Looking south on Columbus Avenue from 76th Street on the Upper West Side. A new zoning amendment will change the commercial mix of the area from 72nd Street through 87th Street. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

The Department of City Planning (DCP) proposes a zoning amendment and a zoning map amendment to establish two “Special Enhanced Commercial Districts” in Manhattan Community District 7 on the Upper West Side (UWS). The special districts would apply to 77 block fronts along Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, and 73 block fronts along Broadway.

The DCP was approached by the UWS community and elected officials with a list of issues that the community believed threatened the local retail landscape.

Back in 2007, I wrote a post “Say No to DRUGS store chains,” after four of my long-time neighborhood mom-and-pop stores and restaurants were forced out of business. I wrote about banks and drugstore chains changing the face of the neighborhood and I didn’t think it was a pretty face. I wondered if we needed new zoning laws restricting the number of mega drugstore chains and banks.

The new landlord that inherited the building at the time had even bigger aspirations than a bank and drugstore chain, hoping that perhaps one day a Ricky’s and a prestigious store like Brooks Brothers would lease the space instead of the mom-and-pop stores. So he waited and waited! The block remained vacant from the summer of 2007 until this past summer when Ricky’s hair care chain opened along with a storefront for Japanese retail chain Uniqlo that opened in August and closed the end of September 2011.

The city’s plan to limit the size of UWS storefronts won approval from Community Board 7’s Land Use Committee this week. The committee voted 11–2 to pass the rules. It still needs full board approval.

According to the DCP, the frontage limitations proposed respond to conditions on the UWS that are largely unique compared with other areas of the city. The UWS has a high residential density and a limited amount of commercial space—which is disproportionately occupied by banks.

“The need to maintain retail diversity is greater due to the presence of only three commercial corridors (Broadway, Amsterdam, and Columbus) that serve a large residential population,” reads the proposal on the city’s website.

The proposed Special District regulations would be applicable to lots with a frontage on the following portions of Broadway, Amsterdam, and Columbus Avenues:

* Special Enhanced Commercial District 2 includes Amsterdam Avenue bounded by 75th Street and 110th Street on the west side, excluding the blocks between 100th–101st and 102nd–103rd streets, and bounded by 73rd and 87th streets, and 105th and 109th streets on the east side of the avenue; and Columbus Avenue bounded by 72nd and 87th streets.

* Special Enhanced Commercial District 3 includes Broadway bounded by 72nd Street and 110th Street on the west side, and 74th Street and 110th Street on the east side;

Studying the UWS block by block, DCP responded to the community’s concerns with the proposed Special Districts by limiting the frontage of most new and expanding retail and commercial establishments along Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, and limiting the frontage of new and expanding banks and residential lobbies along Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. It would apply ground floor transparency requirements for new buildings to enhance the pedestrian environment.

Mitchell Hall is a Corcoran Group broker and the blogger behind http://nycblogestate.com/