Developer wins exception to down-zoning. Over the no-vote of Council Member Tony Avella, the full Council voted to down-zone 120 blocks of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, carving out one area to retain its existing zoning in response to a Bensonhurst developer’s request.

Due to residents’ concerns over large towers replacing Bensonhurst’s single-family homes, the Planning Department filed a map amendment, proposing to eliminate the R6 zoning, which dominated the area and permitted as-of-right residential towers without a height limit. In its place, the rezoning proposed a range of zoning districts, allowing large residential developments along major thoroughfares, such as Avenues S, T, O and Kings Highway, and limiting development to single and two-family homes along the mid-blocks of streets. (read more…)