All About the Jamaica Rezoning
Major Rezone Plan Rife With Hang-Ups
By LEE LANDOR, Queens Tribune
“The DCP is proposing an amended zoning map for 368 blocks, including the elimination of one street in downtown Jamaica, 148th Street between 94th and 95th Avenues. It also identified 187 projected development sites and 424 potential development sites with a possible build year of 2015.
The basis of the rezoning, as described in the DEIS, is that current zoning in parts of Jamaica is outdated and “unduly restricts its potential” because it allows for low densities in an area with abundant transportation infrastructure. The rezoning would enhance the area, according to the DCP, lifting depressed properties and areas, bringing growth and creating a critical mass to attract private investment.
The adverse affects that come with attempting to do this can, arguably, outweigh the benefits. One effect is direct displacement of 60 residential units housing 191 residents and 174 firms employing 1,124 employees. Indirect displacement is even greater, ousting 1,835 housing units, as well as many businesses that the DCP said are not “of substantial economic value to the City or region.” In total, the population susceptible to indirect displacement is about 7 percent (5,400 people) of the area’s populace.
Public schools would also be affected.”
Residents Urged To Stay In Jamaica Plan Loop
by Jami Maday, Assistant Editor, Queens Chronicle
“It’s massive in size, it’s complex and it’s scary. So, what better reasons for residents within the boundaries of the “Jamaica Plan” to study the rezoning proposals and voice their concerns to Community Board 12, the Department of City Planning and elected officials?
That’s what Eugenia Rudmann, co chairwoman of Community Board 12’s Ad Hoc Committee, and other board members told about 30 angry and frustated residents at a meeting Tuesday night at Amity Baptist Church in Jamaica.
The board scheduled the informal meeting to hear questions and concerns about the Jamaica Plan, the Bloomberg administration’s largest zoning initiative to date. It covers 368 blocks and is aimed at stimulating new housing and office development in Downtown Jamaica while attempting to preserve most of the surrounding area’s residential atmosphere.
But, residents fear rezoning plans may force them to lose their homes or a neighborhood next to them, seriously affecting their quality of life. Rudmann encouraged them to study the rezoning plan and attend upcoming public hearings to voice their objections. “As a citizen, you have a right to speak at these hearings,” she said.
Rudmann, who has been studying the plans for Downtown Jamaica since December 2005, said the project leaves 5,400 residents within the commercial area facing displacement due to new developments. Also, the plan allows buildings to be as tall as 290 feet, or 29 stories, and 2,000 downtown parking spaces can be lost in the process.
The Ad Hoc Committee is asking the city to place affordable housing units within the zoning plans for those who may be displaced. Rudmann added that the limited housing options in the proposal don’t address the needs of low income residents. “And there are a lot of people in Jamaica who have low income,” she said.
Although few residents were given the microphone, it didn’t stop others from shouting out the question of why the Department of City Planning and other agencies involved didn’t inform the public of this massive project before anything was put on paper.”