NYC Department of City Planning
The City’s zoning laws are now instantly accessible to New Yorkers. On February 6, 2019, Department of City Planning Director Marisa Lago announced the release of the City’s digital Zoning Resolution online platform. The online platform will serve as a green replacement for the 1,570-page physical copy of the Resolution, which will no longer be printed to save money, increase government transparency, and fight climate change. It will also be a more interactive replacement for the static PDFs currently on the City Planning website. The platform will make the City’s Zoning Resolution more accessible for New Yorkers.
Since its adoption in 1961, the New York City Zoning Resolution plays an instrumental role in the City’s land use and development matters. It is a legal instrument that “regulates and establishes limits on the use of land and building size, shape, height, and setback.” The Resolution is updated as new land use resolutions are mapped or altered.
The online platform will have features that will make it easier to navigate the City’s zoning laws. The platform will have a streamlined, mobile-friendly, modern interface for users. The platform will allow users to use the keyword search to find specific information, to print or download from the digital edition, adjust text size, easily share references through one-click sharing and email options, use interactive links to view cross-referenced sections, and subscribe for updates as new land use actions are approved. The future update of the platform will include a legislative history of each individual section of the Resolution.
The digital Zoning Resolution online platform is part of City Planning’s initiative to develop online platforms of city planning tools and references to increase transparency and public engagement.
“Because it shapes the city in which we live, the Zoning Resolution affects every New Yorker. By putting an interactive Zoning Resolution online for the first time, New Yorkers – be they neighborhood residents, elected officials or community leaders – as well as planners, students, lawyers and industry professionals, can easily search the Zoning Resolution. This online Zoning Resolution is yet another example of DCP’s continuing commitment to make our data even more accessible and transparent,” said City Planning Director Lago.
Other City government officials also agreed with the online platform’s ease of accessibility for all New Yorkers across the City.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said that “both professionals and the community at large will find this version highly useful.”
“Creating a user-friendly online platform to navigate New York City’s complex zoning regulations makes zoning more accessible to a greater range of New Yorkers,” stated Land Use Chair Council Member Rafael Salamanca.
“Making the Zoning Regulation available online at no cost to every New Yorker is a welcome step into the 21st Century and a fantastic initiative for the 8.6 million residents whose lives are directly affected by every land use and development decision the city makes,” said Council Member Francisco Moya, Chair of the Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises. He states that the platform’s searchable feature will “empower residents, community boards and activists when it comes to reshaping our city.”
“Zoning is complicated but the Department of City Planning is making it easy to understand for every New Yorker,” said Council Member Ben Kallos, Chair of the Land Use Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions, and Concessions.
By: May Vutrapongvatana (May is a CityLaw Intern and a New York Law School Student, Class of 2019).