(DNAINFO)  Allegra Hobbs | August 18, 2017 — The city’s process for reviewing three massive residential developments slated to rise on the Two Bridges waterfront is not only lax, but unlawful, argue housing lawyers working on behalf of concerned neighborhood groups, who are threatening to sue over the issue.

The Department of City Planning’s former director Carl Weisbrod one year ago rejected the pleas of elected officials and community members to put the cluster of mega-towers through the Uniform Land Review Procedure (ULURP) — the city’s most strenuous review process for new developments — instead determining the projects constitute mere “minor modifications” that don’t need any permits or waivers.

But that determination runs contrary to the city’s zoning text, attorneys of the Urban Justice Center’s Community Development Project say. The proposed developments fall in an area known as a Large-Scale Residential Development (LSRD), which comes with its own set of rules — new developments must either be authorized by the City Planning Commission or get a special permit, which requires the ULURP process, the attorneys argue.

Source: City Skirts Land-Use Law in Two Bridges Development, Lawyers Say – Lower East Side – New York – DNAinfo