While community leaders are increasingly growing nervous about Mayor Bill de Blasio’s rezoning proposal, representatives of the city are trying to put those worries at ease.
City Planning Chair Carl Weisbrod has extended the comment period on the proposed changes and wrote a letter to explain the goals of the zoning, according to Crain’s. The new zoning code would allow for more density in contextual zoning districts. Weisbrod has said it will promote “affordable housing and better quality buildings.”
The agency will be hosting a meeting on Thursday night to answer questions about the proposal.
Contextual districts were created in the 1980s, when Weisbrod ran the Department of City Planning, to limit tall buildings on side streets in an effort to preserve neighborhood character.
Preservationists, however, are worried that the new rules will effectively remove those districts. [Crain’s] — Claire Moses