Disclaimer: In compliance with Chapter 68 of the New York City Charter, I am required to disclose that the views expressed in this article are wholly my own as a private citizen. Nothing I write here is to be construed as an official position of Queens Community Board 7, the City of New York, or any of its agencies.
There are few issues more contentious and meaningful than land use when it comes to community boards and the communities they serve. Zoning and land use guidelines quite literally shape the future neighborhoods in sometimes dramatic fashion. Zoning determines whether your street is a tree-lined, quiet enclave of single-family homes, or a bustling block of high-density apartment blocks, commercial offices, retail, or even manufacturing and warehouses. Weighing in on land use issues is a primary concern of community boards as laid out in the City Charter, so it is not surprising the land use committee plays an important role in my community board (CB 7 in Queens).
See Related Articles
How and Why I Decided to Join My Local Community Board | What a Community Board Meeting is Like | Committee Meetings
Case Studies
Charles B. Wang Community Health Center (February 2018) | Kissena Blvd. Re-zoning (March 2019) | Willets Point Redevelopment (March 2019)
What kinds of issues does the Buildings/Land Use Committee deal with?
Zoning is the main tool the city uses to guide development and physically shape the look and feel of neighborhoods. For example, a R7A zone allows for high density residential buildings to be built, while an M1–1 restricts development to light manufacturing purposes. Zoning and building codes can stipulate maximum density, height, areal coverage, and the structure of buildings (i.e. things like setbacks at given height intervals). Most new construction in the city is done “as of right” — within the guidelines of whatever type of zone the building lot is in. When developments don’t fall within zoning regulations, developers must seek variances, special permits, etc. for approval by community boards, Borough Presidents, the Board of Standards and Appeals, and ultimately the City Council. There are many reasons why a proposed development might require special dispensation, which you can read more about here, but I won’t get into the weeds on technical details in this post. Instead, I’ll use a series of actual examples that have come before the committee itself to illustrate the kinds of issues that can come up with proposed developments. Links to these are under the heading “Case Studies” above.
What are some recurring themes regarding land use in Queens Community Board 7?
Many communities across New York City have seen a building boom that has at times strained the underlying infrastructure required to support this new development. The breakneck pace of changes over the last decade or so has generated economic opportunity but also irrevocably altered the character of communities, for better or worse. Communities in Queens CB 7 are no different, in particular when it comes to Flushing. Downtown Flushing has historically been a commercial and transportation hub in Northern Queens. An unprecedented physical transformation has taken place within the last 15 years as the city leveraged the existing transportation infrastructure via multiple re-zonings that have allowed for increasingly dense, transit-oriented development. This was in part a response to demographic changes brought on by an influx of immigrants that boosted demand for residential and commercial development.
As a result, burgeoning complexes of six-story-plus residential developments have replaced many quieter streets of single or multi-family homes. The commercial core has similarly grown taller and denser, with mixed-use, commercial, medical office, and hotel developments replacing what used to be single-story or low-rise retail shops. Similar trends have occurred in other parts of the CB 7 area, though perhaps not at the same pace or scale.
The economic growth accompanying this boom has brought various benefits, though this growth hasn’t come without a cost. The transit system has been stretched to its limit. Schools are overcrowded. Traffic congestion is at times unbearable, and presents hazards to both pedestrians and drivers. Roads wear down that much quicker due to this increased traffic. CB 7’s geographic scope encompasses both a dense, transit-oriented urban core as well as sprawling suburban-like areas of detached single-family homes, and this brings about unique challenges. Because many areas outside of Downtown Flushing are not well-served by public transit, cars remain very much a fact of life here in CB 7 — this makes parking and traffic congestion a recurring issue with every proposed development.
It is within this context that the CB 7 Buildings/Land Use Committee considers applications that come before it. The committee weighs possible adverse impacts of a proposed development on the surrounding community against the benefits that this development would bring. Not all developments reflect sound land use even if they would bring other benefits to the community.
