Nyc Department Of City Planning

If downloaded from the website of the New York City Department of City Planning, the city's zoning resolution (a 69mb PDF) is a lengthy 3,976 pages. Although geared to professionals designing and building buildings in New York City, the zoning resolution affects all New Yorkers. Therefore having a compact guide to zoning is important for informing laypeople about how zoning works. At less than 150 pages and illustrated profusely, the Zoning Handbook is easy to digest and understand. It runs through the various residential, commercial, and manufacturing districts (R, C, and M), describing how they dictate primarily the floor area ratio (FAR), which the handbook defines as "the ratio of total building floor area to the area of its zoning lot." (An FAR of 10.0 would result in a 10-story building covering the whole lot, a 20-story building covering half the lot, etc.) The handbook also describes zoning bonuses for plazas and affordable housing in the various districts, for instance, as well as the differences in special purpose districts and other ways zoning regulates development (parking, signage, etc.). A glossary that defines common terminology is particularly helpful so people can know precisely what is being described and discussed in city notices or in the press. For me, the handbook is a great resource for quick information on zoning districts, particularly when I put together walking tours.… (mehr)