Zoning proposal tweaked

One of the most loathed parts of the mayor’s proposed zoning changes has undergone a modification during a recent City Planning Commission (CPC) review, according to northwest Bronx Councilman Andrew Cohen.

The measure in question, which still needs a City Council vote to become law, creates a new category of senior homes and calls them continuing care retirement communities (CCRC). Many residents suspect the category became part of the mayor’s complicated Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) proposal to accommodate the Hebrew Home at Riverdale’s plans to build a mini city of medium-size buildings in North Riverdale.

In the first draft of the text, CCRCs would not be subject to the usual City Council and Community Board review mandated by the ULURP process. Instead, they would go straight to the CPC.

During a hearing earlier this month, the CPC voted to require CCRCs to receive a permit from the commission in order to advance, according to Mr. Cohen. They still skip the ULURP.

Mr. Cohen counted the change as a victory.

“I made it clear to… [City Planning Commission chairman] Carl Weisbrod that I thought this was not an appropriate way to deal with the Hebrew Home expansion,” Mr. Cohen said. “I’m pleased the City Planning Commission heard me on that. I think it was poor policy to put in a provision specific to one land use item.”

The City Council was scheduled to hold hearings on ZQA and the related Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) proposal at the start of this week. Mr. Cohen said most of those texts — which would raise building height limits and require affordable housing to be part of new developments in certain areas, among other measures — remain on the table following a Feb. 3 session in which CPC decided to move ahead with the plans.

“They made very few changes, but they did make this change,” Mr. Cohen said in reference to CCRCs.