Planning proposed amendment to address community concerns about inappropriate curb cuts and front yard parking spaces in residential areas. On April 14, 2010, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s Residential Streetscape Preservation text amendment. The amendment contains a host of changes, including applying stricter parking regulations in low-density residential districts, and establishing curb cut regulations in medium- and high-density districts that previously had none. It strengthens front yard planting requirements in low-density districts by closing a loophole that allowed narrow planting strips in driveways to count towards the required plantings. To ensure adequate parking is available, the amendment requires that residential enlargements and conversions in R3 and R4 districts provide additional off-street parking for each additional dwelling unit.

The text amendment also addressed a recent court decision ruling that a section of the zoning resolution prohibiting curb cuts in residential “B” districts applied only to new developments and not to existing buildings. The curb cut prohibition will now expressly apply to both existing and new buildings in “B” districts, reinforcing the City Planning Commission’s original intent. (more…)

Image Credit: DSNY

The new regulations will remain in effect throughout the summer. On June 23, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia announced that Alternate Side Parking (ASP) street cleanings will be reduced from two days a week to no more than once per week, per side, starting on Monday, June 29. (more…)

Image Credit: DCP.

Traffic congestion in 2013 stems in large part from how the City has allocated street space among motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, CitiBike stations, pedicabs, and horse-drawn carriages. While changes to address street space allocations can be anticipated, the logic and purpose of the allocations have changed over time.

Act I – Suffocation on the Streets

Facing public streets “choked” with cars, the City in 1950 amended the 1916 Zoning Resolution to require developers of residential buildings to provide off-street parking. In approving this controversial amendment, City Planning Commission Chairman Jerry Finkelstein silenced opponents of the proposal, noting: “The policy of this Commission is and will continue to be: Get parked cars off the City’s streets. . . . We wouldn’t have the congestion today in Manhattan and Brooklyn, if this amendment had been made law 25 years ago.”

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Second phase of 1 5 million sq ft mixed-use project in Long Island City moves forward after City cut parking requirements by half. On July 28, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ proposal to modify parking requirements related to the Gotham Center project at 28-10 Queens Plaza South in Long Island City, Queens. The site was formerly occupied by the 1,150-space Queens Plaza Municipal Garage, which was demolished in 2008. Tishman Speyer has built a 523,000 sq.ft. office tower, known as Two Gotham Center, on the north west portion of the site for the City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The next phase of the site’s redevelopment will include a second office tower on the remaining portion of the site. The new 900,000 sq.ft. tower will include a parking garage linked to the DOHMH building’s existing 162-space garage.  (more…)

Commission determined that clear off-street parking rules for car-share vehicles would help alleviate traffic congestion and increase available spaces. On August 11, 2010, the City Planning Commission modified the Department of City Planning’s proposed zoning text amendment that would establish off-street parking guidelines for car-share vehicles offered by companies such as ZipCar and Connect by Hertz.

The zoning resolution’s offstreet parking regulations address where private vehicles and traditional car rentals are permitted to park, but do not address car-share vehicles. Rental vehicles are considered a commercial use and are prohibited in most public parking facilities. Planning’s proposal would define car-share vehicles and permit car-share vehicles to park in a range of public and accessory parking facilities. The amendment would establish higher maximums in public facilities and in highand medium-density residential garages, while restrictions would be tighter in low-density districts. Planning would require that all garages containing car-share vehicles provide an information plaque identifying the total number of spaces and maximum allowable number of car-share spaces.

At the Commission’s public hearing, a representative of Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer and representatives from car-sharing companies and planning groups spoke in support. Stringer’s representative suggested that the Commission include signage requirements clarifying that residents with private vehicles had priority over car-share companies when attempting to secure a monthly space in residential garages. 7 CityLand 106 (Aug. 15, 2010).

The Commission approved the proposal, but made several modifications. It noted that accessory residential parking facilities outside of the Manhattan Core (Community Districts 1 – 8 ) are permitted to rent spaces to non-occupants of the building, but a space must be made available to a resident within 30 days of a written request to the landlord. The Commission extended this provision to include the Manhattan Core and modified the amendment to require the parking availability information to be included on the plaque required for facilities with car-share vehicles.

Addressing safety concerns raised by some community boards during the public review, the Commission also modified the proposal to require the residential portion of a building to be secured if the building is accessible from an accessory garage that permits car-share vehicles.

CPC: Car Share Text Amendment (Aug. 11, 2010).