In an effort to revive it, the community lobbied for rezoning. In 1992, Walsh said the city amended the community's zoning — but the new rules made it very expensive to build new homes, which required special variances.
According to Walsh, in 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg invited several Queens civic leaders to a meeting to discuss the community's needs. The major concern, he added, was downsizing — there was too much development at too high a density. The community asked to be rezoned.
In the spring of 2005, the process began in earnest, and several meetings were held to address community concerns. By December of that year, the Department of City Planning announced its plans to rezone Dutch Kills.
In 2006, the department introduced a proposal to rezone the community to a mixed use area, downsizing commercial development and allowing for residential construction.
But those rules have yet to go into effect, and many residents feel developers are taking advantage of the community’s current zoning to construct several large-scale commercial buildings, including several hotels, in the area. The environmental impact study is under way, but with no clear timetable for completion.
“I feel the impact study was held up,” Walsh said, noting that one six-story commercial complex has already gone up and two others are currently being built. He estimated at least 10 additional developments are in the works.
“The City Council needs to pass a law that when rezoning is in effect, a moratorium has to be put on that no more permits are issued for new buildings to go up until zoning is complete,” Walsh said.
Many residents feel it is already too late. “We screamed at the wrong time,” said 10-year Dutch Kills resident Tracey Florio, who lives on 28th Street. “We should have been screaming for years.”
One of Florio’s biggest fears is continued development. “They’re going to let other buildings come in, and as long as that cement is poured, we’re dead.”
Florio said if the city can stop development now, she would be able to live with what has already happened.
Her home sits next to a business that, “as of right,” added an additional floor, blocking out several windows on the side of her home.
While Florio gets along well with her neighbor, she noted that in many cases the city has been giving out building permits without looking carefully enough at what has been happening in the community.
Vienna Ferreri’s home on 27th Street stands next to what will be a nine-story hotel. She said the construction process “has been a nightmare from inception.”
Ferreri’s home was attached to the neighboring building. She believes its demolition left her basement exposed and prone to flooding. “This house is 80 years old,” she said. “Is it going to withstand? It’s not.”
Like many of her neighbors, Ferreri is suspicious, and believes the rezoning process has been held up to allow developers to take advantage of the old zoning rules. “They scooped up every property that they could,” she said, adding that one of the biggest issues now is finding parking in the area.
Ferreri believes the large-scale development is better suited for nearby Queens Plaza, or another area “where the structures around them can handle it — not between these little houses.”
“We need to promote western Queens as a viable place to keep young families,” noted Dutch Kills resident Megan Friedman, who agrees that large-scale construction is better suited for nearby Queens Plaza.
Friedman, who has lived in Dutch Kills for more than 25 years, also expressed concern about the mayor’s congestion pricing plan, which many residents feel will add an additional burden on a community already suffering from limited parking.
“We’re used as a parking lot for everyone from Long Island to eastern Queens,” Walsh said. “It’s only going to get worse with the buildings going up.”
Jennifer Torres, a spokeswoman for the Department of City Planning, said the department is committed to the complex rezoning process. She noted that the rezoning proposal will create a mixed-use district “to remove residential restrictions while continuing to provide for existing light industrial business, maintain existing scale and provide opportunities for growth.”
In response to accusations that the city has held up the Dutch Kills rezoning process, Torres pointed out that the department has rezoned 27 areas of Queens since 2002 — “underscoring the administration’s continuing commitment to sustainable planning while preserving our lower density communities.”
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