On November 19, 2008 the City Council adopted the East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning. The zoning changes which are now in effect, involved an area of 111 blocks. An estimated 343 new units of affordable housing were approved and height caps now range from 80 to 120 feet under the rezoning decision.
As reported in The Villager, “a serious concern facing Community Board 3 has been the exploding growth of buildings that are out of context with the historic low-height buildings found in the East Village and Lower East Side neighborhoods within C.B. 3’s boundaries.”
Source: TheVillager.com
In the past year, rezoning was the most important item on Community Board 3’s agenda. However, the real conflict is addressing other issues such as transportation. In addition, new issues such as Mayor Bloomberg’s recently imposed time limit on challenges to developments, have arisen.
“Rezoning is important for this neighborhood’s future, but rezoning alone will not provide a comprehensive solution to all the issues facing the Lower East Side,” said Borough President Scott Stringer in a statement.
According to The Villager, “Community Board 3 has worked with community groups, elected officials, and the city to create more public awareness to report illegal placard parking and continued to work with city agencies to lobby for community needs of enhanced enforcement.” Yet, the bulk of resident complaints involve non-MTA buses and commuter van loading/unloading, layover parking and idling.
Mayor Bloomberg’s recently imposed a time limit on challenges to developments which took effect on March 9th. In the Mayor’s press release, he claims that the time limit (30 days) “establishes a defined and organized means for the public to challenge zoning decisions by DOB (Department of Buildings) that they believe are incorrect, and will provide clarity and certainty for developers about when a project can move forward, and when changes to a proposed development need to be made.”
Prior to Bloomberg’s order, there was no time limit for residents to challenge the legality of a development. The newly imposed timetable will most likely decrease the chances of a challenge being made. Furthermore, the developer will continue to work on their project as legal proceedings are ongoing.
Here in lies one of the many issues facing Lower East Side residents, the real conflict.