Belmont rezoning plan paves way for larger residential projects in the Bronx

If the city approves a proposed rezoning of a strip of East Fordham Road, the Bronx area could see residential development for the first time in 52 years, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Department of City Planning announced last week that the plan was now undergoing a public review. The first public hearing is scheduled for June 12. The measures could be adopted in six months if the approval process is not delayed, the newspaper said.

The changes would also lift regulations on the floor area allowed for new construction and thus promote the construction of taller buildings. Officials hope to turn the 12-block stretch in the borough’s Belmont section into a more welcoming gateway to the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden and Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus.

Zoning regulations have restricted new development on East Fordham Road to largely low-rise retail and medical buildings. The road is currently zoned for industrial and auto-related commercial businesses.

“It’ll still retain the commercial character but it’ll allow for more commercial and more mixed uses and residential,” David Rose, president of Automotive Realty, told the Journal. The company owns six properties in the rezoning catchment, the newspaper said. [WSJ] –Mark Maurer