Against Spot Zoning
Communities are composed of intangible elements: familiar faces, a well-worn path to a well-stocked bodega, the background voices and cooking aromas and church bells that signify home. There are concrete and tangible aspects of community as well, including green space, the height of buildings and the amount of air and light that reach the street. These elements also impact the quality of life and future of a neighborhood, and zoning is an invaluable tool for their regulation. Read more
JEWISH HOME EMBRACES ZONING
After Jewish Home Lifecare announced a deal to swap its West 106th Street property with developer Joseph Chetrit’s parcel in Park West Village, residents feared that Chetrit would construct a building that was out of context with the neighborhood.
Jewish Home was exempt from a 2007 City Council rezoning of the area. To quell concerns that a developer would own the West 106th Street land without zoning restrictions, Jewish Home drafted documents stating that the parcel will be rezoned to fit the character of the neighborhood before the land is exchanged with Chetrit. The change will likely occur in two years after the nonprofit closes on the Park West Village property. At the community board’s behest, Jewish Home has agreed to foot the bill for expert legal counsel to review these documents.
“We are not in position to say to the community, ‘We are adequately protected,’” said Helen Rosenthal, community board chair. “It behooves Jewish Home to make [the land swap proposal] as transparent, as clean and as honorable as possible. By paying for the lawyer, it’s one step in the process.”
Jewish Home’s decision to pay for the legal counsel shows “good faith” with the community, according to spokesman Ethan Geto.
“We want them to have high comfort level that they will get the zoning they want at the right time,” Geto said.
Jewish Home Land Swap
Representatives from Jewish Home Lifecare, an organization that provides health care for seniors, met with community groups on Aug. 12 to unveil a proposal to redevelop its West 106th Street nursing home in Park West Village, on West 100th Street.
To bankroll the new nursing home, a project that has long been in the works and was originally planned for the south side of West 106th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, Jewish Home was going to sell part of its property to a developer. Read more
