Largest rezoning undertaken by City sent back to Commission for final approval. The City Council approved, with several significant modifications, the Planning Commission’s proposal to rezone 378 blocks in Jamaica, Queens. The Council’s modifications must now go to the Planning Commission for final approval.

The Jamaica Plan, considered the largest comprehensive rezoning plan proposed by the City, grew from pressure on the City by Queens Community Boards 8 and 12 to revitalize the area, one of Queens’ most significant transit hubs. Once a significant shopping and business center, downtown Jamaica began to decline in the early 1960s as automobile use increased and auto-accessible shopping centers in Long Island replaced it. The area then began to fall into neglect, and for years the only development came from government-funded construction projects like the JFK Air Train Station and the Archer Avenue Subway extension. Even with such significant government projects, vacant and derelict parcels remained and discouraged private investment. When City Planning started its rezoning study, it found the existing zoning in downtown Jamaica to be extremely restrictive for an area so well-served by public transportation.

City Planning’s rezoning proposal sought to encourage development by up-zoning downtown Jamaica’s core, and to protect established residential blocks by down-zoning the St. Alban’s, Hollis, Briarwood, Jamaica Estates, Jamaica Hill and South Jamaica areas. Along with the 368- block rezoning, the plan’s seven linked applications included text amendments to create zoning rules to foster development of a downtown Jamaica shopping district and to apply the City’s inclusionary housing program to 70 blocks in downtown Jamaica and along Hillside Avenue from 139th to 191st Streets, the largest application of inclusionary housing outside of Manhattan. The plan also called for the creation of an urban renewal area to allow the City to take property by eminent domain to achieve Jamaica’s revitalization. The urban renewal plan would apply to three blocks near the new JFK AirTran/LIRR station. (more…)

Changes included the addition of anti-harassment law and strengthening of height limits. In May 2005, after last-minute modifications, the City Council approved six land use actions related to a comprehensive redevelopment plan of a two-mile waterfront area along the East River and adjacent upland neighborhoods in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 2 CityLand 36 (Apr. 15, 2005), 2 CityLand 51 (May 15, 2005), 2 CityLand 67 (June 15, 2005). Public review of the proposed amendments identified the need for additional modifications, including a specific request by the community and Borough President Marty Markowitz that current residents be protected by anti-harassment laws.

On October 28, 2005, the Planning Department filed two applications for Follow- Up Corrective Actions, or FUCAs, to clarify certain provisions of the earlier rezoning and to amend the zoning map to establish contextual height limits in 19 blocks. (more…)

Rezonings extend protection of contextual zoning and low-density regulations. The Planning Commission approved amendments to the zoning maps in three Bronx neighborhoods to ensure that residential buildings are not out-of-character with low-density development in the neighborhoods.

In Baychester, five of the five and a half blocks located immediately south of Co-op City are currently zoned R3-2 and permit detached, semi-detached and attached homes with a maximum building height of 35 feet. The remaining half block, currently zoned R6, permits residential and community facilities, and has apartment buildings between three and twelve stories high. Under the proposed rezoning, both areas would be zoned R3A, permitting only detached single- and two-family homes with a maximum height of 35 feet. (more…)

Follow-Up Corrective Action (FUCA) approved 17 modifications to Hudson Yards revitalization plan. In January 2005, after extended negotiations, the City Council approved ten land use actions related to the revitalization of Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. 2 CityLand 4 (Feb. 15, 2005). Public review of the proposed text amendment identified the need for certain modifications. On August 4, 2005, the Planning Department, Council Member Christine Quinn, and Manhattan Community Board 4 applied jointly to incorporate the modifications into the Hudson Yards plan. The Follow-Up Corrective Action, or FUCA, identified 18 modifications related to affordable housing, development controls, clarifications, and corrections. On December 21, 2005, the City Council approved 17 of 18 revisions to the text. The approved corrective actions: (more…)

New district created to curb development of Queens “McMansions.” On March 14, 2005, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the Bloomberg administration’s largest proposed down-zoning to date and a new citywide zoning district to be applied first to Bayside, a Queens neighborhood characterized predominantly by single-family detached homes. The approved 350-block down-zoning of Bayside, commenced at the urging of Council Member Tony Avella and local residents, seeks to end the rising development in Bayside of semi-detached homes, apartment buildings and oversized single-family homes referred to by the community as “McMansions.”

The Planning Department proposed to down-zone an area bounded generally by Francis Lewis Boulevard and Clearview Expressway to the west, the Cross Island Parkway to the east, 24th and 26th Avenues to the north and, on the south, by the Long Island Expressway. (more…)