East Harlem Rezoning
CIVITAS is working with Community Board 11 to analyze the need for rezoning the western section of East Harlem (Lexington to Fifth Avenue). Among the primary objectives of the current initiative are:
• Encourage appropriate height limits and contextual zoning in mid-blocks and on avenues
• Create opportunities for neighborhood-scale retail and commercial uses on avenues
• Expand affordable housing opportunities
Stay tuned for details about this ongoing effort.
Planning for the Future in East Harlem
In May 2010, CIVITAS and Manhattan Community Board 11’s zoning committee organized a tour of East Harlem blocks that were rezoned in 2003. This multi-year, community-led effort encompassed East 99th to 122 Streets, Third Avenue to Pleasant Avenue.
The 2010 tour was led by land use planner Richard Bass, who volunteered his time to explain how the zoning resolution is interpreted in new construction. He also advised participants and community leaders on urban design concerns and details to address in future rezoning efforts. Conceived as an educational tool, the tour was videotaped and produced as a 7 minute film.
East Harlem Walking Tour from Civitas Citizen on Vimeo.
DO YOU SPEAK THE ZONING & LAND USE LANGUAGE?
Below are definitions for terms used in the video and other helpful information
Air Rights (see Development Rights)
Bonus
Additional floor area allowed developers as an incentive to provide certain amenities or low-income housing.
Community Board
An advisory local planning and review body through which each of the 59 city neighborhoods deals with city agencies. Composed of 50 members, most appointed by the Borough President, who must live or work in the district. CB11 is the is community board for East Harlem from 96th to 142nd Streets between Fifth Avenue and the Harlem River, including Randall’s and Ward’s Islands: www.cb11m.org
Contextual Zoning District
Districts where bulk regulations seek to reflect the existing neighborhood character, by encouraging lower buildings with larger lot coverage and establishing a street wall through height and setback requirements. They carry the suffix A, B, or X – e.g. R10A.
Development Rights
The maximum amount of floor area permissible on a zoning lot under the regulations. Sometimes used to mean unused development rights-the difference between the maximum permissible floor area to the actual built floor area on a zoning lot. Unused development rights can be sold or transferred to an adjacent lot as-of-right through a zoning lot merger (see definition).
Inclusionary Housing Bonus
Programs under which FAR of buildings in R10 or R10 equivalent commercial districts may be increased from 10 to 12 for construction or rehabilitation of a specified percentage of lower-income housing units, on-site and/or off-site within ½ mile or within the same Community Board district.
Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
The ratio of total floor area that may be built on a single lot, to the lot area. If the FAR is 3.44, and the lot is 10,000 square feet, the maximum floor area is 34,400 square feet, not including below-ground space, mechanical spaces, and balconies.
Non-Contextual or Height Factor Regulations
Height factor regulations encourage development of tall buildings set back from the street and surrounded by open space. The building form is a product of the “tower-in-the-park” vision of urban planning popular in the 1950′s. In each district, the size of a building is determined by a complex set of rules involving the interrelationship between a range of height factors, floor area ratios and open space ratios. Higher floor area ratios are permitted on large lots where large areas of open space can be provided. Smaller lots in the same district, where less open space is possible, typically achieve smaller floor area ratios. In general, the larger the lot, the taller the building permitted under height factor regulations.
Street Wall
Legally, any building wall which faces a street. To Architects and Urban Designers, a series of building walls on or near the front lot line which together define the street.
Transfer of development rights (TDR)
Refers to transferring development rights from a landmark building to an adjacent lot or lots or to one across the street or to one diagonally across an intersection. This action must go through the ULURP process.
Upzoning
A zoning amendment increasing the permitted Floor Area Ratio (FAR )of buildings.
Zoning District Boundaries
A designated area defined as residential, commercial or manufacturing with similar use, bulk and density regulations. Click here to view the East Harlem Zoning Maps.
Zoning Lot Merger
A means of transferring unused air rights or development rights to an adjacent one within the same block and zoning district to permit construction of a larger building. (see Transfer of Development Rights).
Additional Resources:
CIVITAS’ 2002 booklet New Zoning for East Harlem is an educational guide to rezoning in East Harlem
NYC Department of City Planning website references:
NYC Department of City Planning: East Harlem Rezoning (also available at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/eastharlem/eastharlem1.shtml)
NYC Zoning History
NYC Zoning Districts
NYC Zoning Glossary
For more information about zoning on the Upper East Side, in East Harlem, and in New York City, read the CIVITAS publication: The ABC of Zoning
