In 2008, the Department of City Planning adopted the East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning . The rezoning was the result of years of community collaboration between Community Board 3, neighborhood groups, residents, and elected officials. In short, the rezoning was designed to:
-Preserve the established neighborhood scale and character by establishing contextual zoning districts with height limits, and
-Provide modest opportunities for residential growth and incentives for affordable housing along the area’s widest streets well served by bus or subway lines.
A developer is currently seeking zoning variances for out-of-scale transient hotels at 180 Ludlow and 163 Orchard Street . The proposed variances fly in the face of a rezoning that so many in our community worked so hard to achieve. They would allow development greatly in excess of height limits wanted by our community. Additionally, the developer missed the November 2010 deadline for completing 180 Ludlow, and now seeks a two-year extension.
Please join the EVCC by writing a letter urging CB3 to respect the 2008 rezoning and deny the zoning variance. Click here for a sample letter.
Photo: 180 Ludlow, courtesy The Lo-Down
