Plan extends screening buffer waiver to community facility uses. In 1993, special waterfront zoning regulations were adopted to facilitate the redevelopment of waterfront properties. The regulations, found in Article VI Chapter 2 of the Zoning Resolution, were a response to the obstructed views, blocked public access, and out-of-character development that occurred along the City’s waterfront. The rules required developers in certain districts to construct and maintain waterfront public access areas. Over time, the rules helped create new access areas throughout the City. The access areas in Greenpoint-Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Hudson River Park, Manhattan serve as examples.

Though the regulations allowed for greater public enjoyment of the waterfront, the Department of City Planning believed revisions were necessary. Planning proposed to eliminate the design models for Shore Public Walkways and Supplemental Public Access Areas and replace them with a single set of regulations that would allow for greater design flexibility for both the walkways and access areas. The flexibility would alleviate design constraints that developers experienced when building public access areas along the highly varied conditions of the City’s waterfront. Other amendments included changes to lighting, signage, seating, bicycle parking, hours of operation, planting, and buffer requirements. (read more…)