By Nathan Duke
Residents along Prospect Avenue in Douglaston said they were upset the city has put up several signs on their street to prevent parking and that there was seemingly no reason to eliminate the spots.
The city Department of Transportation erected the signs as part of a citywide initiative to replace signs that had been removed from streets across the five boroughs but never replaced, Community Board 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld said.
But residents on Prospect Avenue near the corner of Willow Place said the road never had “No Parking” signs and parking has now become more limited along the roadway.
“It’s creating more congestion for the neighborhood,” resident Dorene Lombardi told CB 11’s monthly meeting Monday.
The signs run north to south on Prospect Avenue from Willow Place to Cherry Street.
“Some of the signs make no sense,” Seinfeld said. “I have no idea why they went up. It’s limiting the parking on the block.”
The signs restrict parking along the one side of the street at all times.
“I was stunned when I came home in mid-May and saw them,” resident Jonesie Clemence. “These signs are unsightly and literally on our yards.”
At its meeting, CB 11 also voted in a massive proposal to rezone 418 blocks in Auburndale, Oakland Gardens and Hollis Hills. The project is the city’s largest rezoning to date.
“It’s going to curb overdevelopment,” said John Young, Queens commissioner of the Department of City Planning. “It’s the largest rezoning we’ve ever done.”
The borders for the Oakland Gardens and Hollis Hills portion of the project are the Long Island Expressway and 56th Avenue to the north, Alley Pond Park in the east, Cunningham Park in the west and the Grand Central Parkway in the south.
The Auburndale section’s borders are Station Road in the north, 208th Street and Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east, 166th Street and Robinson Street in the west and the Long Island Expressway in the south.
Most of the areas included in the project have not been rezoned since 1961.
The rezoning will prevent out-of-character development in traditional one- and two-family home neighborhoods, but also halt commercial intrusion into residential blocks.
Jerry Iannece, CB 11’s chairman, said the rezoning could go into effect as early as the fall.
“We’ve worked really hard in the neighborhood,” said Elaine Guthrie of Oakland Gardens. “This is not the neighborhood we came to, but we are trying to preserve it to any degree possible. We want to preserve it for the future residents of the neighborhood.”
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
