Central Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Van Cortlandt Village and Throgs Neck down-zoned. On September 28, 2004, the City Council approved four major Bronx down-zonings.

In Central Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil, the Council rezoned a 30-block area to restrict any new buildings’ height to six and seven stories rather than the 14 stories previously permitted. Currently, 92 percent of the neighborhoods’ buildings are under seven stories.

The Council also rezoned a 15-block area of Van Cortlandt Village, limiting the size and floor area of new dwellings to a size that more closely matched the existing low density buildings. The down-zonings, opposed at the Council by several homeowners and commercial building owners, grew out of a §197-a rezoning proposal initiated in 1998 by Bronx Community Board 8 under the Charter provision that allows a board to propose a plan for its development, growth, and improvement.

Council vote completes 4-year push to prohibit large apartment buildings. The City Council approved the Planning Commission’s comprehensive down-zoning proposal of 88 blocks in Brookville, north of JFK International Airport in Queens. The Council’s vote completes a four-year-long initiative, which started with a community letter to the Queens Borough President in 2000 and led to the creation of a joint Community Board, Borough President, and City Planning Department Task Force.

The Brookville residents, pointing to a rising number of out-of-character developments in the area, asked that steps be taken to prohibit large developments. Concern arose from construction of several as-of-right 12-unit apartment buildings and one 25-unit apartment building directly adjacent to Brookville Park at 145-33 and 145-37 232nd Street. Prior to these developments, Brookville was characterized by one and two-family homes and small semi-detached dwellings.

Developer reduced tower by 60 feet and increased community facilities. The City Council approved, without additional changes, the City Planning Commission’s resolutions adopted on July 28, 2004 to allow construction of a 29-story mixed-use building at 200 Chambers Street. The Council’s action completes the designation of the site as an Urban Development Action Area, allows the transfer of City-owned land to the City’s Economic Development Corporation, and approves a special permit to modify height and setback. In the course of the ULURP process, the developer reduced the height of the tower from 360 ft. to 300 ft., eliminated an urban plaza, committed 10,000 sq.ft. of a 40,000-square-foot community facility space to the adjacent P.S. 234, and reduced the project’s size.

The proposed development raised concerns because of the site’s history, the potential shadows on Tribeca’s Washington Market Park, and the impact of new residents on the already overcrowded P.S. 234. The site, part of an expired Urban Renewal Area Plan, had a history of failed development proposals, leaving it one of only two remaining undeveloped sites in the area.