Developers, community board back Sapphire Street rezoning amid flood‑risk concerns and calls to align with Jewel Streets plan

An applicant team seeking to rezone approximately 12 lots in the Lynenwood/Howard Beach area described a six‑story residential proposal that would yield roughly 268 units, about 67 affordable units under MIH option one, and 118 parking spaces, at a hybrid public hearing held by the Queens Borough President's Office.

Richard Lobell, representing 135 Sapphire LLC, said the application would rezone R4 parcels to an R6A district and produce a building of roughly 186,000 square feet with a U‑shaped massing, elevated first floor and sixth‑floor setbacks. Project architects and engineers said the site has flood risk and is partly within a floodplain; design responses include elevating habitable uses above the cellar, wet flood‑proofing of the cellar/parking level, gabion (stone‑filled) permeable walls for stormwater accommodation, roof landscaping and potential PV, and 100 percent electrification and hot‑water heat recovery to meet stretch energy code requirements.

Why it matters: Advocate groups and planners working on the Jewel Streets neighborhood plan urged the borough president to delay action until the plan’s sewer and street‑raising details are final. Meredith McNair, a community planner at Cypress Hills LDC and member of the Justice for the Jewel Streets Coalition, told the hearing the site sits at one of the neighborhood’s lowest points with chronic flooding and that the neighborhood plan currently calls for different zoning allocations across the block (R5 on the west and R6D on the east), making approval now premature.

Community Board 10 position: Betty Braden, chairperson of Community Board 10, said the full board voted 29–1 (one disclosed conflict and abstention) to support the project with modifications and recommended conditions; she said the board would forward written materials to city planning by the end of the day.

Developer replies and technical measures: The applicant described a design with an elevated first floor, a cellar level used primarily for parking/storage that is expected to be wet flood‑proofed, double‑lane drive aisles to provide vehicular access even if DOT raises adjacent street grades, landscaping buffers to decongest sidewalks, and mechanical systems placed outside the floodplain. The applicant also noted prior consultation with DOT and engineers regarding potential future grade changes tied to the Jewel Streets plan.

Process and next steps: Public testimony on the Sapphire Street items concluded at the hearing and Community Board 10’s recommendations were recorded. The borough president’s office will include the hearing record and the community board submission in the ULURP review pathway; the next land use hearing was announced for July 2.