The Domino project has Borough President Marty Markowitz's seal of approval, so long as the developer makes some minor changes to the controversial $1.2 billion waterfront redevelopment project.

The borough president's April 9 decision to back the project was the first ULURP win for Community Preservation Corporation, the developer seeking to build 2,200 apartments - 30 percent of them affordable - on the shuttered 11-acre Domino Sugar refinery site on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg.

Previously, Community Board 1 and the board's Land Use Committee rejected the plan. It is still opposed by Councilman Stephen Levin, whose vote could help determine Domino's outcome when it reaches the City Council.

In approving the plan, Markowitz echoed community concerns over the project's proposed building density and impact on local infrastructure. He recommended an unspecified reduction in bulk and density levels for the proposed multi-tower residential complex, and urged the developer to sign a binding commitment to provide the promised permanent affordable housing.

And he called on the MTA to increase mass transit services for the area, which is expected to grow by several thousands residents if the project is completed. (Construction is not scheduled to begin for several more years, and is still pending approval from the city.)

But Markowitz said assuming these recommendations are taken into account, the plan's benefits, such as a public waterfront esplanade and retail space, far outweigh any negative impacts it might have on the Williamsburg community.

“Should my conditions be adopted,” Markowitz said, “I will proudly say to 'Domino, Domi-yes!' Though I am attaching some conditions to my support of this project, I want to commend Refinery LLC for its ambition and for submitting a plan I feel both appropriately celebrates our waterfront and understands the need for affordable housing in Brooklyn.”

Reactions to Markowitz's decision were mixed. Michael Lappin, the president of Community Preservation Corporation, hailed the borough president's decision as a major step forward in the planning process.

But Ward Dennis, the chairman of CB1's Land Use committee and co-chair of the advocacy group Neighbors Allied for Good Growth- which opposes the plan- had a different take.

“The project is too big for the community,” said Dennis, adding that Markowitz made that concern plain in his conditional approval. “NAG and the community board and now the borough president have all said that it has to be consistent with other rezonings on the waterfront.”