Update on East Village/LES rezoning
After a three-year process of discussing concerns with local communities about inappropriate development and erosion of neighborhood character in the East Village/Lower East Side, the Department of City Planning has put forward a rezoning plan to address many of these issues.  While not perfect, the rezoning plan will address some of the most serious overdevelopment problems in the East Village — establishing height limits where none currently exist, limiting air rights transfers where none currently exist, and reducing or eliminating the zoning bonus for dormitory and hotel construction which currently covers almost the entire neighborhood. The plan also includes incentives for affordable housing construction and retention, where none currently exist. The plan does not include the Bowery and 3rd/4th Avenue corridors (GVSHP is working on an effort to get those areas rezoned as well) and some aspects of the plan could be further improved. But on the whole the proposed new zoning is an improvement over the current zoning in many respects, and thus GVSHP is urging approval of the plan with modifications and calling for a rezoning of the Bowery and 3rd/4th Avenue corridors as soon as possible.
Next: 11/20/08
Previous: 06/15/07
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