Long-Awaited Zoning Plan Finally Enacted

City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley (at podium) announced the passage and enaction of new zoning codes for parts of Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village during a press conference along 83rd Street near 64th Road in Middle Village on Tuesday, Aug. 4. She was joined at the event by (from left to right) Community Board 5 Land Use Committee Chairperson Walter Sanchez, Board 5 member and Juniper Park Civic Association President Robert Holden and Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano. (photo: Robert Pozarycki) More than three years after beginning work on a proposal to institute new zoning codes in parts of Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village, the final plan was approved by the City Council last week and went into effect on Tuesday morning, Aug. 4.

City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley announced the plan's enactment that morning at a press conference attended by community leaders along 83rd Street near 64th Road in Middle Village, one of 300 blocks covered by new contextual zoning codes aimed at curbing overdevelopment.

The enactment of the new zoning rules marks the end of a process launched by community groups that began in earnest in October 2005 with volunteers from each neighborhood completing surveys of the housing stock and submitting them to the Department of City Planning (DCP).

Billed as the second, follow-up phase to an earlier rezoning proposal for parts of Glendale and Middle Village that became law in 2006, the development of the plan was stalled over the last three years for one reason or another, as previously reported. Following her election to the City Council last November, Crowley noted that she reached out to DCP officials to get the process moving.

"For far too long, overdevelopment has been plaguing this community," she said. "It was a long and painstaking process."

After the DCP presented a final draft of the rezoning plan to Community Board 5's Land Use Committee in May, the community board and others involved in the public review process made an effort to have the plan reach the City Council by the summer. Within a matter of days in mid-May, both the community board and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall recommended approval of the proposal.

Crowley noted that the entire City Council voted to approve the new zoning codes during their stated session last Wednesday, July 29.

"This rezoning will help preserve the quality of life in the neighborhood," she said, noting that the new codes include "contextual zoning" regulations aimed at preserving the overall character of the housing stock in each community.

Various civic leaders involved in the rezoning process hailed the plan's approval as a step in the right direction, but acknowledged that more work remained to ensure that the overall housing stock in each neighborhood will remain the same for years to come.

Gary Giordano, district manager of Board 5, noted that in recent years, one- and two-family homes on large lots around the community have been demolished by developers and re- placed by several multi-family dwellings. The rule changes, he observed, would help deter this practice and keep the area from becoming overdeveloped and overcrowded.

"We are looking to preserve the beauty of these neighborhoods for as long as we can," Giordano said.

The president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, Robert Holden, observed that the new regulations will only be effective provided that they are enforced by the proper authorities, namely the Department of Buildings. He noted that previously the Buildings Department had not been made aware of zoning changes in other parts of the community and city and approved building plans under outdated regulations.

"We need to give the Department of Buildings enough resources to enforce the law," he said. "We also have a problem with self-certification. We have architects and engineers certifying buildings that, in many cases, do not meet" valid building and zoning codes.

With the rezoning plan now approved and enacted, the community board's Land Use Committee is shifting their attention to working on additional regulations to help preserve one-family homes, according to the committee's chairperson, Walter Sanchez.

Noting that many homes in the three neighborhoods are currently one-family, he suggested that the community would be overwhelmed if many of them are converted into twofamily dwellings in the years ahead.

"If each of these homes were to become two-family, you wouldn't be able to find a parking spot here," he said.

Inside the new regulations

The new zoning codes are taking effect in four clusters as follows:

• Eastern Glendale, which is generally bounded by Cooper Avenue, 88th Street, 75th Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard (it also includes some homes on Valentine Place, Doran Avenue, 72nd Drive, 78th Avenue east of 88th Street, 80th Street near Cooper Avenue and 77th Avenue between 78th Street and 79th Place).

• Western Glendale, which is generally bounded by Myrtle, Central and 70th avenues, Cypress Hills Street, Cooper Avenue and 69th Place. The cluster also includes much of Liberty Park, which is generally bounded by Myrtle Avenue, Cypress Hills Street, cemeteries near the Brooklyn/Queens border and the Long Island Rail Road's Bay Ridge branch.

• Maspeth and Western Middle Village. There are two areas of Maspeth in this cluster: one generally bounded by the Long Island Expressway, 61st Street and 56th Drive, 60th Court, Eliot Avenue and Mount Olivet Cemetery; the other bounded by the Long Island Expressway, Brown Place, 68th Street, 69th Street, Eliot Avenue and 71st Street.

The western Middle Village section is generally bounded by Fresh Pond Road, Metropolitan Avenue, 65th Street and Eliot Avenue. It also includes homes in the area of Metropolitan and Admiral avenues between 65th Street and 65th Lane and homes in the vicinity of 69th Street and 62nd Avenue.

• Middle Village. This area includes a large portion of homes generally bounded by 62nd Avenue, 82nd Street and Dry Harbor Road, Furmanville Avenue, Woodhaven Boulevard, 62nd Drive and 84th Street. Other areas included in the study are homes in the vicinity off 61st Road and 84th Place near Dry Harbor Road; 60th Drive near 84th Street; 84th Street between 58th and Eliot avenues; 60th Drive between 83rd Place and 86th Street; 80th Street between 58th Avenue and Queens-Midtown Expressway; 58th Avenue and 57th Road between 76th and 78th streets; and 78th Street between Queens-Midtown Expressway and Caldwell Avenue.

Most of the one- and two-family homes in these areas are now protected under R4B zoning regulations, which mandate that no more than 90 percent of the size of each lot may be developed. Additionally, all front yards must measure at least five feet from the curb line.

Detached and semi-detached oneand two-family homes are also under similar requirements in the R4A and R4-1 zoning. One- and two-family detached homes in the Liberty Park area are now protected under R3A zoning, which allows for no more than 60 percent of the lot to be developed.

The zoning plan also includes enhanced R5D zoning with a commercial overlay along the western side of Woodhaven Boulevard between 63rd Avenue and 64th Road, and along Myrtle Avenue between 61st Street and 73rd Place in Glendale. The rules allow for the construction and/or maintenance of mixed-use buildings no more than four stories high with commercial space permitted on the ground floor and apartments above.

Some one-family, attached homes in Maspeth and Middle Village which have garages and driveways located in the front were not included in the zoning plan, Crowley noted, since the type of structure does not fall under a specific contextual zoning regulation. She and Holden noted that they are working to convince the DCP to establish one in the city's zoning code.