Those zoning text amendments drafted by the American Institute of Architects that would have allowed bigger buildings and were greeted by a lot of opposition once they were widely known, have been dropped. Queens Crap posted the full text of the AIA letter to Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden yesterday. The changes were complex, but would have allowed bulkier, taller buildings in many neighborhoods. Many opponents felt it was an attempt to introduce technical, yet very important, changes without much public discussion and a number of community groups fought to get the amendments dropped.
Controversial AIA Zoning Amendments Are Toast
February 21st, 2008 · 1 Comment
Tags: Rezoning · Urban Planning
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1 Historic Districts Council Newsstand » Blog Archive » HDC’s Best of 2008: Damaging Zoning Text Amendments Withdrawn! // Dec 19, 2008 at 2:26 pm
[…] As contextual zoning is one of the most useful tools in the preservation toolkit, HDC gathered a five-borough coalition to oppose these amendments. In addition to concerns about the effects of these changes, the process by which they were being adopted ran counter to community-planning practices. Working together with Council member Tony Avella, longtime chair of the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises, HDC and its partners (which included 18 community boards and several council members) successfully fought against the amendments, resulting in their withdrawal by the applicants. […]