Developer requested rezoning in order to provide additional residential units. On February 3, 2010, the City Council approved Webster Commons LLC’s proposal to rezone a section of Webster Avenue in the Bronx from R6 to R7X to facilitate the development of a 393-unit affordable housing project. The rezoning impacts an unimproved portion of Webster Avenue 800 feet north of East Gun Hill Road and east of Woodlawn Cemetery. Webster Commons requested the up-zoning in order to add 125 additional residential units.
Webster Commons intends to construct a four-building residential complex, varying in height from nine to thirteen stories, on a two-acre parcel purchased from Woodlawn Cemetery. The project will include 10,000 sq.ft. of community facility space and 94 below-grade parking spaces. The developer will market 148 units as affordable to households making 60 percent of area median income, 191 units to households making between 80 and 130 percent of area median income, and 54 units as affordable senior housing. A small ravine that crosses the property, providing groundwater drainage for the cemetery, will be maintained as a natural area for the project’s residents.
During its review of the proposal, the City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the rezoning. The Commission noted that the increase in residential development would create a more active streetscape. It also noted that the project’s height and bulk would be appropriate along Webster Avenue, a major thoroughfare near public transit and the Bronx River Parkway.
At the Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee hearing on January 26, 2010, Council Member Larry B. Seabrook, whose district includes the project, said the new residential buildings would serve the community’s economically and ethnically diverse population. The Subcommittee unanimously approved the rezoning, as did the Land Use Committee and the full Council.
ULURP Process
Lead Agency: CPC,Neg.Dec.
Comm.Bd.: BX 12,App’d, 23-0-0
Boro.Pres.: App’d
CPC: App’d, 13-0-0
Council: App’d, 50-0-1
Council: Webster Avenue Rezoning (C 090397 ZMX – rezoning) (Feb. 3, 2010).
