80th St between Fourth and Fifth Aves	Sixth Ave between 76th and 77th Sts	77th St between Fourth and Fifth Aves

Bay Ridge Locator Map

The Special Bay Ridge District is among the city's largest and was one of the first adopted specifically to preserve the scale and character of a distinctive, built-up residential neighborhood. When it was originally adopted in 1978, the SBRD was in fact the precursor to the contextual zoning regulations created in the mid-eighties and since mapped widely throughout the city.

Prompted by development in the 1970's of two large residential complexes, the Bay Ridge Towers in two buildings of 27 and 30 stories and the Shore Hill Apartments in two 13-story buildings, the SBRD regulations imposed customized building height and size restrictions, and controls pertaining to yards, lot coverage, open space, curb cuts, parking and landscaping. A height limit of 32 feet was established on most midblocks and five preservation subareas were created with additional regulations modifying the underlying zoning district regulations.

However, even with the SBRD controls, multi-family and attached housing can be developed in place of single-family, detached homes in parts of the district. With increasing frequency, single-family homes on large lots have been replaced with multi-family residences. As a result, there is growing community concern about the potential for eroding the character of some blocks within the special district.

The proposed zoning changes would better preserve neighborhood scale and character by replacing many of the underlying zoning districts with lower density and contextual zoning districts, and by retaining certain provisions of the existing special district. Although the proposed contextual zoning districts would eliminate the need for SBRD's preservation subareas, a limited number of SBRD regulations would be retained to provide protections greater than those afforded by the proposed underlying districts.

80th St between Fourth and Fifth Aves
Bay Ridge Parkway between Ridge Blvd and Colonial Rd	95th St between Marine Ave and Shore Rd

These fine-tuned zoning changes would protect the character of most neighborhood midblocks, some of which are defined by detached homes, some by semi-detached one- and two-family homes, and others by rows of attached limestone houses. The proposal would also reinforce the character of Third, Fourth and Fifth Avenues as corridors for mid-rise mixed retail/residential buildings, and of appropriate commercial districts as centers for retail and auto related uses. Additional height and bulk controls would be prescribed for community facility uses.

Public Review

Community Board 10 recommended approval with conditions and the Brooklyn Borough President recommended approval of the proposal. The City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposal on February 2, 2005 and voted unanimously on March 2, 2005 to approve the zoning map and text applications with modifications based on concerns raised during the public review process. (see the CPC reports and view the Adopted Zoning Map).

On March 23, 2005, the City Council adopted the zoning changes which are now in effect.

For more information about the Special Bay Ridge District zoning proposal, please contact the Brooklyn Office of the Department of City Planning, 718-780-8280.

Items accompanied by this symbol require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.