City Officials Look To Rezone Section Of Central Bronx
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The city is considering a new proposal to rezone the Tremont section of the Bronx, to bring increased retail and residential development to the underutilized area. NY1's Real Estate reporter Jill Urban filed the following report. Along the Third Avenue and Tremont corridors in the Bronx, there is a lot of single-story commercial space, vacant lots and auto-related businesses. A new city proposal seeks to revitalize the neighborhood.
"This is a plan to rezone 75 blocks of two major corridors in the central Bronx, Tremont Avenue and Third Avenue," says Carol Samol of The Department of City Planning. "The goal is to revive them, to attract affordable housing, create jobs and improve the services here in the heart of the Bronx."
The rezoning plan stretches from Fordham Plaza in the north along Third Avenue to the Cross Bronx Expressway and along Tremont Avenue from Park Avenue on the west to Daly Avenue in the east.
Samol says this proposal would bring current zoning in the area up to date and make use of underutilized space.
"Third Avenue, the zoning is outmoded and needs to be updated to meet today's needs," says Samol. "It is zoned for auto-related uses and reflects the Third Avenue elevated train that was here and removed in 1973.... Tremont Avenue is the downtown area and we want to expand the commercial capacity here."
The plan would rezone both areas for mixed use and allow for increased retail and residential development, including affordable housing.
"We project about 700 units of housing to be developed here over the next 10 years. About 100 of those units or more we expect would be affordable. We are including the Inclusionary Housing Program here to incentivize the development of affordable housing by property owners," says Samol.
In addition to creating opportunities for growth along Third and Tremont, the plan also looks to preserve the character of the residential area to the west. Most of the buildings along the corridors are low-rise, and the plan will make sure new development isn’t out of scale.
"We would like to impose height limits as we do the rezoning so that the new development is predictable and consistent and better matches the width of the streets," says Samol.
The plan was unanimously approved by Community Board 6 and is now in the hands of the borough president's office.
It will then go to the City Planning Commission and ultimately to the City Council for final approval. If passed, the new zoning could be in effect later this year.