Jamaica rezoning clears Council committees with less housing but a lot more money

Two City Council committees voted on Thursday to approve the massive rezoning plan for Downtown Jamaica. Screenshot via NYC Council 

By Ryan Schwach

The plan to rezone a large swath of bustling Downtown Jamaica cleared two crucial City Council committee votes on Thursday with nearly 500 fewer housing units than initially planned and significantly more in community benefit funds to help meet the demands of local councilmembers.

In approving the Downtown Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, the committees opened a pathway to approval for what the Council says is the largest neighborhood rezoning the city has seen in two decades.

The Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and the Land Use Committee voted unanimously to approve the plan.

The framework approved by the committees encourages the private development of 11,829 new housing units over the 230-block rezoning area, 35 percent of which will be affordable. The Mandatory Inclusionary Housing zone included in the project will be the largest of its kind in the city.

In total, 3,778 of the expected units will be within the MIH zone, and 397 additional units will be rented with income restrictions.

The total number of housing units dipped from the 12,319 units initially pitched in the plan, but does include around 200 more units of affordable housing.

Council sources argued the change only makes up a fraction of the overall housing the plan hopes to encourage, and attributed the decrease to the removal of units on the borders of the rezoning area.

The change appears to meet the demands of local Community Boards 12 and 13, which both rejected the plan mainly due to concerns about bringing denser housing to areas that are more defined by suburban homeownership.

To address additional concerns around local green space, sewer infrastructure, flooding and overall community impact, the Council negotiated $413 million in city funding for the Jamaica neighborhood.

“The Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, the largest neighborhood rezoning in over two decades, will deliver tens of thousands of new homes and homeownership opportunities, thousands of new jobs, and essential community investments to improve our sewer infrastructure, parks, access to health care, cultural institutions, public and higher education and quality of life,” said City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who represents a large portion the area. “This level of neighborhood investment, housing affordability, and targeted commitments would not have been possible without the City Council's direct role in the land use process to negotiate and secure community needs.”

The votes took place more than three hours after they were scheduled because lawmakers were “fine tuning” the plan, according to Councilmember Nantasha Williams, a key player in the rezoning plan.

“I know I stressed you out a little bit,” Williams said at the subcommittee meeting. “For years, administration after administration has brought forward working groups and action agendas for Downtown Jamaica, but real change never came too often. Our community was told to wait – wait for funding, wait to be a priority, wait for next year.”

“They deserve results,” she added. “They deserve housing that is affordable, jobs that can sustain a family, and public spaces that reflect the pride and possibility of Southeast Queens. This Jamaica Neighborhood Plan is the result of that commitment. It finally makes Jamaica a priority.”

For Williams, those results came to the tune of millions in community investments, including nearly $22 million to address flooding in Jamaica, an issue she said was the “hill [she] will die on,” regarding the project.

“These priorities came directly from the people,” she said during the vote. “They came from the voices we heard at town halls, from steering committee members, from youth symposiums and from neighbors who showed up and spoke up over the last two years.”

City Council committees approved the Downtown Jamaica Neighborhood Plan on Thursday with over $400 million in new funding. Rendering via DCP

As part of the deal, the Council will convene a four-year, 12-to-15-member independent Downtown Jamaica Oversight Task Force to help keep the rezoning on track and accountable to the public, officials said.

Also included in the funding was over $100 million for transportation projects like a new public plaza and upgrades to the Archer Avenue bus terminal, $117 million to improve seven parks in the area and design two new ones, $70 million to expand the Claire Shulman Pavilion at Queens Hospital and $30 million for improvements to local schools.

“For over two years, we’ve worked to make sure this plan is shaped by the people who live here, with truly affordable housing, schools that meet the needs of our families, safe streets, strong infrastructure, and support for our cultural institutions,” Williams said in a separate statement. “As we move forward, I’ll continue to fight for the resources and accountability Jamaica deserves. The work doesn’t end with a vote; it begins with follow-through, and I’ll be working alongside our community to make sure these commitments turn into lasting results.”

Borough President Donovan Richards – who approved the project with conditions – also had many of his concerns about the project addressed in the deal, but could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

In a statement, Mayor Eric Adams applauded the committees’ approval, saying it's another notch for what he has repeatedly called the “most pro-housing administration in city history.”

“When it comes to housing, our administration is doing more than talking about it — we’re

taking action every single day, cleaning up outdated zoning rules to get shovels in the ground

and New Yorkers into new homes,” said Adams.

The full Council will vote on the Jamaica plan later this month.

OneLIC, Queens’ other massive neighborhood rezoning in the works, will also be voted on sometime in October.