South Park Slope rezoned to protect low-rise character and provide affordable housing. On November 16, 2005, the City Council rezoned 50 blocks of South Park Slope and applied the inclusionary housing program to specific R8A districts along Fourth Avenue, allowing an increase in a building’s floor area with the developers’ commitment to build affordable housing on or off site. The proposal called for the rezoning of an area generally bounded by 15th Street on the north, Fourth Avenue on the west, Prospect Park West on the east, and 24th Street and Green- Wood Cemetery on the south.

At the November 14, 2005 meeting before the Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, Planning Commission Chair Amanda M. Burden referred to the proposal as “emergency zoning,” referencing rapid out-of-character growth in the area. She was supported by a representative from the Fifth Avenue Committee, who expressed concern that a failure to rezone South Park Slope would result in a loss of sound affordable housing due to currently proposed luxury housing. (read more…)