A 20-year struggle is over.

The City Council on April 30 unanimously approved Community Board 1’s plan to change zoning in the South Street Seaport historic district, significantly limiting the size of any future development there.

The changes include CB1’s desired height cap of 120 feet, which was opposed by two city agencies.

“We’re thrilled,” said Paul Goldstein, CB1’s district manager, who worked extensively on crafting the rezoning plan. “I think we made a compelling argument that this is the best plan for the future of the seaport.”

For two decades, the community board and a coalition of residents and business groups have fought to prevent large-scale development in the area, where most buildings, many from the 19th century, are four or five stories.

Many times, they helped to block a powerful developer, Milstein Properties, from putting up a tall building at 250 Water Street, the site most affected by the rezoning.

Barring a mayoral veto, which is not expected, they can now rest easier.

“We have been able to preserve the historical waterfront that is a treasure to all of New York,” said Councilman Alan Gerson, who lobbied his colleagues to support the rezoning. “We support development, but we cannot allow new development to destroy our history. There’s ample room in our great city for both.”

In following the lead of its Land Use Committee, which had unanimously approved the rezoning plan earlier in the month, the City Council took the unusual step of overriding both the City Planning Commission and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

In March, City Planning had approved most of CB1’s proposal, but with Landmarks’ support, it raised the height limit from 120 to 170 feet. The commissions said the height would give developers more flexibility, particularly at 250 Water Street, while keeping the area’s historic character.

But CB1 argued that a 170-foot building would be inappropriate in the 10-block historic district, bounded by Fulton, Pearl, Dover and South streets, where the tallest existing building is 96 feet high.

The debates over the “downzoning” proposal focused on 250 Water Street. Milstein lobbied against the downzoning, which prohibits the developer’s latest plan for the site, a residential complex with 13- and 24-story towers.

Milstein said that under the proposed restrictions, whether the height limit was 120 or 170 feet, it would be impossible to develop a profitable or attractive building, and that the firm would leave the site a parking lot.

The city wants to see 250 Water Street developed, to help revitalize Downtown, and Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff’s office has been negotiating with Milstein to make that possible, even under the new zoning.

They are believed to be discussing a deal in which the city would acquire the site in exchange for giving Milstein development rights elsewhere, possibly also in Lower Manhattan. The city could then seek a developer willing to build at 250 Water Street.

In addition to the height cap, the rezoning limits the size of a building on the site to roughly 290,000 square feet, a drastic reduction from the 480,000 square feet permitted under existing rules.

CB1 and its supporters emphasized that they were not trying to block development at the Seaport, but to ensure that the development is appropriate.

“Our plan is one that has worked over and over, in city after city, to restore and rebuild historic waterfront districts and turn them into popular destinations,” Goldstein said.

The rezoning was supported by Downtown’s elected officials and many civic organizations, including the Downtown Alliance, the Municipal Art Society and the Landmarks Conservancy.

The changes resolve a conflict between landmarks rules and zoning regulations that has existed since the area was designated a historic district in 1977: The Landmarks Commission had to approve development in the area as appropriate to the historical context, but the zoning allowed big buildings.
Each time Milstein presented a new plan, the community board had to rally troops to persuade the Landmarks Commission to turn it down.t