Text amendment would introduce curb cut prohibitions and limit front yard parking spaces in certain residential districts. On February 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission approved, with modifications, the Department of City Planning’s Residential Streetscape Preservation text amendment. Planning proposed the City-wide amendment in response to community concerns about inappropriate curb cuts and front yard parking spaces in residential districts. Planning seeks to clarify parking requirements and preserve and enhance residential streetscapes.

The proposed amendment includes a host of modifications such as requiring new parking spaces in all single- and two-family districts to be located within a residential building or to the side or rear of a building. This requirement currently applies to R1 and R2 districts and certain districts in Lower Density Growth Management Areas in Staten Island and the Bronx. In order to ensure that required front yard plantings are of sufficient quality, the amendment would close a loophole that allows narrow strips of plantings located in driveways to count towards the required minimum front yard planting requirements. (read more…)