NYC launches rezoning review of Richmond Hill

– Guyanese immigrants oppose ‘downzoning’

By North American Correspondent

New York City officials announced last Wednesday that their plan to rezone Richmond Hill and Woodhaven is now available for review by the public, and a public hearing will be held before the matter goes to the City Council for its approval. By law, the community must be invited to a public hearing to offer their views before it becomes law.

A Rezoning official made the announcement at a town hall meeting in Richmond Hill last Wednesday. The city Rezoning Board is proposing to downzone residential portions of Woodhaven and Richmond Hill and upzone commercial areas like Jamaica and Liberty avenues. These areas comprise tens of thousands of Guyanese who are mostly opposed to the city’s plan to downzone the areas.

Downzoning means buildings cannot be expanded in size and new buildings cannot rise beyond the prevailing set level (of mostly two-families) or of converting a one-family into a two-family dwelling. Upzoning is the opposite of downzoning and allows for further expansion. Most Guyanese oppose downzoning while the overwhelming majority is for upzoning of the entire area for residential and commercial purposes.

City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden said last week that downzoning is being done to prevent overcrowding and the city was acting at the request of Community Board # 9 which oversees Richmond Hill.

The Board has had a stormy relationship with minorities like Guyanese and Punjabis with the measure to rezone the area being seen as a step to control the presence of minorities in the area. The proposed rezoning seeks to keep the one- and two-family homes in residential areas and prevent the building of more of the multi-family units that have sprung up in recent years, while funneling higher-density housing and commercial development to main business corridors, like Jamaica and Atlantic avenues.

Burden said in a prepared statement at a public meeting; “The Woodhaven and Richmond Hill neighbourhoods in Queens are characterized by very appealing one- and two-family wood-frame homes built in a variety of traditional styles. The neighbourhoods have seen their populations grow in recent years, but due to antiquated zoning, they are experiencing growth in the wrong places.”

Burden, as well as a number of legislators and other civic leaders, lamented the fact that the neighbourhood’s old homes, including many of the prevalent Queen Anne Victorians, have been torn down and replaced with structures that they said do not fit in with the rest of the community.

Community Board 9 now has 60 days to review the proposal, during which time it will hold at least one hearing on the plan, after which the plan will go to the Borough’s president and the City Planning Commission for further assessment.

Ultimately, the City Council will vote on the proposal. There is only one Guyanese sitting on the board. Guyanese advocates have noted that the zoning in the area has not changed since 1961 and are of the opinion that it no longer reflects the community’s needs. They feel it should be upzoned. They call for the rules to change to allow for the maximum building height from 40 to 70 feet, permitting businesses and homes to expand. All four Council members representing the area have thrown their support behind the proposal.

Vishnu Mahadeo, president of the Richmond Hill Economic Development Corporation, said Guyanese and Punjabis are not in favour of the downzoning because it does not address the needs of a rapidly growing community. For example, Mahadeo said, many large families wish to live together in the same house. He also supports funneling more growth to places like Atlantic Avenue. But he insists “downzoning is not acceptable to the community at large”.