Dutch Kills Civic Hears Final Zoning Subdistrict Plans
BY THOMAS COGAN

A sizable audience heard about the final draft of the zoning proposal for the Dutch Kills subdistrict at the Dutch Kills Civic Association March meeting. Explaining it all were Joy Chen and Penny Lee from the Department of City Planning. The meeting in St. Patrick's school on 28th Street, three blocks north of Queensboro Plaza, was sometimes contentious, especially when some commercial property-holders said that the proposed new zoning would be inimical to business growth in the 40-block Dutch Kills zone. Others said that building relatively small residences on small lots would be so costly it would be unfeasible, and still others said that in the case of a certain street, 41st Avenue, building tall on one side and low-rise on the other was a dubious proposition. Despite such disputes, the meeting was largely positive and many came away believing that the attempt to revitalize the Dutch Kills neighborhood would be successful. The Dutch Kills subdistrict is proposed to remove residential restrictions and provide as-ofright

residential opportunities- with incentives for developers to build affordable units, retain existing light industrial businesses, maintain the existing scale of two- and three-story buildings on mid-blocks and provide greater density on wide streets or near public transportation to accommodate growth. Among other things, City Planning's clearly stated goal for its project intends to address the long-standing ban on rebuilding or enlarging residences within Dutch Kills and allow it to be rescinded, with manageable consequences. Most of the new zoning would be either M1-2/R5B or M1-2/R5D, reflecting the mix of (light) manufacturing and residences. Either would allow floorarea ratios (FAR) to be equal or greater for residential than for industrial builders, with building heights no more than 33 feet or three stories for M1-2/R5B (1.65 FAR) or 40 feet or three- to-four stories for M1- 2/R5D (2 FAR). Buildings in an M1- 2/R6A (3 FAR) zone would have a maximum building height of 70 feet, or five to seven stories. For the section along Northern Boulevard that extends a block or two into Dutch Kills, M1-3/R7X (5 FAR, including ratio/3.5 base FAR) zoning would call for a maximum height of 125 feet and rise between eight and 12 stories. This last zone is expected to be the site of high-rise apartment buildings with inclusionary housing into the bargain- meaning that 20 percent of it would be "affordable". (A clarification of "affordable" was requested during the meeting and Penny Lee said it was based on the regional income average, not on the city average.) All this has been done with hope for orderly development that supports the infrastructure and avoids strain.

The plan for the north side of 41st Avenue, running east to west between 29th and 23rd Streets, is zoned for three to four stories and 40 feet at highest. The south side of that street is not in Dutch Kills and developers there can build as high as, say, eight stories. Chen was asked why the Dutch Kills strip on the north side must face such disproportion. Chen looked at the bright side of the north side, saying that four-story buildings can be built there now, where formerly they could not be built at all. The south side of 41st Avenue, Lee said, is seen in a different context. The north side is where Dutch Kills ends; the south side is part of Queensboro Plaza. The Dutch Kills Civic Association, said Jerry Walsh, its president, had been of a mind that if eight-story apartments were to be built on the south side, the north side should be able to put up five- and six-story buildings so one side wouldn't tower over another. City Planning was anxious lest buildings of that height on the north side overshadow residents' yards behind them; thus, they zoned it so such buildings would have a 40-foot height limit.

A man in the audience said the plan would cut the potentiality for commercial development in Dutch Kills. Lee answered that in this case it was City Planning's mandate to favor residential development. Another man believed it would do no such thing. He asserted that developing 2 FAR residential buildings on such small lots would prove to be economically absurd, saying, "It's not affordable." A man who said he owns four properties in the neighborhood said values are going down. Lee was confident that the building boom in Hunters Point would repeat itself in a smaller way in Dutch Kills. Walsh said talk of a decline in property value is nonsense. Homeowners in Dutch Kills, he contended, could sell their property for a lot of money: when residential building as-of-right kicks in, value could soar. Megan Friedman, a 28th Street resident, said she moved from Manhattan at the end of the 1970s, has found living in Dutch Kills far more affordable and believes her property is a gold mine. She was all in favor of the zoning plan. George Stamatiades, Astoria businessman and community activist, protested that the central issue is the saving of Dutch Kills, not speculating in property values. To those who objected to lowering the commercial FAR within the mapped area, he said that having a higher FAR hasn't helped them in the past 30 years, during which time business development in Dutch Kills has remained in a slump. It is the planners' belief that a blossoming of residential business would help commercial business.

The Dutch Kills Civic Association, said Jerry Walsh, its president, had been of a mind that if eight-story apartments were to be built on the south side, the north side should be able to put up fiveand six-story buildings so one side wouldn't tower over another.