Flushing‌ ‌community‌ ‌board‌ ‌set‌ ‌to‌ ‌vote‌ ‌on‌ ‌controversial‌ ‌rezoning‌ ‌

Community groups say they are concerned the development plan would affect housing costs in surrounding areas, like Downtown Flushing. Eagle photo by Victoria Merlino

By Victoria Merlino

Community Board 7 will vote today on a hotly contested plan to rezone the Flushing waterfront, which would allow developers to build condos, hotels, shops and office space along Flushing Creek. The advisory vote is the latest phase in the city’s land use process for the site. 

The Queens borough president will also weigh in before the project goes before the City Council, which traditionally votes in lock step with the local Councilmember Peter Koo on land use measures. 

The rezoning would allow FWRA LLC, a partnership of three developers that own the land, to reshape the Flushing waterfront, creating a 13-tower, mixed-use complex across the 29 acres of mostly unutilized land. Supporters say the plan will include expanded waterfront park space and a system of roads that would be open to public traffic, according to the Flushing Post.

Brownfield remediation, or the process of decontaminating land, would oc cur before groundbreaking on the project, the Flushing Post reported. Flushing Creek and Flushing Bay are polluted by sewer water, waste and chemicals from overflowing waste water treatment plants. 

While those pushing the proposal say that the new developments would net $28 million of annual revenue, according to QNS.com, critics argue that the current plan would not provide enough affordable housing for the community. Instead, opponents say, the plan would inundate Flushing with luxury condos. 

“The massive rezoning of the Flushing waterfront will exponentially speed up the process of gentrification and displacement,” MinKwon Center tenent organizer Seonae Byeon told QNS.com. 

Community members have also complained of being left out of the process to approve the development, with many community members only hearing of the plan in December, according to an op-ed by Queens College professor Tarry Hum in Gotham Gazette. 

Community Board 7 has received criticism because Vice Chair Chuck Apelian has served as a consultant to the developers, but he has recused himself from the vote.