Contextual Zoning (1984)

Mon Jun 13 06:58:04 UTC 2005

Donald Trump mentioned "contextual zoning" in Sunday's New York Times.  It's 
not in OED, of course.
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It's a biggie for New York, but a little esoteric to discuss here,  perhaps.
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The Morningside Heights website (below) effective provides the  arguments 
against "contextual zoning," IMHO.  It's a good policy for  Florence, Italy, but 
not New York.
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_http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/opinion/12intro.html?pagewanted=5_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/opinion/12intro.html?pagewanted=5) 

O.K., Let's Give Up
By DONALD J. TRUMP 
IT is much easier to defeat something in New York City than to build  
something. With that in mind, we should consider whether we want the easy way  out or 
if we can accept a challenge. New Yorkers have been known for their  energy, 
their strength and, especially in the past few years, for their courage.  
Maybe we're just worn out after pulling together so well after Sept. 11, 2001.  
It's been a haul. So maybe we just want to sit back and let things take care of  
themselves - elsewhere. 
The process in New York is very tough, and that's why I am building major  
projects in cities like Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Have you heard the  
term "contextual zoning" yet? It's a biggie in New York. So are the community  
boards, which like to make things close to impossible.  
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_http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/glossary.html_ 
(http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/glossary.html)  
Contextual Zoning
Contextual zoning  regulates height, placement and scale of new buildings so 
that they fit the  character of the neighborhoods in which they are located. 
Contextual districts  for lower-density areas, generally with the suffix A, B, 
X or 1 (e.g., R2X, R3-1  or R5B), are tailored to the particular 
characteristics of detached and  semi-detached housing or rowhouse neighborhoods. Moderate- 
and higher-density  contextual districts, identified by a letter suffix A, B 
or X (e.g., R6A, R8X or  C4-6A), encourage the lower, bulkier, 
closer-to-the-sidewalk apartment  buildings, at different densities, that define the 
streetscape in many of the  city's neighborhoods. The Quality Housing Program is 
mandatory in moderate- and  higher-density contextual districts. 
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_http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-4016.html_ 
(http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-4016.html)  
September 18, 2003

TURF 

Neighbors Think Outside the  Block

By MOTOKO  RICH

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/09/18/garden/18turf.1.184.jpg
DOWNSIZERS  Protesting a new high rise in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, one of 
several  neighborhoods where rezoning could be used as a preservation  tool.

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/09/18/garden/18turf.2.184.jpg
FOR  A SMOOTHER PROFILE "Contextual" zoning — promoted by civic groups to 
keep a  neighborhood's skyline and the character of its buildings relatively 
consistent  — took effect this year in Park Slope, Brooklyn, above.\ 
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_http://tenant.net/Other_Laws/zoning/zonch09.html_ 
(http://tenant.net/Other_Laws/zoning/zonch09.html)  
Adopted in 1989, lower density contextual zoning seeks to restore a  
meaningful difference between R3, R4 and R5 districts and ensure that new  residential 
development in low-rise neighborhoods is compatible with existing  housing. 
In order to achieve these goals, the zoning text incorporated a number  of 
modifications that alter the bulk, density, configuration and parking  
requirements in lower density residential districts.  
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_http://www.morningside-heights.net/conzon.htm_ 
(http://www.morningside-heights.net/conzon.htm)   
Why the Proposed Contextual Zoning is a Bad Idea 
There is a proposal afoot  to try to have Morningside Heights designated by 
the City as an area under  Contextual Zoning. In essence, this would require 
short, blocky buildings with  continuous street walls and restrict free-standing 
towers.  
There are eight basic  problems with Contextual Zoning:  
1.Contextual Zoning would have prevented some  of the neighborhood's best 
buildings, like Riverside Church, St. John the  Divine, Notre Dame, and the 
Christian Science Church.  
2.Contextual Zoning would not have  prevented some of the neighborhood's 
worst buildings, like Carman Hall,  Interchurch Center, Lerner Hall, the new part 
of St. Luke's Hospital, and the  Center for Jewish Student Life.  
3.Morningside Heights will eventually be  designated an official Historic 
District, which carries with it stronger and  more flexible protections which 
actually could have worked in 1. and 2. above.  
4.Contextual Zoning can be rigid and  restrictive and does not always make 
sense in individual cases.  
5.Contextual zoning requires setbacks that  are inconsistent with the 
existing fabric of the neighborhood.  
6.Contextual Zoning as proposed would be  floor-area neutral, meaning that it 
would not reduce the quantity of space that  could be built here, only 
rearrange it. It is therefore not an effective tool  for opposing gentrification 
north of 125th St.  
7.Contextual Zoning will require a $75,000  planning study.  
8. Criticism has come up about the Harlem  Community Development Corporation, 
(HCDC) which is being proposed as the  principal source of the $75,000 needed 
for the study to impose Contextual  Zoning. It seems that this corporation is 
a corrupt patronage toy of Gov. Pataki  and as such does not have a good 
reputation in the Upper Manhattan community. It  may be unwise to get entangled in 
this web of Republican quid-pro-quos and  suspect financial practices.  
If you find yourself in agreement, please  print out this _poster_ 
(http://www.morningside-heights.net/conzon.doc)  (MSWord) and put  it up in your 
building or elsewhere that people will see it.  
Ian Fletcher
Webmaster, MorningsideHeights.net
Moderator, MHNET 

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(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS) 
_'Village'  Zoning_ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=118785156&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1118644465&clien
tId=65882) 
JEANINE ESPOSITO, HARVEY L. SLATIN.  New York Times (1857-Current file). New 
York, N.Y.: May  13, 1984. p. R12 (1 page) 
The Planning Department is accommodating a  developer who has been acquiring 
properties in a mixed residential-industrial  area just below the 14th Street 
meat market and wants to build luxury housing  higher than the Village norm. 
Generic-contextual zoning is simply another  euphemism for overriding 
communities. 
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_West  Side Zoning_ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=2&did=230865742&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1118645138&clien
tId=65882) 
CON HOWE. New York  Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Mar 3, 1985. 
p. R8 (1 page)  : 
The article said the Special Lincoln Square District rezoning was  
specifically undertaken to encourage "contextual zoning," which requires  specific 
streetwall heights and setbacks. In fact, the new zoning designations  that are 
referred to as "contextual zoning" were applied to the area north of  the distr
ict.