Unique Bronx neighborhood down-zoned. On December 8, 2005, the City Council rezoned 39 blocks in Olinville, Bronx and, in a separate action, created a new R5A district which can be applied citywide. The Planning Department initiated the rezoning proposal in response to Bronx Community Board 12’s and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.’s concerns over the increasing replacement of Olinville’s single-family homes with new, significantly out-of-character, high-density apartments.

When first developed in the early 19th century, Olinville was known for its tapestry mills, which were later replaced with modest single-family homes as Olinville became an early residential suburb of the city. Although the area primarily has one and two-family homes, current zoning allows for high-density apartment buildings.

The proposal down-zoned 962 lots, and seeks to retain low-density development and prevent commercial use on residential side streets in an area bounded by East 219th Street and Gun Hill Road, White Plains Road and Boston Road, Burke and Adee Avenues, and Bronx Boulevard. Under the approved proposal, new residential construction will be limited to lower density development consistent with the existing neighborhood character. (more…)

Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn housing projects approved; sent to Council. On April 27 and May 11, 2005, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development obtained the Planning Commission’s approval of seven affordable housing projects, totaling 668 units, to be developed in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Three of the Bronx projects, including the 194-unit Prospect Avenue Tower in Melrose, the 102-unit East Clarke Place project in High Bridge, and the 63-unit Jacob’s Place project in Mount Hope, will include housing for formally homeless and units for very low-income individuals and families. Four of the projects include a commercial component or a community facility use. In total, HPD applied for 591 affordable housing units in the Bronx, 56 in Brooklyn and 21 in Manhattan. In each of the seven applications, HPD applied for the designation of a UDAAP, which, if approved by the City Council, will provide the projects with state tax exemptions. (more…)

129-lot area rezoned to permit residential, live-work and retail. The Planning Commission approved the proposed rezoning of a 129-lot area of Port Morris in the South Bronx that altered the area’s manufacturing zoning to mixed-use, facilitating increased live-work, residential and small commercial business development. The proposed new zoning builds on a 1997 zoning action that established the Port Morris Special Mixed-Use District – the city’s first mixed-use district – within a five-block area of Port Morris to permit diverse as-of-right uses, facilitate legalization of illegal conversions and support the continued expansion of Bruckner Boulevard’s string of antique shops. In the eight years following the 1997 rezoning, 185 new residential units were developed in the five-block area.

The new zoning would extend the mixed-use district to an 11- block area generally bounded by Park Avenue on the west, Willow Avenue on the east, the Major Deegan Expressway on the north and south to the Harlem River and the Harlem River Yards. The Department found that illegal conversions were prevalent in the area and over 40 percent of the lots were vacant, nderutilized or contained abandoned manufacturing structures. Three separate mixed-use zones (M1-2/R6A, M1-3/R8 and M1-5/R8) would be created to allow a large range of uses – residential, community facility and small commercial – while also restricting the height and size of development to more closely match the area’s existing scale. (more…)

BID will address sanitation and security problems and increase marketing for the area’s attractions. The Planning Commission unanimously approved a new BID in the East 161st Street corridor in the Bronx, which will encompass Yankee Stadium, Concourse Village, the Bronx County courthouses, as well as existing one-story fast-food restaurants and street-level retail. The BID is proposed to extend along East 161st Street, from River Avenue on the west to Morris Avenue on the east.

The BID proposal, which culminated nine years of community efforts, will focus on remediation of East 161st Street’s graffiti, litter and security problems. The first year’s budget is projected at $190,000, with almost half, $89,000, allocated towards six-day weekly sidewalk cleaning, garbage pick-up and graffiti removal. The budget will come from an assessment on commercial property owners of $32.97 for each linear front foot and $29 for each $1,000 of assessed valuation. Residential property owners will be assessed $1 a year. (more…)

Site contains six community gardens. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development fIled an application for the disposition of City-owned land and designation of an Urban Development Action Area for the construction of the Courtlandt Avenue Apartments, a five-story, 1 67- unit, low-income housing project in the Bronx.

The 55,980 sq.ft. project site, bounded by Courtlandt and Park Avenues and East 158th and 159th Streets, is comprised of 16 lots, of which 1 1 are vacant, two contain abandoned buildings, and three contain six community gardens. The six gardens are part of the 543 City community gardens subject to a 2002 settlement agreement between the City and the State Attorney General. 8 CityLaw 116 (2002) . Under the agreement, 198 gardens became permanent open spaces, 38 were set for development, and 114 became subject to a review process that could ultimately lead to development. (more…)