying AMUP zoning allows up to 3.9 FAR for residential uses and an additional 1.1 FAR incentive for nonresidential uses in mixed‑use buildings, which together can yield up to 5 FAR on midblocks mapped as paired M12A/R6A. The proposed text tweak would reserve 0.5 of that 1.1 FAR for a narrower set of uses — DCP listed community facilities such as libraries, museums, community centers, noncommercial art galleries and nonprofit spaces, and a reference set of light industrial and repair/maintenance/art‑based uses drawn from the City’s Zoning for Economic Opportunity reference list. Fraad said the list “mirror[s] the Gowanus mix” of incentivized uses.

Discussion at the hearing focused on the practical effect of a 10,000‑square‑foot threshold. Fraad said community board members raised the threshold because many lots in the Atlantic Avenue midblocks are smaller and “would have difficulty physically accommodating multiple uses on the Ground Floor and subdividing spaces.” He said the Gowanus incentive previously had no such threshold largely because lots in that district are typically larger and waterfront‑facing. Fraad also confirmed DCP had presented the same proposal to Community Board 8, which “voted, I believe, unanimously in favor of the proposal,” and that the board’s December 2024 conditions informed the follow‑up amendment.

The text change would exempt sites smaller than 10,000 square feet from the 0.5 FAR limitation. DCP staff said that exemption reflects physical constraints on small lots and that the general streetscape and pedestrian‑friendly requirements for the AMUP area are already governed by streetscape rules adopted through the Zoning for Economic Opportunity effort; the amendment itself does not add new streetscape mandates.

Next steps: DCP referred the amendment on June 30 and is completing a 60‑day joint review with Community Board 8 and the borough president. The agency expects subsequent City Planning Commission and City Council reviews before final action. The public record for the borough president’s review remains open through Aug. 22, 2025.