Back on July 25, the City Council voted to approve a rezoning plan that will change what can be built in both Woodhaven and Richmond Hill for the first time in decades.
The 229-block area that will be rezoned is bounded to the north at Park Lane South, to the south at 103 Avenue and to the Van Wyck Expressway to the east. It will also include the major commercial areas of Jamaica and Atlantic avenues.
The central goal of the rezoning is to encourage larger commercial construction along those two avenues. It also aims to reinforce the char- acter of those neighborhoods, which has a lot of one or two family homes, and establish new building patterns.
“The neighborhoods have seen their popula- tions grow in recent years but due to antiquated zoning, they are experiencing growth in the wrong places,” said Department of City Planning (DOP) Commissioner Amanda Burden in a press release when the public review period started for the plan back in February. “This rezoning proposal will protect the low-density residential character and direct new mixed-use development to the major corridors of Jamaica and Atlantic Avenues.”
Under the old rezoning plan, both areas were either designated as R3-1, which allowed for detached or semi-detached homes or R-5, which is for all housing types. Now, the zones will change to allow for more semi-detached homes and taller buildings to be constructed.
Now that Woodhaven and Richmond Hill have been rezoned, city planning will move on to the adjacent neighborhood of Ozone Park.
Councilman Eric Ulrich first made the announcement at the Our Neighbors of Ozone Park civic meeting in May. Although it is still in its early stages, DOP has met with elected officials and community leaders regarding the re- zoning, with public meetings expected to come in the near future.
A DOP spokesperson said that it is currently collecting data of the neighborhood and will meet again with the local officials and com- munity leaders sometime in the fall to share the results and to review areas that will be under consideration as it analyzes their data.
Ozone Park’s current rezoning has been in place since 1961.
By Luis Gronda
