NEWS: Douglaston Little Neck Rezoning Approved
From the Queens Chronicle
Zoning Approved For Douglaston Little Neck
by Liz Rhoades, Managing Editor
The City Council last week approved rezoning for Douglaston and Little Neck. But unlike other areas, the downzoning proved to be a contentious and drawn out battle in Little Neck.
Purpose of the downzoning is to prevent rampant overdevelopment and improper construction, such as McMansions, according to Councilman Tony Avella, (D Bayside), who led for the fight for the zoning changes.
According to Avella, the new zoning includes measures to prevent multiple houses from being built where there was a single family house; the first R1 1 zoning to maintain the character of single family homes on large lots; the new R2A designation, to prevent McMansions; and zoning protections for the Udalls Cove nature preserve.
As part of the plan, the council also approved the citywide zoning text change to eliminate the discrepancy between a homeowner’s renovation plan and a developer’s new building application in R2A zones.
Bob Nobile, president of the Little Neck Pines Civic Association, supported rezoning for the area and blames developers, architects and engineers who live in the community for spreading false information to confuse and scare homeowners. “They ran a campaign against the rezoning and scared many seniors into thinking they wouldn’t be able to do anything with their property and wouldn’t be able to get a good price for their children,” he said.
Those with a vested interest were successful in slowing down the process for rezoning and, according to Nobile, were able to get Community Board 11 to exclude the area east of Marathon Parkway, which comprises about 110 houses, from the zoning proposal. “A lot of them (developers) live there,” he said. “They can knock down houses and do what they want now.”
At that C.B. 11 meeting in September, John Young, director of the Queens Office of City Planning, tied to reassure homeowners that the city was not riding roughshod over them. “Hopefully we’ve come up with a proposal that will allow you to do everything reasonable to your property and still keep the flavor of the community,” he said.
He also assured homeowners in the process of renovation that there would be a more streamlined process “so that if you have completed the foundation and structural framing at the time an R2A rezoning goes into effect, you will not have to file an extension with the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals,” Young added.
Overall, Nobile is happy with the rezoning. “We had to make concessions. I’m glad it’s over. It was too drawn out,” he said.
Eliott Socci, president of the Douglaston Civic Association, had a similar reaction to the proceedings. “We didn’t get everything we wanted and we didn’t get everything we asked for,” he said, “but the community now has a measure of protection from zoning abuses and overdevelopment.”
The next areas scheduled for rezoning are North Flushing and Auburndale.