City down-zones most of Fort Greene/Clinton Hill

Inclusionary Housing program extended to Atlantic Ave. and Fulton Street. On July 25, 2007, the City Council approved the 99-block rezoning plan for the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods in Brooklyn, including a proposal to apply the City’s inclusionary housing provisions to blocks along Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Street.

Located adjacent to downtown Brooklyn, the residential neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill have faced increasing development pressure during the past five years as developers began to replace the small brownstones that characterize the area with 11- to 13-story apartment towers. Under the previous zoning, which dates back to 1961, a 97-block area allowed residential and community facility development without any height limit under an R6 zoning designation. Community groups and residents urged City Planning to protect the neighborhood’s lower density.

Under the plan adopted by the City Council, the single R6 zoning district will be replaced by four new zoning districts (R5B, R6A, R6B and R7A) which will set more restrictive limits on height, density and set back. Along the area’s predominantly commercial streets, the rezoning replaced the existing commercial overlays with overlays permitting a broader range of commercial uses beyond neighborhood-serving retail. In the newly-zoned R7A districts along Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Street, City Council voted to apply the City’s inclusionary housing provisions, allowing developers to increase the size of residential projects with an agreement to develop affordable housing either on- or offsite. As approved, developers could increase a project’s size from 3.45 to 4.6 times the project’s lot area.

Following a public hearing on his plan before the Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises, the Council proposed to modify the plan by retaining the R7-1 zoning on lots owned by Pratt Institute, which Pratt proposed to redevelop with a new academic facility. With the modification, the full Council voted by 48-0-0 to approve the plan, sending it back to the Planning Commission, which voted unanimously to approve the modifications.

ULURP Process
Lead Agency: CPC,Neg.Dec.
Comm.Bd.: BK 2, App’d, 28-0-2
Boro. Pres.: App’d
CPC: App’d, 10-0-1

Council: Fort Greene / Clinton Hill Rezoning (July 25, 2007); CPC: Fort Greene / Clinton Hill Rezoning (C 070430 ZMK – map amendment) (N 070431 ZRY- text amendment) (July 11, 2007). CITYADMIN

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