On July 25, 2007, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s recommended rezoning of Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton. The approval came after a ULURP process in which Brooklyn Community Board 10, the Borough President, and the City Planning Commission approved the proposal without modification.
The area that was rezoned is generally bounded by the Bay Ridge Division railroad right-of-way at 62nd Street to the north, Poly Place to the south, 14th Avenue to the east, and the Gowanus Expressway to the west. Encompassing approximately 160 blocks of Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton, the plan aims to mirror the existing scale and character of areas’ low-rise blocks. New, moderate-density residential development will be directed to commercial corridors such as Fort Hamilton Parkway, 11th Avenue, and 13th Avenue north of Bay Ridge Parkway which is already defined by three-to four-story rowhouses with ground-floor retail uses. It is expected that the zoning for these areas will provide opportunities to develop residential buildings with ground-floor retail.
Supporters of the project expect that the rezoning will help to maintain the character of the community by preventing plans to demolish one and two-family houses for the purposes of larger construction.