A public hearing held to discuss the proposed rezoning of 175 blocks in East Williamsburg and Greenpoint drew few members of the public last week.

The hearing, which was held by Community Board 1 regarding the long-in-the-works contextual rezoning of residential neighborhoods from Ash Street to Maujer Street and bounded by industrial areas on the east and the BQE on the west, brought few if any dissenting voices, although it will not be the last time the public will be invited to provide input.

The proposal is the result of the Department of City Planning’s (DCP) fulfillment of an agreement to contextually rezone the designated neighborhoods after the 2005 rezoning of the western portion of the neighborhood.

The rezoning is designed to make few changes to the neighborhood as it exists, and its designers hope that it will protect the neighborhood from unwelcome change at the hands of developers. The zoning would enact height limits on many of the blocks by changing their zoning from R6 to R6A and R6B. Larger streets like McGuinness Boulevard and Meeker Avenue would be zoned R7A, allowing for larger developments, but still keeping new projects within the scale of the neighborhood.

The zoning also recognizes the existing commercial districts of the neighborhood, providing reflective zoning for existing businesses and limiting the growth of new businesses on residential blocks.

At the request of the community board and residents speaking at previous hearings, the proposal has incorporated minor expansions to the commercial overlay and included several residential blocks on Maspeth Avenue in the rezoning.

“The board has been working on this rezoning with DCP all along, and we’re supportive and appreciative of their work,” said Ward Dennis, chairman of CB1’s Land Use Committee.

One member of the public requested that the rezoning be slightly modified to set better parameters for yard coverage in areas of Greenpoint that are above underground streams, saying that fewer yards will negatively affect the hydrology of the neighborhood.

A representative form St. Nicholas’ Neighborhood Preservation Corporation also spoke, saying that the organization supported the plan.

The board’s Land Use Committee will discuss the rezoning further at its next meeting, which is scheduled for April 13. The board has until May 11 to make a decision on the zoning proposal, at which point it will go before the borough president, City Planning Commission, and the City Council.