Contextual rezoning impacted 181 blocks in Williamsbridge and Baychester neighborhoods. On October 5, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s 181-block rezoning of the Williamsbridge and Baychester sections in the Bronx. The rezoning impacted an area generally bounded by 233rd Street to the north, East Gun Hill Road and Givan Avenue to the south, the New England Thruway to the east, and the Bronx River Parkway to the west.

Williamsbridge is characterized by a mix of detached homes, rowhouses, small apartment buildings, and larger multi-family buildings near the Bronx River Parkway. Baychester is characterized by lower density residential buildings developed after World War II. The area was predominately zoned R4, R5, and R6, which permitted development out-of-context with the neighborhood’s built character.  (more…)

Rezoning would impact 181 blocks in Williamsbridge and Baychester neighborhoods. On August 24, 2011, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for the Williamsbridge and Baychester neighborhoods in the north Bronx. The rezoning would impact 181 blocks generally bounded by 233rd Street to the north, East Gun Hill Road and Givan Avenue to the south, the New England Thruway to the east, and the Bronx River Parkway to the west. The rezoning area includes a 130-block section of Williamsbridge  and a 29-block section of Baychester. Planning seeks to protect the area’s lower-density residential blocks from out-of-scale development and provide growth opportunities along the area’s major mixed-use corridors.

The residential neighborhood of Williamsbridge is in the western portion of the rezoning area and is primarily characterized by detached single-family homes, rowhouses, and small apartment buildings, with pockets of larger multi-family structures near the Bronx River Parkway. Baychester is separated from Williamsbridge by Laconia Avenue, and is also characterized by lower density residential development. The area’s three main zoning districts — R4, R5, and R6 — permit new development that is out-of-context with the existing built character of the two neighborhoods. According to Planning, the “generic residential districts” do not promote predictable growth and have altered the area’s scale and character.

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