As Community Board 7 begins the process of rezoning Webster Avenue to allow for more residences, the corridor is on the verge of welcoming two new apartment buildings to the neighborhood.

The Doe Fund, a non-profit organization that provides services for the formerly homeless and formerly incarcerated, as well as others, is currently working to obtain a variance that would allow them to build two eight-story apartment buildings on Webster Avenue.

Because of zoning restrictions, the fund, which provides street cleaning services on Bainbridge Avenue and East 204th Street in Norwood using its members, needs the city’s permission to build higher than four stories. One of the buildings is meant for low- and middle-income families, while the other is to contain 84 single-room occupancy apartments (SROs) for men 55 and older.

Many of the residents will be Doe Fund members, formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals, who will be moving into a support system as well as an apartment building.

Although CB7 has approved the Fund’s plan, which is independent from the rezoning effort, they aren’t ready to let a building go up without making sure it will have a positive impact on the community.

CB7 has two concerns with the buildings. One is that eight stories is too high for the area aesthetically, and two, the SRO rooms are too small.

“We can’t assume they won’t have visitors,” Faulkner said about room size. “It should be a situation where they can have self-esteem.”

He said the Board of Standards and Appeals, which is reviewing the proposals on July 10, shared concerns with room size. His solution would be to double the square footage of each room and then have half the amount of rooms, making it a more “live-able” space.

The Doe Fund already has SRO residences that have been successful and they have no qualms about the room size. It has proved to be “absolutely fantastic,” said Eric Palatnik, a lawyer for the Doe Fund.

Still, former CB7 District Manager Rita Kessler echoed the views of many when she said bigger rooms means occupants have the option of living with someone, which creates more stability – the Board’s ultimate goal.

Although Kessler expressed some concerns with the backgrounds of the would-be residents, she said the fact that they go through Doe Fund training and the apartments are rent-stabilized will help make them more stable community members.

Faulkner, too, has no real concerns about the residents themselves. “They are older and have been through the program,” he said. “The Doe Fund has a great reputation and we are willing to take that gamble.”

His only concern is that a future developer might have reservations about building next to an SRO building. However, Faulkner said that, “ironically, in areas where the Doe Fund has built, property value goes up. The Doe Fund has a good track record.”