The “Special Gowanus Mixed Use District” established in this Resolution is designed to promote and protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the Gowanus neighborhood and the greater community. These general goals include, among others, the following specific purposes:

(a)        to recognize and enhance the vitality and character of an existing mixed use neighborhood;

(b)        to encourage stability and growth in the Gowanus neighborhood by permitting compatible light manufacturing and residential uses to coexist;

(c)        to encourage investment in a mixed use neighborhood by permitting the expansion and new development of a wide variety of uses in a manner that ensures the health and safety of residents and employees;

(d)        to improve the physical appearance of the streetscape by providing and coordinating harmonious open space, sidewalk amenities and landscaping within a consistent urban design;

(e)        to promote and enhance visual and physical access to and around the Gowanus Canal;

(f)        to enhance neighborhood economic diversity by broadening the range of housing choices for residents at varied incomes;

(g)        to expand local employment opportunities and to promote the opportunity for workers to live in the vicinity of their work; and

(h)        to promote the most desirable use of land and thus conserve the value of land and buildings and thereby protect the City’s tax revenues.