Westerleigh Timeline
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Rezoning Proposal
 

November 2007

That large sigh you might have heard throughout our community last month was one of mammoth relief as Westerleigh residents celebrated Christmas in October when the city reversed itself and approved large-scale downzoning for the community.

The new restrictions, which the Westerleigh Improvement Society had long championed, were announced late last month when City Planning gave its support to a plan to make single-family housing the rule throughout much of our community.

The victory was years in the making, and will hopefully end the devastating trend of tearing down older homes on large plots and replacing them with as many multi-family dwellings as could be squeezed into the space. Approximately 1,400 lots throughout Westerleigh will now be protected.

"We’ve been working on this a long time," said Westerleigh Improvement Society President Michael Morrell, who led the two-year fight. He praised a number of local officials for their efforts, especially Councilman Michael McMahon. "It just took a lot of pushing to get it through."

Councilman McMahon met continuously with City Planning throughout the summer to hammer out a compromise after the original downzoning proposal was rejected by the city nearly 12 months ago.

The area to be protected blankets a smaller area than originally requested, and covers about 600 fewer lots, but the downsizing is still the largest in the borough that involves switching from two-family detached housing to single-family structures. Lot size for new homes also will be increased, from 35-by-100 to 40-by-100 feet.

The downzoning will cover a sizeable portion of Westerleigh, from roughly Kemball, South Greenleaf, Jewett, Deems and Egbert avenues and Manor Road. Also affected are sections of St. John, Lathrop, Bidwell and College avenues, as well as Watchogue Road. (See the accompanying map, which outlines the proposed rezoned area, which will now be covered by R2 regulations.)

In addition to McMahon’s efforts, Westerleigh President Morrell said Borough President James Molinaro and Councilman James Oddo, who like McMahon represents portions of Westerleigh, were instrumental in getting the city to do an about-face on the plan.

The Society had long ago warned of the need to halt the recent pattern of demolishing large, single-family houses – many of them tied to the community’s proud heritage – and replacing them with multiple units of two-family dwellings. This practice not only was eating away at the community, the Society said, but was changing the very nature of Westerleigh’s neighborhoods.

Nowhere was this more evident than the loss of two houses on Jewett Avenue, which were razed a year ago. One was built by the founders of the Temperance Movement in the 19^th Century on the corner of Jewett and Maine avenues. The other was located a few doors away at 707 Jewett. Both were replaced with four, two-family structures.

Nothing can restore either of those homes, but for scores of others, the legislation is nothing short of a life-saver.

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