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. (read more…)