Woodside and Richmond Hill rezoning effort approved by City Council

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    Last week the City Council approved a sizable rezoning in Woodside and Richmond Hill along Jamaica and Atlantic Avenues south of Forest Park. According to The NYC Department of City Planning the goals of the rezoning were to:

    – Reinforce neighborhood character and established building patterns by updating existing zoning with new lower-density contextual zones
    – Direct new residential and mixed-use development to major corridors and locations near mass transit resources
    – Support economic development along two distinct corridors and prevent commercial intrusion onto residential side streets

    The Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association, which supported the effort, wasn’t quite so politic, saying “the rezoning, which would be the first time that Woodhaven’s zoning regulations were modified in nearly half a century. The rezoning would help preserve Woodhaven’s character by preventing the future construction of dense developments on residential streets and by making it much more difficult to bring “McMansions” and illegal conversions into the neighborhood.”

    City Planning published a report back in February with a lot of information and some pretty amazing stats about these neighborhoods, including:

    Woodhaven, Richmond Hill population – 73,623
    % of the population that is foreign born – 53.5%
    Country of Birth, Guyana – 25.4%
    Country of Birth, India – 14.6%

     

    Photo source: Flickr

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