THE CITY COUNCIL HAS JUST VOTED TO APPROVE THE FAR WEST VILLAGE REZONING WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING TO ENACT FOR YEARS, WHICH MEANS IT TAKES IMMEDIATE EFFECT! This rezoning will go a long way towards stemming the tide of inappropriate development in this historic residential neighborhood, and is a tremendous victory for community efforts in the face of stiff initial resistance from the city! Read the coverage in today’s CRAINS NY BUSINESS HERE.
The Far West Village Rezoning (also known as the Washington and Greenwich Streets Rezoning) covers six blocks between Washington and Greenwich Streets and West 10th and West 12th Streets (see MAP). The rezoning was first proposed by GVSHP and community groups in April of 2008 in response to a planned out-of-scale 100-room hotel at Perry and Washington Streets and a planned outsized mixed-use building at Charles and Washington Streets. GVSHP had also identified more than a dozen potential development sites in this six block area which could have had large-scale hotels built upon them if this rezoning had not taken effect. The rezoning will limit the size and height of allowable new developments and eliminate the possibility of large-scale hotel construction, which had begun to threaten the area.
GVSHP pushed very hard to expedite the consideration of the rezoning in order to ensure that it took effect before either project was “vested” and could be built under the terms of the older, more permissive zoning (read HERE and HERE). Because the rezoning has now taken effect before either project got foundations in the ground, neither can now be built in their currently planned forms. After refusing to support the proposed rezoning for more that a year and a half, in November of 2009 the Department of City Planning agreed to move ahead with the rezoning following extensive letter-writing campaigns and a widely-attended Town Hall meeting calling for zoning changes for the area conducted by GVSHP and allied community groups.
A community celebration of the Far West Village rezoning victory will be held tonight from 6:30 to 8 pm at the Village Community School, 272 West 10th Street, btw. Washington and Greenwich Streets. GVSHP wishes to thank and acknowledge all the neighbors and community groups whose hard work led to this important victory. ALL ARE WELCOME, PLEASE COME CELEBRATE WITH US! RSVP by clicking here or calling (212) 475-9585 ext. 35.
For more information on the Far West Village Rezoning, CLICK HERE.
