The City Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday to "certify," or officially begin the process of considering a rezoning of six blocks in the Far West Village as first proposed by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) and other community groups in April 2008.
The rezoning will for the first time impose height limits on new construction, reduce the maximum allowable size of new development, and eliminate the current zoning bonus afforded for hotel and dorm development in the area.
GVSHP first requested the rezoning in April 2008 when plans surfaced for a 100-foot-tall hotel at Perry and Washington Streets.
After the city initially refused to consider the rezoning, GVSHP and community groups staged letter-writing campaigns, and held press conferences and town hall meetings to push for adoption of the proposed rezoning.
In November 2009 City Planning finally agreed to propose the requested rezoning, and today voted to begin the process of formally considering it. Public hearings and votes of approval will be required by the local Community Board, Borough President, City Planning Commission, and City Council. Once the City Council votes to approve, the new zoning takes effect, which would be in about six months.
Certification of the rezoning was pushed back several times, and only finally accomplished after GVSHP and community groups called upon City Planning to end the delays.
Timing of the rezoning is critical because two developments are seeking to move ahead under the current zoning, but would be forced to be modified under the new zoning.
Additionally, a survey conducted by GVSHP identified at least a dozen potential development sites in the six block area: 137 and 139 Perry Street; 145 Perry Street; 134-6 Charles Street; 149-149 Charles Street; 267 West 10th Street; 356 West 12th Street; 725 Washington Street; 138 Bank Street and 731 Washington Street; 689, 691 and 693 Washington Street; 738 Washington Street; 745 Washington Street; and 755-759 Washington Street.
GVSHP said it will be closely monitoring the sites to ensure that developers do not seek to rush illegal work to "beat the clock" and get projects in the ground before the new zoning rules take effect, and are asking neighbors to be on watch for such instances as well.
"This is a great victory and the culmination of a two-year campaign by this community to get a much-needed rezoning for the Far West Village," said Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
"We were stonewalled by the city and other decision-makers for over a year, but now the rezoning is finally moving. The Far West Village needs and deserves this protection, as the current zoning encourages out-of-scale commercial overdevelopment. Now we must be vigilant to ensure that unscrupulous developers do not seek to 'beat the clock' and skirt the new zoning rules with illegal work, and we will push the Community Board, the City Planning Commission, and the City Council to vote on the proposal as soon as possible," he added.
The rezoning will for the first time impose height limits on new construction, reduce the maximum allowable size of new development, and eliminate the current zoning bonus afforded for hotel and dorm development in the area.
GVSHP first requested the rezoning in April 2008 when plans surfaced for a 100-foot-tall hotel at Perry and Washington Streets.
After the city initially refused to consider the rezoning, GVSHP and community groups staged letter-writing campaigns, and held press conferences and town hall meetings to push for adoption of the proposed rezoning.
In November 2009 City Planning finally agreed to propose the requested rezoning, and today voted to begin the process of formally considering it. Public hearings and votes of approval will be required by the local Community Board, Borough President, City Planning Commission, and City Council. Once the City Council votes to approve, the new zoning takes effect, which would be in about six months.
Certification of the rezoning was pushed back several times, and only finally accomplished after GVSHP and community groups called upon City Planning to end the delays.
Timing of the rezoning is critical because two developments are seeking to move ahead under the current zoning, but would be forced to be modified under the new zoning.
Additionally, a survey conducted by GVSHP identified at least a dozen potential development sites in the six block area: 137 and 139 Perry Street; 145 Perry Street; 134-6 Charles Street; 149-149 Charles Street; 267 West 10th Street; 356 West 12th Street; 725 Washington Street; 138 Bank Street and 731 Washington Street; 689, 691 and 693 Washington Street; 738 Washington Street; 745 Washington Street; and 755-759 Washington Street.
GVSHP said it will be closely monitoring the sites to ensure that developers do not seek to rush illegal work to "beat the clock" and get projects in the ground before the new zoning rules take effect, and are asking neighbors to be on watch for such instances as well.
"This is a great victory and the culmination of a two-year campaign by this community to get a much-needed rezoning for the Far West Village," said Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
"We were stonewalled by the city and other decision-makers for over a year, but now the rezoning is finally moving. The Far West Village needs and deserves this protection, as the current zoning encourages out-of-scale commercial overdevelopment. Now we must be vigilant to ensure that unscrupulous developers do not seek to 'beat the clock' and skirt the new zoning rules with illegal work, and we will push the Community Board, the City Planning Commission, and the City Council to vote on the proposal as soon as possible," he added.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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