Proposed zoning map. Credit: DCP

140-block rezoning proposal included new commercial zoning district tailored for blocks with elevated rail lines. On October 4, 2012, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the Department of City Planning’s Bedford-Stuyvesant North Rezoning Plan. The contextual rezoning plan would impact a 140-block area generally bounded by Flushing Avenue to the north, Quincy Street to the south, Broadway to the east, and Classon Avenue to the west. The proposal also includes new regulations regarding street-level transparency requirements for some commercial buildings in the neighborhood, which would also apply to Community District 7 in the Bronx. The proposal follows City Planning’s 2007-approved rezoning of Bedford-Stuyvesant’s southern half.

The primarily residential neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant consists of two- to four-story brownstones along the blocks running east and west, with medium-density apartment buildings found along the blocks running north and south. Larger apartment buildings, such as “tower-in-the-park” public housing (more…)

Credit: The Department of City Planning

City Planning Commission certified 140-block Bed-Stuy North Rezoning and 90-block West Harlem Rezoning: included in the Brooklyn proposal is a text amendment that would also apply Citywide and to areas of the Bronx. At City Planning Commission’s review session on May 7, 2012, the Commission certified the Department of City Planning’s contextual rezoning proposal for the northern half of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. The Bedford-Stuyvesant North Rezoning plan would impact a 140-block area generally bounded by Flushing Avenue to the north, Quincy Street to the south, Broadway to the east, and Classon and Franklin Avenues to the west. The proposal was requested by Brooklyn Community Board 3 and local elected officials after the City rezoned the southern half of the neighborhood in 2007. (read CityLand’s coverage here).

Bedford-Stuyvesant is a residential neighborhood characterized by late 19th- and early 20th-century rowhouses, small and medium-sized apartment buildings, and several large, tower-in-the-park NYCHA (more…)

Contextual rezoning would impact 538 blocks in South Jamaica. On May 4, 2011, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved a Department of City Planning proposal to rezone South Jamaica and portions of Springfield Gardens and St. Albans in southeast Queens. The 538-block rezoning area is generally bounded by Liberty Avenue and South Road to the north, North Conduit to the south, Merrick and Springfield Boulevards to the east, and the Van Wyck Expressway to the west.  Planning also proposed a zoning text amendment to expand the City’s FRESH program to commercial and manufacturing districts within the rezoning area and other portions of Queens Community District 12. The FRESH program offers incentives to encourage the development of grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods.

South  Jamaica   is  a  residential  neighborhood characterized by one- and two-family detached houses, with small pockets of one- and  two-family semi-attached and attached houses and multi-family buildings. Approximately 97 percent of the study area is zoned R3-2 and R4. These zoning districts permit a variety of housing types at densities that are inconsistent with the neighborhood’s built character. (more…)

FAR increased for certain uses after Community Board and Borough President raised concern over proposed limits on commercial and industrial growth. On September 8, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved, with one modification, the Department of City Planning’s proposed rezoning and text amendment for the Dutch Kills area of Long Island City, Queens.

The rezoning plan impacts 40 blocks near the Queensboro Bridge, and seeks to establish a 36-block subdistrict, known as the Dutch Kills Subdistrict, within the existing Special Long Island City Mixed-Use District. The majority of the area within the proposed subdistrict is currently zoned M1-3D, with a small northerly portion zoned M1-1. The new subdistrict would be comprised of four contextual mixed-use zoning districts (R5B, R5D, R6A, R7X) each coupled with an M1 district in order to promote the current range of light industrial and commercial uses while also encouraging new residential development. The remaining four blocks outside of the subdistrict would be zoned M1-2, preserving the manufacturing character of the area. (more…)

Development plan said to spur future development in community. On July 23, 2008, the City Council voted to approve the zoning map amendment proposed by developer Ebling Partners LLC for a full block in Mott Haven bounded by East 159th Street, Eagle Avenue, East 156th Street, and St. Ann’s Avenue. The proposal called for the area to be rezoned from M1-1 to R7X with a commercial overlay of C2-3. The rezoning will facilitate the developer’s plan to develop the block, which, in part, formerly housed the Ebling Brewery until its demolition in 1995. The proposed project includes development of 600 dwelling units totaling 638,931 sq.ft., 50,000 sq.ft. of commercial space, and a 450-space underground parking garage.

At the July 21, 2008 hearing before the Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises, Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo offered her support for the project, which would take place in her district. She stated that both she and the community were “very excited” about the project and praised the developers for paying close attention to the immediate needs of the community. She noted that the block is currently a “horrible site, full of tractor- trailers,” and that its conversion to affordable, quality housing will encourage development in the surrounding area. There were no speakers in opposition. (more…)