By Helen Klein By Helen Klein
So, what does the zoning in the Fraser Square area currently allow? According to Winston Von Engel, deputy director of the Brooklyn office of the Department of City Planning (DCP), who addressed members of the Fraser Civic Association gathered at Yeshiva Tiferes Yisroel, 1271 East 35th Street, the zoning through much of the Fraser Square area is fairly restrictive. “In general,” he told his listeners, “this area is a lower density residential area in terms of zoning.” One zoning designation that the area has, R4, “Allows for about two to three story rowhouses,” said Von Engel. “So you can have a detached home, or you can have a semi-detached or a rowhouse under that zoning.” The other predominant zoning designation in the community, said Von Engel, is R5, which, he noted, “Allows slightly more density, up to three stories in general. There is a height limit in both of those districts.” The dividing line is in the middle of East 35th Street, said Von Engel. A key piece of information for determining the size of a building is floor area ratio (FAR), which Von Engel described as, “A function of the size of your lot that regulates how much house you can build. A floor area ratio of one would mean that if you had a lot that was 1,000 square feet, you could build a house that is one times the lot area, 1,000 square feet of house. “There are other regulations that come into play,” he went on. “Often, there are requirements for rear yards, front yards and side yards, so the house gets squeezed onto the lot.” In the example he gave, said Von Engel, the 1,000 square foot house on a 1,000 square foot lot would probably be two or three stories high. With R5 zoning, said Von Engel, the FAR is 1.25, “With a height limit of about 32 feet.” In R4 areas, the FAR is .75, with an additional 20 percent of floor area within a sloped roof. While students may be looking forward to summer vacation, some Flatbush residents are getting ready for back-to-school. The Newkirk Area Neighborhood Association (NANA), working in conjunction with the Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC), has kicked off its 2005 school supply drive, urging area residents and businesses to contribute either needed items or money to help put together packages of brand-new supplies for children living in 10 of the borough’s homeless shelters. At the May meeting of Community Board 14, which was held at Edward R. Murrow High School, 1600 Avenue L, NANA president Hynda Lessman spoke of the program. “Every year for the past four years we have been collecting contributions in kind and in money for school supplies for elementary age students living in homeless shelters in Brooklyn,” recalled Lessman, who said that bags were also distributed to students at P.S. 217 and at a school in Hoboken, near where one NANA member works. Last year, she said, the group had put together a total of 800 bags for needy students. In addition, she said, “Because of the hurricane, this past year, which devastated a lot of the islands in the Caribbean, we sent 200 packages to an elementary school in Grenada. “I am coming before you as individuals to contribute to this drive,” Lessman went on. “The children dearly appreciate it. We have gotten letters, each year, hand-written in pencil, in pen and in crayon, and drawings, saying how much they appreciate, when they start in school in September, having the supplies they need. “This year,” she added, “The need is greater. This year we would like to distribute at least 1,000. The population in homeless shelters has grown.” The supplies needed are pens, #2 pencils, notebooks (no spirals), rules, three-ring binders, erasers, ruled notebook paper and folders. Supplies can be dropped off, until the end of July, at FDC, 1616 Newkirk Avenue. Checks payable to NANA can be sent to Hynda Lessman, president, 601 East 18th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11226.
