Kissena Park Civic Association

New Community Facility Zoning Text

Long Awaited Zoning Reform Has Finally Arrived

On Sept. 9,2004 the Community Facility Text Reform Bill that was introduced in the city Council became law. The revised law requires community facilities, including houses of worship, to provide a fixed amount of off-street parking at the site. It also prohibits medical and dental offices in R1 and R2 zones except if it is also the primary residence of the doctor. The size of the office space is also restricted.
This new law will prevent many private homes in residential areas from becoming community facilities and will minimize the practice of medicine and dentistry in R1 and R2 zones thus insuring a better quality of life for those of us that chose to live in a residential area.
This new law was a long time coming and many obsticles had to be overcome in order for it to become law. Tyler Cassell and the Queens Civic Congress worked diligently with Councilman Tony Avella who is the chair of the zoning and franchise sub-committee to make this happen. Not all the issues have been addressed to everyone's satisfacaction but this is a good first step and opens the door to future negotiations. The KPCA supported this effort with letters and phone calls to Councilman Avella and John Liu. The people must get involved if they want to insure a better quality of life in our city.