CB1 and P.S. 234 Prepare to Fight Tower by Ronald Drenger Community Board 1 and the P.S. 234 PTA are gearing up to fight a plan by the city and a private developer to construct a 35-story residential tower at Chambers and West streets, next to the elementary school. A required public review of the project was launched on Feb. 23. During the review process, which will probably take about six months, opponents hope either to negotiate major changes in the proposal or to derail it completely. They said they planned to lobby city officials and to rally Downtown residents to speak out against the building plans. "It's the wrong thing for our community," said Madelyn Wils, CB1's chairwoman. "We are going to kill this version of the building," said Tim Johnson, president of P.S. 234's PTA. "These kinds of projects have been stopped in the past." Fearing that the school will be overwhelmed by new students, Johnson said he does not want any building next door for the time being. "We've taken a position to oppose any residential development until there's another school Downtown," said Johnson. P.S. 234 principal Sandy Bridges looks ahead with trepidation to the construction next door and the building that may eventually tower overhead. "We have a beautiful, wonderful school that they're going to be dwarfing," she said. "That breaks my heart a little bit." A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for March 30. (See Community Calendar, page 20). The community board will vote on the project in April; it will then be reviewed by the Borough President, City Planning Commission and City Council. The proposal for the city-owned lot, Site 5C, calls for a 360-foot-tall tower along West Street, an eight-story wing on Chambers Street, and a public plaza next to Warren Street. The project, by developer Jack Resnick and Sons, also includes an 18,000-square-foot community center. The community groups say the project is too big and would worsen street congestion, block sunlight, overwhelm Tribeca's small-scale buildings and bring more residents than the neighborhood can handle. Last month the city released an environmental impact statement concluding that the project would not harm the neighborhood's character. But the study determined that the proposed building would cast shadows over much of Washington Market Park, increase pedestrian and vehicle traffic on local streets and bring an estimated 46 new students to an already overcrowded P.S. 234. To protect schoolchildren from construction, the study said, a 20-foot-wide "buffer structure"-a three-foot-high concrete barrier topped by an eight-foot-high fence-will be built and will take up part of P.S. 234's playground for a year. CB1 wants the tower reduced by at least 10 stories and the community center enlarged to 40,000 square feet-though there is some disagreement among board members as to which should be the community's priority. "It's what's in the building that counts-the community services," said Bob Townley, director of Manhattan Youth, which would manage the community center. "Our programs are overcrowded and community groups are starved for space." City Councilman Alan Gerson said he would fight for both goals. "I think we can be creative enough to achieve a better building with a bigger community center," Gerson said. He predicted that the project "will not pass the Council unless those changes are made."