Planning proposed contextual rezonings in Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. On May 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission certified the Department of City Planning’s contextual rezoning proposals for sections of Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. The Queens rezoning would impact a 418-block portion of northeast Queens and would be the City’s largest rezoning. The Bronx plan would rezone 75 blocks along the central Bronx’s Third Avenue and Tremont Avenue corridors. The Manhattan proposal, referred to as the Third Avenue Corridor Rezoning, would impact an eight-block section of the East Village bounded by East 13th and East 9th Streets and Third and Fourth Avenues.

The Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, and Hollis Hills neighborhoods of northeast Queens have recently experienced development out of scale with the area’s residential character. The rezoning would replace the area’s zoning, which has remained unchanged since 1961, with contextual zoning districts, including R1-2A, R2A, and R3X districts. The plan would also modify commercial overlays to more closely match current use patterns and to Borreduce off-street parking requirements. Planning would broadly apply R2A zoning to 295 blocks (most of Hollis Hills and portions of Auburndale and Oakland Gardens) in order to reinforce the area’s existing detached single-family and two-family housing. Queens Community Boards 7, 8, and 11 must vote on the plan by August 2, 2010. (read more…)

Residents support City Planning’s proposal to use lower density and contextual zoning districts to limit out-of-character development. On April 22, 2009, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for more than 250 blocks in northeastern Queens, and the creation of a new citywide R1-2A contextual zoning district. The North Flushing rezoning plan, undertaken in response to requests from local council members, Queens Community Boards 7 and 11, and local civic groups, impacts five neighborhoods: North Flushing, Broadway-Flushing, Bowne Park, Auburndale, and Bayside. The rezoning area is generally bounded by 25th Avenue to the north, Northern Boulevard and Depot Road to the south, Clearview Expressway and Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east, and Union Street to the west.

Zoning in North Flushing has remained largely unchanged since 1961. Over the past several years North Flushing has experienced increasingly out-of-scale development in the largely residential area, which is predominantly characterized by one- and two-family detached and semi-detached houses, and with multi-family buildings located primarily in the western and southern portions. The bulk of the rezoning replaces many existing R3- 2, R4, R5, and R6 districts with lower density and contextual zoning districts, including the new R1-2A district. The rezoning also modifies commercial overlay districts to prevent intrusion of commercial uses on residential portions of blocks. Planning believes that the rezoning will ensure that future development in the area will reflect the neighborhoods’ established character. (read more…)