Queens, NY - Affordable Housing Rezoning Passes
Queens, NY - The City Council passed two zoning proposals that it hopes will set a precedent to bring more affordable housing to Queens.
Under one proposal, a stretch of blocks along Queens Boulevard, from 50th Street to 73rd Street, will enter a program that offers developers incentives to include more affordable units in their new buildings. Called inclusionary zoning, the program allows developers to expand their projects if they set aside 20 percent of the additional space for low-income households.
The zoning change will create an estimated 301 more units than would be allowed regularly, 60 of which must be affordable to households making 80 percent of neighborhood’s average income. In this case, that formula translates to apartments priced to accommodate a four-person family earning around $56,000 a year, officials said.
While the added units will put a small dent in the larger need for affordable housing, elected officials believed the measures will set a precedent for future developments in the borough. “We wanted to create a model that could be replicated,” said Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), who introduced the inclusionary zoning amendment. “If we make this here, we can make this anywhere.
Public officials called the rezoning an important move to keep middle class families in Queens. As property values increase, residents are being priced out of neighborhoods that have traditionally been considered working class, such as Woodside and Maspeth.
Under one proposal, a stretch of blocks along Queens Boulevard, from 50th Street to 73rd Street, will enter a program that offers developers incentives to include more affordable units in their new buildings. Called inclusionary zoning, the program allows developers to expand their projects if they set aside 20 percent of the additional space for low-income households.
The zoning change will create an estimated 301 more units than would be allowed regularly, 60 of which must be affordable to households making 80 percent of neighborhood’s average income. In this case, that formula translates to apartments priced to accommodate a four-person family earning around $56,000 a year, officials said.
While the added units will put a small dent in the larger need for affordable housing, elected officials believed the measures will set a precedent for future developments in the borough. “We wanted to create a model that could be replicated,” said Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), who introduced the inclusionary zoning amendment. “If we make this here, we can make this anywhere.
Public officials called the rezoning an important move to keep middle class families in Queens. As property values increase, residents are being priced out of neighborhoods that have traditionally been considered working class, such as Woodside and Maspeth.
posted by VOS IZ NEIAS @ 8/21/2006 12:22:00 PM
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