Council Approves Plan to Limit High-Rises on Upper West Side

N.Y. / Region



Council Approves Plan to Limit High-Rises on Upper West Side
By RAY RIVERA
Published: September 26, 2007

The City Council unanimously passed a rezoning plan yesterday that limits the spread of high-rise buildings along 51 blocks on the Upper West Side, an area that officials say has undergone a significant increase in development.
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The plan is intended to preserve the physical character of the community. It generally limits buildings to 14 stories along Broadway; 10 to 11 stories along the other avenues; and 6 to 7 stories on the side streets. Additionally, it imposes design restrictions so that new developments more closely match the neighborhoods around them.

Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito, a Manhattan Democrat who represents the area, called the plan a “safeguard against aggressive overdevelopment that is running rampant throughout the city.”

The rezoning area is bounded to the west by Riverside Drive and the east by Central Park, and to the south by 97th Street and the north by 110th Street.

The plan was prompted by the construction of 37- and 31-story condominium towers along Broadway near 99th Street by the Extell Development Company, said Councilwoman Melinda R. Katz, a Queens Democrat and chairwoman of the Council’s Land Use Committee.

“That basically galvanized the community to make sure” the area wasn’t overrun by large-scale development, she said.

Under the old zoning rules, there were no height restrictions and developers could buy unused air rights from buildings on surrounding streets. The new plan ends those transfers.

The 51-to-0 vote comes as the Council is preparing to consider a far more contentious expansion plan by Columbia University that calls for Columbia to take over 17 acres in the nearby neighborhood of Manhattanville.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/nyregion/26upperwest.html?ref=nyregion