Crown Heights Rezoning & Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning

Yesterday, the Department of City Planning approved the Crown Heights West rezoning. This will have a big impact on how our community grows in the future. The rezoning was the result of months of community input, and on the whole, I support the approval, though I wish it had included Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning. 

To quote the Crow Hill Community Association: 

On April 16th we devoted our general meeting to two issues that could potential change the face of development in Crow Hill: CHCA’s proposal for Landmark’s designation  and the Crown Heights West rezoning proposal.  We created a poll that was distributed at the meeting and on line.  We had 29 poll responses returned from the meeting and 66 from the on-line version.  The response was basically 75% in favor of rezoning and 80% in favor of landmarking. 

While there was genuine community support for the plan, I also want to thank the Crown Heights Assembly for their important critique: 

The proposed Crown Heights West rezoning incorporates Inclusionary Zoning, a voluntary incentive for developers to designate 20% of the units as affordable for low- and moderate-income residents, in exchange for the right to build with more floor area. However, community activists from the Crown Heights Assembly say the voluntary incentive does not go far enough to address Crown Heights’s affordable housing crisis.

For yet another voice, you can visit Rezoning of Crown Heights West to be Voted on Imminently on The SurRealEstate.

I am proud of all the hard work of our community, and I will push to bring more voices in to the planning process. I hope we can get the Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning in the future.