A recently-released proposal by the de Blasio administration would undo hard-fought-for zoning protections and height limits in the West Village—many of which took years to secure, and involved considerable compromise—and would undermine plans for similar protections for the South Village and University Place/Broadway corridors.
The City’s ‘Zoning for Quality and Affordability’ proposal, which is beginning the public review and approval process, would change the rules for “contextual zoning districts” throughout the city—areas with strict height limits for buildings, meant to ensure new construction fits the character of its surroundings. In 2005 and 2008, GVSHP successfully fought for contextual zoning for parts of the Far West Village, where the previous zoning had no height limits and where, for the most part, there were no landmark protections to limit the height of new developments.
In the contextual zoning districts such as the ones we secured in the Far West Village, under the Mayor’s plan the allowable height of buildings would increase by as much as 20%. In areas of the East Village where we also successfully fought for contextual zoning protections, the allowable height limits would increase by up to 31%.
And because this plan would change the rules both retroactively and prospectively—i.e. for existing contextual districts, as well as any future ones—it would also increase by as much as 31% the allowable height limits we proposed and hoped to secure in places like the South Village and along the University Place/Broadway corridors. There, current zoning and lack of landmarks protections allows new construction of 300 feet in height or more.
The administration’s rationale for these changes is that they will make for new development which is of a higher quality and which is more affordable. But there is little empirical evidence to back this up and much evidence to indicate that these changes will simply make for less appealing and more expensive buildings, and less affordable neighborhoods. And clearly it will result in taller, larger development in areas where such things had previously been limited.
It should come as no surprise that many of these changes are ones which have been on the real estate industry’s wish list for many years. They, rather than advocates of quality and affordability, will likely reap the benefits of the proposed changes. No less of an advocate for quality and affordability than Donald Trump has been on record railing against the restrictions of the city’s contextual zones.
The Mayor’s plan will come before the Community Board, the Borough President, the City Planning Commission (the majority of whose members the Mayor appoints) and the City Council for review. There will also be public hearings, votes of approval or disapproval, as well as the opportunity to change the plan. It’s critical that we let our local elected officials know how strong our concerns are about this proposal. To send a letter to do so, go to http://www.gvshp.org/rezone .
Andrew Berman is the Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
