Zoning changes in SoHo and NoHo are expected to allow more kinds of uses by-right in parts of the neighborhood previously restricted to manufacturing uses.
"The de Blasio administration plans to announce a rezoning effort in SoHo and NoHo this fall—including a strategy to minimize controversy," reports Joe Anuta.
On the matter of zoning, "The Department of City Planning, working with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilwoman Margaret Chin, seeks to tackle a longstanding issue in the neighborhoods: Ground-floor retail and residential apartments have become common, but they are not allowed under industrial zoning rules still on the books in SoHo and part of NoHo." Changes would allow more types of uses by right, without discretionary approval.
As for the strategy designed to minimize controversy, Anuta reports the city could use a steering committee, "similar to those that shaped the rezonings of the Garment District and Midtown East."
Anuta provides more details on the politics of planning in the neighborhoods, and the controversies planners expect to arise as they revisit the zoning code.
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