CityLaw Profile – City Council Zoning Chair Donovan Richards on Improving Sustainability

Donovan Richards was elected to the City Council from the 31st District in February 2013.  When you speak with City Council member Donovan Richards, two things become readily apparent:  an encyclopedic knowledge of the needs of his Southeast Queens Council district and the drive to pursue solutions for each of those needs simultaneously.


Planning unveils online land use and zoning tool

Mapping tool provides range of zoning and land use information for individual properties and City at large. On August 25, 2011, the Department of City Planning and the Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications announced the release of the publicly accessible zoning and land use web application known as as ZoLa. The web-based Geographic Information Systems tool provides up-to-date maps with zoning and land use information for New York City properties.

ZoLa is a part … <Read More>


Two new Bronx grocery stores win tax exemptions

IDA approved $8.6 million in real estate and tax benefits for the first two supermarkets under the recently-created FRESH program. On February 9, 2010, the New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the City’s Economic Development Corporation, approved tax incentive packages to assist in the development of two new Bronx supermarkets. The financial incentives are the first awarded under the City’s Fresh Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program approved by … <Read More>


Grocery store zoning incentives debated

FRESH program would create incentives to encourage developing full-line grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods. On October 26, 2009, the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee heard testimony on the City’s proposed Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program. The program would provide zoning and financial incentives to encourage grocerystores in neighborhoods identified in a 2008 study as being underserved by stores offering a full range of fresh food. These neighborhoods are located primarily … <Read More>


Grocery store zoning incentives proposed

Program would create floor area bonus and other incentives in effort to increase number of grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods. On August 5, 2009, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the City’s proposed Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program. The program, a joint effort by the Department of City Planning and the City’s Economic Development Corporation, is a response to a City-sponsored study from 2008 finding that low- … <Read More>