By Rich Bockmann
The City Council earlier this week approved a major rezoning project in Ozone Park, which planners said has experienced out-of-character development in recent years.
About 530 blocks in the neighborhood were rezoned to preserve the character of residential blocks while encouraging mixed-use development along commercial corridors.
The area is generally bounded by Rockaway Boulevard, Atlantic Avenue and 101st Avenue in the north to the Belt Parkway in the south, and from the Van Wyck Expressway in the east to the Brooklyn/Queens border in the west.
The Department of City Planning said Ozone Park’s zoning has remain largely unchanged since 1961, and in recent years the neighborhood has seen many of its detached one- and two-family homes torn down and replaced with out-of-character, multi-family buildings.
The rezoning limits new construction on most of the residential blocks to smaller detached or semi-attached homes while allowing for larger, mixed-use development along 101st Avenue, Rockaway Boulevard and Liberty Avenue.
The new zoning also prevents commercial development from encroaching on residential areas by reducing the depth of commercial overlays.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
