A group of Sutton Place residents and politicians have filed plans for a rezoning drafted by urban planners that would block the development of supertall towers in that area of town. The East River Fifties Alliance has formally submitted their plan for a rezoning of the area bounded by First Avenue and the East River between 52nd and 59th streets to the Department of City Planning. The rezoning text is an effort between bigwigs like Senator Liz Krueger, City Councilmen Ben Kallos and Daniel Garodnick, Borough President Gale Brewer, and community stakeholders to thwart the encroachment of tall towers, like the 900-foot development Bauhouse Group has planned for East 58th Street between First Avenue and Sutton Place, on the neighborhood. "We are drawing a line on the march of superscrapers at billionaire's row to protect our city's residential neighborhoods," Kallos said in a statement.
The plan is intended to replace the area's R10 zoning designation, a 1960's-era piece of urban planning with no height restrictions that would allow the as-of-right development of Bauhouse's tower, with a new zoning designation that would limit building height to 260 feet, or 25 stories, require at least 25-percent of residential units in new developments to be dedicated to affordable housing, and would encourage the development of new community spaces like medical offices and day cares. The plan would quadruple the requisite amount of affordable housing in new developments. Whether affordable housing will be mandatory, voluntary, or other is still being worked out between the East River Fifties Alliance and City Planning in the negotiations process.
But just because the plan has been submitted does not mean it will be adopted and approved by the City Council. The plan is now in the pre-ULURP stages, and will move into ULURP where it will be reviewed by the city for approval.
· East River Fifties Alliance [official]
· Sutton Place's 900-Foot Supertall Is One Step Closer to Rising [Curbed]
· All 426-432 East 58th Street coverage [Curbed]
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