By HAYLEY CAMACHO

Despite rezoning along the 1.5 mile stretch of Webster Avenue as a way to encourage market rate housing and new businesses, Community Board 7 members remain angry over the city Department of Buildings’ lax enforcement of the new zoning laws and loopholes that have led to widespread supportive housing ventures.

In what’s become a hot topic within CB7’s borders, the members pored over the issue and possible solutions at the board’s Economic Development Committee meeting held on Jan. 8. Meetings have become at times contentious ever since the rezoning went into effect, amending construction laws on Webster Avenue running from East Gun Hill Road to Fordham Road.

The community board for the Norwood, Kingsbridge, Bedford Park, Fordham, Mosholu and University Heights areas has played hardball mainly with the Stagg Group, a development and construction company which is building sites at 2977-89 and 2997 Webster Ave., to finally include the required first floor commercial space after complaints to the DOB that resulted in a second review of Stagg’s plan.

Board members are skeptical in how rigorous the DOB is in enforcing new zoning requirements for projects. “You can influence but you can’t mandate except for the zoning, and the zoning is being circumvented,” said CB7’s Economic Development chair Ellie Lundeen.

These days, economic development has intertwined with housing since new buildings must include commercial space on the first floor, as per requirements from the new zoning laws. It’s a reason why CB7’s Economic Development Committee has collaborated with the board’s Housing Committee over these issues.

A big obstacle in the revitalization of the Webster Avenue corridor are incentives provided by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development that allow developers to obtain a range of special loan financing and tax credits to build supportive and low-income housing. The agency offers loans to non-profits that provide on-site social services that eliminate the repayment of the principal or interest as long as the borrower agrees that the property be used for low income homeless tenants for 30 years.

HPD also awards tax credits for housing projects that reserve at least 20 percent of apartments for low-income households. Once tax credits are allocated, the developer typically sells the credits to corporate investors who supply private equity to cover a portion of development costs.

There are currently five supportive housing projects under way for low income seniors, homeless families and the mentally ill on Webster Avenue. This past October, the board rejected proposals from the Stagg Group and Doe Fund, a Manhattan-based nonprofit, for even more supportive housing.

The Need for Supportive Housing

The Bronx has seen an overall increase in the number of supportive housing and assisted living facilities over the years, thanks to a federal mandate that requires the city to find housing for the itinerant. With the State divesting its psychiatric centers followed by a housing crunch, the only recourse the mentally ill can take is going into supportive housing and assisted living sites, creating a double-edged sword. With incentives to build along the corridor, an influx of social service housing has boomed.

District 11 Councilman Andrew Cohen attended the meeting and weighed in. “The zoning incorporates a lot of incentives for supportive housing that are making it a land grab for a  supportive housing boom here which  I don’t think is what the vision plan envisioned,” he said.

Holding Their Ground

To be eligible for HPD incentives, developers need a Letter of Support from a community board’s Housing Committee, which is followed by a vote by the full board. “It’s to the developer’s benefit to do supportive housing, but then they don’t want to put in the commercial space on the first floor,” said Lundeen. “And we’re not going to give you the letter unless you do.”

“We are holding those Letters of Support to our chest hard and we are not giving them out like candy,” said Jean Hill, CB7’s Housing Chair. “The Doe Fund went away quite disturbed with us because we did not give them one and Stagg also tried to whisper in other ears and we’re asking other partners who are concerned about the area to stand firm with us and help us hold the line,” she said in reference to the four big institutions in the area–Montefiore Medical Center, The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx Zoo, and Fordham University–which support the mixed use economic development plan for Webster Avenue.

“If you have supportive housing and other mixed income, you’re going to have a more stable community,” said Lundeen.

Lack of Transparency

As for the DOB, Lundeen claimed the agency works in secret, never revealing where the next building is going up on Webster Avenue. CB7 members and residents serve as the eyes and ears in the community. DOB spokeswoman Kelly Magee noted that a link on the DOB’s website entitled Building on My Block has information on new construction in each community board.

“Formal notification is not mandated, but this [the website] is a tool that allows community board members and New Yorkers to look up the developments in their community,” she said. “The community board would be involved and receive notification for any type of development that is going through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure or anything that’s requesting variances from city planning,” she added.

Cohen applauded the board’s resolve. “I think at the moment it seems to be a very tough tide to stand against,” he said. “I am appreciative on not giving out these letters of support because I don’t think that what these people are proposing jives with what the community wants to have happen on Webster Avenue.” He also offered to support the board’s efforts. “The zoning situation is something that I can do something about, but I can’t do it overnight.”

One remedy discussed was for the Land Use Committee to change the zoning on Webster Avenue to a type of “floating zone” model used in upstate New York. It would involve leaving the hubs at Bedford Park Boulevard and East Gun Hill Road intact and down-zoning the Webster Avenue corridor to limit building heights to three stories plus the commercial overlay, with the hope that CB7 would support reinstating the zoning for any development that embraces its vision.

The board, along with the Mosholu Preservation Corporation, is working on the creation of a Webster Avenue Business Improvement District to attract retailers to the corridor. “If you look at Fordham Road, it is very successful. There is very little movement of retailers and few empty stores,” said Lundeen.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.