Public review for Dutch Kills rezone

The Department of City Planning (DCP) has put its long-anticipated Dutch Kills rezoning plan out for public review, according to Commissioner Amanda Burden.
The announcement, on Monday May 19, started the clock on the 60-day deadline for review by Community Board 1, after which it goes to Borough President Helen Marshall, on to the City Planning Commission and finally to the City Council for a vote, as part of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).
“This complex rezoning will achieve multiple goals advocated by many stakeholders in Dutch Kills, including preserving their lower scale neighborhood, and giving residential property owners flexibility they do not have today while continuing to provide for light industrial businesses,” Burden said.
The area, once a hamlet named for the navigable tributary (“kil” in old Dutch) of nearby Newtown Creek, encompasses 40 blocks located north of Queens Plaza and west of Sunnyside Yards.
It is a mixed-use community with residences mostly located in the center of the rezoning area. On these blocks, one-and two-family homes occupy the mid-blocks, while multi-family walk-up buildings of up to five stories are scattered along the avenues.
It is generally bounded by 36th Avenue on the north, Northern Boulevard on the east, 41st Avenue on the south, and 23rd Street on the west.
DCP’s proposal, which reflects continuing consultation with the Dutch Kills Civic Association, Community Board 1 and Councilmember Eric Gioia’s office, would designate most of the rezoning area with four mixed-use zoning districts “carefully tailored to set height limits closely matched to the scale of each area” according to the announcement.
In addition, the proposal would remove current restrictions on residential development and conversions and provide incentives to promote affordable housing largely in the area along and adjoining Northern Boulevard.
More than 1,500 housing units, of which roughly 190 units would be affordable, are projected to be developed over a 10-year time period, according to DCP.
For a full explanation of the proposed rezoning, including maps of existing and proposed zones visit the DCP web page at www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/ and click on the label “Dutch Kills (Queens).”