By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WEST VILLAGE — Neighborhood preservationists in the West Village are alarmed that if the city doesn't move quickly to approve new zoning rules, parts of the area will be inundated by a wave of condo and commercial high-rise developments.
“Unfortunately every day the rezoning is delayed can make a significant difference, as several developers are seeking to move ahead with projects in the area while old, inappropriate zoning is still in effect,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society.
The Department of City Planning agreed in November to rezone a six-block stretch encompassing Greenwich and Washington Streets and West 12th and West 10th Streets, but has yet to schedule hearings.
The proposed rezoning would impose new rules that would limit the size and height of new buildings.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, St ate Sen. Thomas Duane and Assemblywoman Deborah Glick have all expressed support for the rezoning.
City Planning officials had promised to schedule the hearings for April or early May, but but so far there has been no movement. The process of implementing rezoning regulations can take up to a year.
Berman and others began pressing for rezoning more than a year ago to reduce the scale of a 58-room boutique hotel scheduled to go up at 145 Perry Street.
Berman said that the hotel project, overseen by Madison Equities, is one of more than a dozen developments in the area that could proceed soon under the current rezoning statutes
A Madison Equities development spokesman told DNAinfo that ground has not yet been broken at the Perry Street site, but declined to comment on whether the new rezoning reglations would affect the firm's plans.
Projects that get under way before rezoning goes into effect are grandfathered into old zoning rules.
The current zoning rules have been in place for more than half a century, dating back to a time when the far West Village was part of a manufacturing hub. The zoning doesn't impose a height limit on buildings and provides bonuses to community and commercial builders.
The proposed zoning promised by the city would reduce size and height of developments up to 40 to 65 feet and eliminate the bonus structure for hotel developments and other large-scale projects.
Last April, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation held a rally at Town Hall to promote the rezoning. In September, the group sent a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg decrying the City Planning Department's failure to begin the rezoning process.
“City Planning remains committed to rezoning this area of the Far West Village and has been working with Community Board 2 to certify the rezoning proposal in a timely manner,” Jovana Rizzo, a spokesperson for the Dept. of City Planning, said in response to the group's letter.
