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Mayor's Rezoning Plan Rejected by Last Community Board to Vote in City

By Nicholas Rizzi | December 10, 2015 11:59am
 Staten Island Community Board 2, the last board in the city to weigh in on them, unanimously rejected the mayor's zoning changes.
Staten Island Community Board 2, the last board in the city to weigh in on them, unanimously rejected the mayor's zoning changes.
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DNAinfo/Nicholas Rizzi

WILLOWBROOK — The final advisory board to vote on Mayor Bill de Blasio's zoning plans unanimously rejected the proposals Wednesday night.

Echoing the complaints of the majority of community boards across the city, members of Staten Island's CB2 said they did not like its blanket approach and worried existing infrastructure was insufficient to support increased populations.

"The 'one-size-fits-all" regulation does not work in certain neighborhoods," said land use chairman Frank Marchiano.

"The overdevelopment of this borough has reached its limit a long time ago. This program will add density, which adds population, which in turn adds to already overtaxed construction, with overcrowded roads, overcrowded schools and a borough that still lacks reliable transit option."

The proposals, aimed to increase or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing in the city, had already been rejected by the island's CB3 and CB1 — suggesting that Staten Island's borough board will follow suit with the rest of the city and vote the proposal down.

The Staten Island borough board is scheduled to vote on the issue Thursday night.

While some members of Community Board 2 said that a large part of the plans would be unlikely to impact their neighborhoods immediately, they still voted it down because they fear it could add density in the future.

"I know socialism when I see it," said board member David Mario Curcio. "This kind of planned economy looks like what the Soviet Union did."

On the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing plan, which would require future developments to build affordable units if they need a zoning change, and Zoning for Quality and Affordability, which aims to create more affordable senior housing and care facilities in the city, board members voted 27 to 0 to reject both plans.

De Blasio's plan to change the zoning regulations in the city to create or preserve affordable housing was met with almost universal rejection by community board's around the city. Community board votes are nonbinding and solely advisory.

Staten Island became the last borough to weigh in on the plans after the votes were delayed at the request of Borough President James Oddo, who asked the boards to push back decisions until he had a chance to fully scrutinize the 526-page plan.