Rezonings in Manhattan and Queens begin public review

Tribeca, West Village, and Rosedale in SE Queens would be affected. On June 7, 2010, the City Planning Commission certified the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposals for sections of Queens and Manhattan. The Queens rezoning would impact the 193-block Rosedale section of southeast Queens. Planning’s North Tribeca rezoning would impact a 25- block area below Canal Street. A third plan would rezone a six-block portion of the West Village bounded by Washington and Greenwich Streets.

Rosedale is a suburban neighborhood bordering Nassau County characterized by one- and two-family homes built along tree-lined streets. Sunrise Highway divides the neighborhood. Rosedale’s northern portion is primarily zoned R2, which permits single-family detached homes. The southern portion is zoned R3-2 and permits a variety of building types, including rowhouses, garden apartments, and semidetached homes, which are inconsistent with Rosedale’s development patterns. The rezoning would replace the R3-2 district with contextual zoning districts — R3A, R3X, and R3-1 — that would tailor future development to the prevailing scale of blocks within the area. The plan would also modify the area’s commercial overlays to better reflect commercial and retail uses and reduce required off-street parking. Queens Community Board 13 approved the plan on June 28.

The North Tribeca rezoning encompasses the A4, B1, and B2 subareas of the Special Tribeca Mixed Use District and is generally bounded by Canal Street to the north, Walker and Hubert Streets to the south, Broadway to the east, and West Street to the west. The rezoning area is characterized by narrow four- and five-story lofts and eight- to tenstory buildings with full lot coverage. The A4 general mixed-use subarea comprises four blocks bounded by Greenwich and West Streets and is zoned C6-3A and C6-2A, which reflects the increasingly residential character of the neighborhood. The B1 and B2 limited mixed-use subareas cover the majority of the rezoning areas and are zoned M1-5, which restricts residential uses and does not include height limitations or require consistent streetwalls.

Planning proposes to rezone the M1-5 district to C6-2A and replace the limited mixed-use subareas with three new general mixed-use subareas. The new subareas would allow building envelopes that would reflect each subarea’s prevailing building type. The InclusionaryHousing Program would apply to the area’s C6-2A district to promote the creation of affordable housing. Manhattan Community Board 1 approved the plan on June 22.

The West Village rezoning would impact the east side of Washington Street between West 12th and West 10th Streets and Greenwich Street’s western frontage between Perry and West 10th Streets. The predominately residential area is characterized by three- to five-story apartment buildings and rowhouses along the side streets. There is a handful of larger warehouse buildings throughout the area. The area’s C1-6 zoning permits medium-density residential and commercial development that is not subject to maximum height limits or street-wall requirements. Building on the City’s 2005 Far West Village contextual rezoning, the proposal calls for rezoning the area to C1-6A. This contextual district would establish a maximum building height of 80 feet, mandate continuous street-walls, and require setbacks after 65 feet. Manhattan Community Board 2 has until August 16 to review the rezoning proposal.

CPC: Certification of Rosedale Rezoning (C 100436 ZMQ – rezoning); Certification of North Tribeca Rezoning (C 100369 ZMM – rezoning) (N 100370 ZRM – text amend.); Certification of Washington and Greenwich Streets Rezoning (C 100437 ZMM – rezoning) (June 7, 2010).

 

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