Ok, so just about every Queens neighborhood has cried out for downzoning (except Dutch Kills, who got tricked into thinking that upzoning was a fantastic idea despite their brush with 19th century living last summer).Rosedale wants rezoning
Maybe it's time to call for a moratorium on building in each community seeking downzoning until the studies are finished. This will prevent unscrupulous developers from ripping down homes and pouring foundations to beat the zoning clock and then leaving construction sites sitting dormant for years.
Last year, Councilman Jim Oddo of Staten Island said that it may be a good idea and that he would look into it, but then he became preoccupied with more important issues, such as banning metal baseball bats.
3 comments:
There have been many calls for a moratorium on overdevelopment before, by many civics and some good politicians.
It seems to always bite the dust.
The mega real estate/building industry of NYC is always forceful in scuttling the idea! What with the likes of Melinda Katz, the poster child for developers and the Parkside Group, it's no wonder!
Lets downzone the whole borough! If you spot downzone you will simply push more developement to the next block or around the corner.
Then the developers will get spot variences in the downzowned area.
Then it all looks like Swiss cheese.
Besides, if someone wants to contest it, spot downzoning, like landmark designation, could be viewed as arbitrary and linked more to connections rather than good planning, and a strong case could be made to throw it out.
Why doesn't the Queens Civic Congress call for downzoning the entire borough.
They always complain how difficult is it to get a broader base of civics to join up, so break out of your eastern Queens base into the rest of the borough with this issue.
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