Five housing and land-use items moved through the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises on February 10, and the chair tied them together in a single roll call that landed 8 in the affirmative, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions. The biggest of the bunch sits in Ozone Park: the rezoning at 78-08 Linden Boulevard in Councilmember Ariola's district would let an applicant build roughly 264 apartments, swapping an R4 district with a C1-2 commercial overlay for a denser residential R7D with a C2-4 overlay, paired with a mandatory inclusionary housing area. Ariola backed it, and the subcommittee approved it.
Two of the rezonings came with affordability fights settled in the modifications. At 1417 Avenue U in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Councilmember Vernikov's project would add about 76 apartments by moving an R5 district with a C1-3 overlay up to R7A with C2-4. The subcommittee recommended dropping MIH option 1 and mapping only option 2 to push the affordable-unit count higher. Vernikov, who could not attend, sent a statement read into the record: she called parking the district's huge concern and noted the project carries 27 parking spaces for its 76 units when it could have gone to zero. At 63-12 Broadway in Woodside, Councilmember Won's roughly 67-apartment plan moved the same R5-to-R7A direction, but here the modification went the other way on affordability, removing MIH option 2 and adding option 3 so the housing would actually be affordable to residents in that part of the city.
The two smaller items rounded out the agenda. In Bellerose, Councilmember Lee supported a modest rezoning at 247-56 90th Avenue from R4-1 to R4 so the owner could build an attached two-family home on a lot they already own. And a sidewalk cafe application from Ethyl's Alcohol and Food asked to set out four tables and sixteen chairs along its frontage, backed by the Speaker.
The chair held the vote open a few extra minutes for a late member, then closed it once Councilmember Salaam logged a yes. All five items now head to the full Land Use committee.