Side Window Woes in Cobble Hill
A proposal to renovate 227 Clinton Street hit Community Board 6’s Landmarks and Land Use Committee last week, and it was rough-going from the start. Coming not long after Norah Jones finished installing her controversial side windows and began work on her swimming pool, the timing could not have been worse. The designers, who presented…
A proposal to renovate 227 Clinton Street hit Community Board 6’s Landmarks and Land Use Committee last week, and it was rough-going from the start. Coming not long after Norah Jones finished installing her controversial side windows and began work on her swimming pool, the timing could not have been worse. The designers, who presented the design shown after the jump, were there to try to rally support for four additional windows on the side of the brownstone, a modestly sized swimming pool, and an all-glass, two-story “tea room” in the back yard, with trellis and vines up each side. The committee felt that the side windows were out of historical context and that there was “no historical credibility for glass boxes on the backs of homes in Cobble Hill.” There was no opinion expressed about the swimming pool, although it’s only the second one to come in front of this community board since Norah’s. The only nod of approval from the committee was changing the the existing windows to a wood frame. The session ended with the committee saying it would testify against the entirety of the design at their Landmarks hearing. Tough luck!
That’s like saying you can’t plant roses in your backyard. CB6 should be ashamed of themselves…
@Emily: “HDL, the design company had many smaller pictures of the current home and the plans, but they had no full sized images of any renderings. Granted, that picture of the blueprint isn’t a good one, but it was the only image large enough to photograph. I’m assuming they were intending to have to rework the design anyway before their LPC hearing.”
If that is truly the extent of the presentation, it easily falls into Donald Brennan’s “half-ass” category. The design may be great, but if the presentation doesn’t convey that and make a clear and compelling case for appropriateness, they deserve to get shot down by the Community Board and by LPC.
And it’s a bit late in the game to be reworking the design!
@HDL – its up to the applicant to do the appropriate research and make the case for why the alterations are appropriate.
So who has the power to approve this project? Does Landmarks supercede community board objections?
By tybur6 on June 30, 2010 10:42 AM
BrooklynIsHome —
You forgot to mention that community boards are HIGHLY political groups composed of community residents that will do almost anything to maintain their position on the boards and you need a lot more political juice than being an engaged resident… “invested in their communities by dent (sic) of residency, business ownership or significant interests” is a cute thing to say, but that’s not enough to get on the board.
I disagree. How the boards work with the electeds is indicative of whether disfunction is present or not. Independence is prized. Skillful negotiation with the “powers that be” matters. One example would be the failure of the board chair for Community Board #6 to be reappointed following his vocal opposition to Atlantic Yards. It begs the question, is it better for the community that you are vocal and lose your seat at the table or more important that you carefully balance the needs and desire of community residents and still sit at the table?
While there are some board members that are impressed with themselves and there are some board members who are agents of elected officials and special interest groups. A good community board is composed of many perspectives and work towards the end goal. A community that works for its residents.
While this discusssion has little to do with the Cobble Hill house. I suspect that the presenters were not well prepared in their presentation to the community board committee…in a landmarked community that is a mistake. Boards who have landmarked communities tend to be more engaged and dare I say protective of their communities.
DH, applications for the community board are available at Borough Hall. It sounds as if you would bring a new perspective to your board.
“”no historical credibility for glass boxes on the backs of homes in Cobble Hill.””
I know of at least one two-story existing glass box/greenhouse type extension off the back of a landmarked Cobble Hill home. I should contact the owners of 227 Clinton and give them the address. I’m betting there are others.
“One more thing, subject to scorn and ridicule by persons who are unwilling to volunteer their time to serve their communities, unknowledgeable about internal processes and subject to the rancor of those who do not agree with them. ”
oh – and you don’t know me or what I do within my community – so kindly remove your white wig. xoxo
When seeking approval from either a community board, a neighborhood association or the LPC the quality of the presentation is critical. If I were presented with something that looked half-ass (and i am not judging this presentation because i didn’t actually see it) i would conclude the effort and care to construct will also be half-assed. There is no upside to any approach other than a best effort with a clear articulation of purpose and precedent.
My hat goes off to anyone willing to volunteer their time to participate on the community or association boards. Expressing interest in the neighborhood you live and/or work in is all too often lacking.
“One more thing, subject to scorn and ridicule by persons who are unwilling to volunteer their time to serve their communities, unknowledgeable about internal processes and subject to the rancor of those who do not agree with them. ”
Roger that, CB members are saints volunteering their free time to help make Brooklyn da bomb – not self interested business owners / NIMBY home owners with conflicts of interest in the matters they opine on.
Yeah, some CBs are fine – but these CB6 idiots seem right up there with CB1 and CB2 in Manhattan.
HDL, after Landmark approved my deck we then had to go before the community board. I had no idea that they were going to be invloved. It’s not like I got a liquor license to hold parties on my 85 sq foot deck.
BIS, on a community board?