The boundary lines of the proposed Greater JFK IBID. Image credit: Urbanomics/BFJ Planning

The proposed IBID’s geographic boundaries do not include the JFK airport itself, which ensures it would serve the needs of the surrounding off-airport community. On April 13, 2016, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the New York City Department of Small Business Services’ application to create the Greater JFK Industrial Business Improvement District, or IBID, located in Springfield Gardens, Queens. Though the proposed IBID would be the largest IBID in the City, it purposefully does not include within its boundaries the John F. Kennedy International Airport itself, which would ensure the needs of the off-airport community at-large remain the focus of the IBID’s efforts.

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Street view of 118-27 Farmers Boulevard. Image Credit: Google Maps

Board granted the variances despite divided community support. On September 23, 2014, the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant five variances to St. Albans Presbyterian Church for the construction of a five-story mixed-use facility at 118-27 Farmers Boulevard. The development site is located in St. Albans, Queens, and bounded by Farmers Boulevard to the west, 119th Avenue to the south, 189th Street to the east, and 118th Avenue to the north. The facility will feature two floors in the cellar for community space and five stories for residential space containing sixty-seven units of affordable housing, as well as seventeen parking spaces, and a thirty-five-foot perimeter wall.

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Downzoning will preserve residential character. On October 29, 2007, the City Council approved, with modifications, City Planning’s plan to rezone 317 blocks in the St. Albans and Hollis sections of Queens.

The plan, the result of a collaborative effort between Queens Community Board 12, Council Member Leroy Comrie, and City Planning, seeks to protect the area after market pressures forced some owners to sub-divide their lots or tear down existing one- and two-family homes in favor of larger, out-of-character buildings. The plan also limits moderate residential and mixed-use development to the main commercial thoroughfares of Hollis and Merrick Avenues. The rezoning complements the larger Jamaica Plan, which the Council approved last August. 4 CityLand 117 (Sept. 15, 2007). (read more…)

Largest rezoning undertaken by City sent back to Commission for final approval. The City Council approved, with several significant modifications, the Planning Commission’s proposal to rezone 378 blocks in Jamaica, Queens. The Council’s modifications must now go to the Planning Commission for final approval.

The Jamaica Plan, considered the largest comprehensive rezoning plan proposed by the City, grew from pressure on the City by Queens Community Boards 8 and 12 to revitalize the area, one of Queens’ most significant transit hubs. Once a significant shopping and business center, downtown Jamaica began to decline in the early 1960s as automobile use increased and auto-accessible shopping centers in Long Island replaced it. The area then began to fall into neglect, and for years the only development came from government-funded construction projects like the JFK Air Train Station and the Archer Avenue Subway extension. Even with such significant government projects, vacant and derelict parcels remained and discouraged private investment. When City Planning started its rezoning study, it found the existing zoning in downtown Jamaica to be extremely restrictive for an area so well-served by public transportation.

City Planning’s rezoning proposal sought to encourage development by up-zoning downtown Jamaica’s core, and to protect established residential blocks by down-zoning the St. Alban’s, Hollis, Briarwood, Jamaica Estates, Jamaica Hill and South Jamaica areas. Along with the 368- block rezoning, the plan’s seven linked applications included text amendments to create zoning rules to foster development of a downtown Jamaica shopping district and to apply the City’s inclusionary housing program to 70 blocks in downtown Jamaica and along Hillside Avenue from 139th to 191st Streets, the largest application of inclusionary housing outside of Manhattan. The plan also called for the creation of an urban renewal area to allow the City to take property by eminent domain to achieve Jamaica’s revitalization. The urban renewal plan would apply to three blocks near the new JFK AirTran/LIRR station. (read more…)

Springfield Gardens residents petitioned City to initiate down-zoning. On April 12, 2005, the City Council down-zoned 68 blocks of Springfield Gardens, Queens, completing a three-year process initiated by a local community group, the United Neighbors Civic Association.

Concerned about the proliferation of multi-family apartment buildings replacing small, single-family homes, members of United Neighbors canvassed Springfield Gardens with a petition requesting that the City down-zone the neighborhood to hinder future demolition. Acting on the request, the Planning Department found that although the area’s zoning permitted large-scale, multifamily units with a 35-foot height limit, 97 percent of Springfield Gardens contained one and two-family homes, which created an incentive to demolish existing homes. (read more…)