Contextual rezoning would impact 229 blocks south of Forest Park in Woodhaven and Richmond Hill. On May 23, 2012, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of City Planning’s Woodhaven – Richmond Hill Rezoning proposal. The contextual rezoning would impact 229 blocks along Jamaica and Atlantic Avenues south of Forest Park in Queens. The portion of Woodhaven impacted by the plan is generally bounded by Park Lane South to the north, Jamaica and 91st Avenues to the south, 98th Street to the east, and Eldert Lane to the west. The portion of Richmond Hill impacted by the plan is generally bounded by Atlantic and Jamaica Avenues to the north, 103rd Avenue to the south, 121st Street and the Van Wyck Expressway to the east, and 112th and 102nd Streets to the west.

The Woodhaven and Richmond Hill neighborhoods are characterized by low-density development and are known for their one- and two-family wood-frame houses, and tree-lined streets. The blocks north of Atlantic Avenue, found largely (more…)

Credit: The Department of City Planning

City Planning Commission certified 140-block Bed-Stuy North Rezoning and 90-block West Harlem Rezoning: included in the Brooklyn proposal is a text amendment that would also apply Citywide and to areas of the Bronx. At City Planning Commission’s review session on May 7, 2012, the Commission certified the Department of City Planning’s contextual rezoning proposal for the northern half of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. The Bedford-Stuyvesant North Rezoning plan would impact a 140-block area generally bounded by Flushing Avenue to the north, Quincy Street to the south, Broadway to the east, and Classon and Franklin Avenues to the west. The proposal was requested by Brooklyn Community Board 3 and local elected officials after the City rezoned the southern half of the neighborhood in 2007. (read CityLand’s coverage here).

Bedford-Stuyvesant is a residential neighborhood characterized by late 19th- and early 20th-century rowhouses, small and medium-sized apartment buildings, and several large, tower-in-the-park NYCHA (more…)

Rezoning would impact 181 blocks in Williamsbridge and Baychester neighborhoods. On August 24, 2011, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for the Williamsbridge and Baychester neighborhoods in the north Bronx. The rezoning would impact 181 blocks generally bounded by 233rd Street to the north, East Gun Hill Road and Givan Avenue to the south, the New England Thruway to the east, and the Bronx River Parkway to the west. The rezoning area includes a 130-block section of Williamsbridge  and a 29-block section of Baychester. Planning seeks to protect the area’s lower-density residential blocks from out-of-scale development and provide growth opportunities along the area’s major mixed-use corridors.

The residential neighborhood of Williamsbridge is in the western portion of the rezoning area and is primarily characterized by detached single-family homes, rowhouses, and small apartment buildings, with pockets of larger multi-family structures near the Bronx River Parkway. Baychester is separated from Williamsbridge by Laconia Avenue, and is also characterized by lower density residential development. The area’s three main zoning districts — R4, R5, and R6 — permit new development that is out-of-context with the existing built character of the two neighborhoods. According to Planning, the “generic residential districts” do not promote predictable growth and have altered the area’s scale and character.

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Neighborhood group supported 31-block rezoning plan, but one property owner requested relief for site. On July 13, 2011, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Department of City Planning’s contextual rezoning plan for Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. The approximately 31-block study area is generally bounded by Atlantic Avenue to the north, Warren and Wyckoff Streets to the south, 4th Avenue to the east, and Court Street to the west. The proposal seeks to preserve the neighborhood’s low-rise residential character while reinforcing the commercial character of certain mixed-use corridors.

The majority of the area is currently zoned R6 and characterized by three- and four-story brown stone and rowhouse buildings. An R7B zoning district is mapped on portions of five blocks between 3rd and 4th Avenues. These blocks were part of a larger area that was rezoned in 1991 as part of the Park Slope North rezoning. There are no established building height limits under R6 zoning regulations and the maximum FAR for residential uses is 2.43 while community facility uses are permitted to build to a maximum of 4.8 FAR. As a result, the area has recently experienced outof- scale development.  (more…)

Contextual rezoning would permit residential development along Webster Avenue and apply lower-density districts in Bedford Park and Norwood. On January 5, 2011, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Department of City Planning’s Webster Avenue/Bedford Park/Norwood Rezoning plan in the Bronx. The 80-block proposal includes a thirteen-block section of the north/south Webster Avenue commercial corridor between 193rd and 211th Streets and the nearby residential side streets making up the Bedford Park and Norwood neighborhoods. The rezoning area is primarily within Bronx Community Board 7, which requested the plan, with only a small section of Webster Avenue above 211th Street within CB 12’s boundaries.

Webster Avenue’s C8-2 commercial zoning prohibits residential development and was applied when the IRT Third Avenue elevated train line ran above the block making heavier commercial uses more acceptable along the corridor. The Third Avenue El was demolished in 1973, but the zoning remained unchanged. This wide avenue is now characterized by auto repair shops, low-scale office uses, parking lots, vacant lots, and minimal pedestrian traffic. The rezoning would replace the majority of the C8-2 zoning with R7D, R7B, and C4-5D districts, and new commercial overlays to encourage higher density mixed-use development. Planning would apply the Inclusionary Housing Program to the new R7D and C4-5D districts. (more…)