As a vote on the proposal to rezone more than 200 blocks collectively in Woodhaven and Richmond Hill looms closer this month, city officials announced Monday that the public review process of the rezoning plan is officially underway.
City Planning Commissioner Amanda M. Burden announced the beginning of public review for a 229-block rezoning in the Woodhaven and Richmond Hill neighborhoods in central Queens—which would affect more than 70 blocks in Woodhaven and more than 150 in Richmond Hill.
While the opening of the public review process means that the local community board has 60 days to vote on the matter, a source told The Forum that Community Board 9—which represents both communities—voted Monday in an executive meeting to schedule a vote on the rezoning issue at their regular meeting, at 7:45 p.m. on Mar. 13 at Queens Borough Hall, on 120-55 Queens Blvd.
The proposed rezoning plan, which has incorporated a two-year block-by-block analysis by city planners on land use in Woodhaven and Richmond Hill, is designed by city officials to reinforce the character of the area’s one- and two-family residential homes with contextual zoning, and direct new mixed-use development opportunities to major commercial corridors, including Jamaica and Atlantic avenues.
While city officials including City Council members Eric Ulrich, Elizabeth Crowley, Ruben Wills and Karen Kozlowitz have offered comments supporting the rezoning plan, it does not necessarily mean smooth sailing when it comes to a potential go-ahead vote.
In fact, members of the Richmond Hill Economic Development Corporation (RHEDC) have circulated a petition against the proposal, citing concerns that the plan—which they say does not factor in new census data showing an influx in Richmond Hill’s Indo-Caribbean community—would limit religious structures of certain sizes in residential areas.
Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association, noted that while Richmond Hill residents would likely be more resistant to the move, going forward with the rezoning plan would help preserve the character of Woodhaven by helping to prevent any illegal conversions of apartments.
“We haven’t had many problems with [illegal conversions] but just because it hasn’t happened, doesn’t mean that it won’t,” he said. “The block association supports this, and we’re urging CB 9 to pass this.”
In a statement, Queens Community Board 9 chairwoman Andrea Crawford indicated her support of the plan, stating that her board was “delighted and thankful that the character of these two unique communities will be preserved for future generations.”
By Jean-Paul Salamanca
jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com
