Citywide flood-resilient zoning changes pass in Council

The City Council voted in favor of the Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency, updating the city code to make it easier for New Yorkers to protect their homes in the event of an extreme flood.  Photo via NYC.gov

By Rachel Vick

After four years of community engagement and hundreds of meetings, Queens’ low-lying neighborhoods have just gotten a little more protected with a set of zoning changes unanimously passed by a City Council vote Wednesday.

The Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency updates zoning to make it easier for residents to recover after disasters like Hurricane Sandy and proactively protect their homes. 

“New York City has an obligation to transform its relationship with water, and these zoning changes will protect New Yorkers from coastal flooding for generations to come,”said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who approved the final step in the rezoning process. 

“Climate change will be our city’s greatest long-term challenge,” he added. “New York City will do everything it can to keep residents and businesses resilient and prepared for whatever comes next.”

Temporary changes put in place to expedite recovery after Hurricane Sandy were included as a permanent fixture in the city zoning, making building retrofits like lifting homes or relocating important infrastructure like electrical equipment on roofs and away from the flood risk. 

Queens neighborhoods like Broad Channel, Howard Beach and communities around Flushing Bay that are expected to fall below the high tide line — the site furthest inland covered by water at high tide — by 2050. 

Protections were expanded to include neighborhoods located in the  500-year floodplain, where there is 0.2-percent chance of Superstorm Sandy-type flooding, and areas that will be susceptible to flooding during “100 year storms” based on current sea-level rise projections.

New zoning also limits the construction of new nursing homes in the most at-risk areas.

The Old Howard Beach rezoning as part of the Resilient Neighborhoods Initiatives also passed, limiting the construction of attached homes that are difficult to elevate above the flood line.

“We have seen the disproportionate impact of natural disasters and this pandemic on vulnerable and minority communities,” said Councilmember Francisco Moya, chair of the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises. “The Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency is how we advance climate and racial justice in New York City. This will add protections for New Yorkers, homes and businesses as we continue to face and adapt to a changing climate.”