Modification established 80-foot building height limit along portion of Queens Boulevard. On June 23, 2011, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for the Sunnyside and Woodside sections of Queens. The plan would impact 130 blocks in western Queens south of the Sunnyside Rail Yard and east of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

Sunnyside, bisected by Queens Boulevard in the western portion of the rezoning area, is predominantly characterized by large residential and commercial buildings. Woodside, in contrast, is characterized by one- and two-family detached and semi-detached homes and low-rise apartment buildings. The populations of both neighborhoods have increased during the past two decades, and subsequent out-of-scale development has disrupted street wall continuity and led to inappropriate commercial uses on residential side streets.

Planning’s proposal would replace the study area’s 50-year old zoning with contextual zoning districts to establish building heights, reinforce existing development patterns, and provide residential development opportunities along appropriate corridors. Accompanying zoning text amendments would alter sidewalk cafe regulations along Queens Boulevard and Skillman Avenue and apply the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program along a portion of Queens Boulevard in Woodside. (more…)

Text amendment would introduce curb cut prohibitions and limit front yard parking spaces in certain residential districts. On February 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission approved, with modifications, the Department of City Planning’s Residential Streetscape Preservation text amendment. Planning proposed the City-wide amendment in response to community concerns about inappropriate curb cuts and front yard parking spaces in residential districts. Planning seeks to clarify parking requirements and preserve and enhance residential streetscapes.

The proposed amendment includes a host of modifications such as requiring new parking spaces in all single- and two-family districts to be located within a residential building or to the side or rear of a building. This requirement currently applies to R1 and R2 districts and certain districts in Lower Density Growth Management Areas in Staten Island and the Bronx. In order to ensure that required front yard plantings are of sufficient quality, the amendment would close a loophole that allows narrow strips of plantings located in driveways to count towards the required minimum front yard planting requirements. (more…)

Air rights text and new setback rule slightly changed to respond to Council’s concerns. The City Council approved 12 significant text amendments to the Hudson Yards zoning text after the Department of City Planning made two small modifications. Overall, the final text encompasses the transfer of development rights from the MTA’s eastern rail yards, the use of the Hudson Yards District Improvement Bonus, and the relocation of subway entrances for the No. 7 line. The final text also encompasses several design issues such as street wall setbacks, sidewalk widening rules, and window glazing requirements. 5 CityLand 104 (Aug. 15, 2008).

Right before the City Council’s Land Use Committee voted on the text, City Planning staff presented two small changes. The original text allowed developers to obtain a building permit for a project without precluding the possibility of later increasing the proposed building’s size through an air rights transfer from the MTA’s rail yards or through the use of the Hudson Yard District Improvement Bonus. Council Member Melinda Katz criticized this text at the Council’s July hearing. The final text requires developers, prior to receipt of a building permit, to send a letter to Planning outlining whether the project includes the transfer of air rights from the rail yards or uses either the inclusionary housing or the district improvement bonuses. (more…)

Council Members Dickens and Jackson defend plan despite vocal opposition from local residents. On April 30, 2008, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning’s plan to rezone the 125th Street corridor, a 24-block area in the Harlem section of Manhattan.

The plan will rezone large portions of the east and west ends of the corridor to encourage arts, entertainment, and retail uses. The plan will also impose height limits, street wall continuity requirements, and measures to preserve nearby brownstone neighborhoods.

At the Council’s public hearing before the Zoning and Franchises subcommittee, Amanda Burden, Chair of the City Planning Commission, testified that the plan will create Upper Manhattan’s first inclusionary housing bonus, and the City’s first Arts Bonus to encourage developers to provide space for arts and entertainment uses. Burden also testified that the plan would result in 2 million sq.ft. of office space and 8,200 new jobs. Burden concluded her testimony by noting that the three Council Members who represent the area, the affected Community Boards, Congressman Charles Rangel and Governor David Paterson all backed the plan. (more…)

Under new plan, City can opt to build High Line amenities in exchange for $2.3M developer fee. On September 5, 2007, the Planning Commission approved amendments to the zoning text for the Special West Chelsea District, specifically aimed at allowing the City to opt to build amenities for the High Line Park rather than waiting for developers to complete the construction.

Under the original text, developments adjacent to the High Line could receive a floor area bonus if the developer agreed to construct amenities for the High Line Park. Since the text’s approval in March 2006, the City grew concerned that developers might delay the High Line Park’s opening since construction of the amenities would correspond to the development’s construction timeline, not the park’s. (more…)