Local Council Member and residents supported the proposed 248-block contextual rezoning, but two property owners requested modifications. On March 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Department of City Planning’s contextual rezoning plan for Astoria, Queens. The 248-block study area is generally bounded by 20th Avenue to the north, Broadway to the south, Steinway Street to the east, Vernon Boulevard and the East River to the west, and is divided by the Grand Central Parkway. The proposal builds on three smaller rezonings adopted in the area between 1989 and 2001.

The majority of the area’s northern blocks are currently zoned R5 and characterized by two- and three-story rowhouses and semi-detached homes with consistent building heights and front yards. The area’s southern blocks are predominantly zoned R6 and characterized by large prewar apartment buildings between three and seven stories tall. There are no established height limits in R6 zoning districts, and the maximum FAR for residential uses is 2.43 while community facility uses are permitted to build up to a maximum of 4.8 FAR. As a result, the area has recently experienced development out-of-scale with the neighborhood’s built character. (read more…)