Hudson Square Rezoning — Pushing for Lower Heights, Protections for Nearby South Village
 Last month GVSHP and allied community groups held a very well-attended and successful community meeting on the proposed Hudson Square rezoning. More than 100 people attended, and most shared the concerns voiced by GVSHP and other community groups about the plan – that the proposed height and bulk limits for new development under the plan were too great, and that the rezoning, if unaccompanied by long-overdue landmark designation for the South Village, would endanger that adjacent, low-rise, historic neighborhood.
Trinity Realty is seeking to rezone the area to allow (currently-prohibited) as-of-right residential development and make other changes to the zoning in the area. GVSHP and other community groups have long called for a change to the inadequate zoning for this area, which allows much too great a scale of development and encourages almost exclusively hotel development. But we also feel that the Trinity plan, as currently configured, does not do enough to protect neighborhood character and address overdevelopment concerns. The rezoning must be approved by the City Planning Commission and the City Council to take effect.
Therefore GVSHP and fellow community groups followed the meeting with letters to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Planning Chair Amanda Burden expressing our concern that the currently proposed height and bulk limits (up to 320 feet, and in one case 430 feet) in the rezoning are much too great, and that the rezoning MUST be accompanied by landmark designation for the South Village if it is to move ahead. Trinity’s rezoning proposal has not yet been certified and they continue to modify it; we intend to continue to push for changes prior to certification, and certainly if and when the plan is certified and goes through the public review and approval process if these issues are not addressed.
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