Zoning Question

[mxqute]

NYC Zoning Laws are just a bit confusing, but hopefully someone on this forum can address my question. *I would like to find some either abandoned or for sale property, such as an old warehouse and use it for residential use and maybe for some commercial activity, such as consulting services.

Is it possible to use a building zoned under M1 or C(X) for residential use or at least have the building rezoned for live or live/work purposes? *Is the latter a difficult process?

[Chicagoan]

One could not even begin to answer this question unless you actually had a specific site in mind. But here is a qoute:

"41-11 M1 Light Manufacturing Districts (High Performance)

These districts are designed for a wide range of manufacturing and related uses which can conform to a high level of performance standards. Manufacturing establishments of this type, within completely enclosed buildings, provide a buffer between Residence (or Commercial) Districts and other industrial uses which involve more objectionable influences. New residential development is excluded from these districts, except for joint living-work quarters for artists in M1-5A and M1-5B Districts, dwelling units in M1-5M and M1-6M Districts, and dwelling units in M1-1D, M1-2D, M1-3D, M1-4D and M1-5D Districts, where authorized by the City Planning Commission, both to protect residences from an undesirable environment and to ensure the reservation of adequate areas for industrial development."

So it is possible and probably not difficult as long as the site does not have to be re-zoned through a variance.

[Agglomeration]

You might want a broader idea of how zoning works in the city. Here are two sites I'll mention for you:

NYC Department of City Planning http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dcp/home.html It has a section on zoning that will clearly be of interest to you.

Also there's a little essay on the general zoning process: http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC/nyc.html You'll find the general info on zoning on the Additional Info I section on the site map below. [/url]

[Henri]

I am trying to figure out if a property has an R6 zoning (which has a 2.43 far) with a Commercial overlay lets say M1 (which has a FAR of 1), Can you build 2.43 residential PLUS 1 commercial or when you use the 1 commercial it reduces the residential?
The same question when it has an C1-2 Overlay...

[planner_girl]

Hi, I have a related question - I am considering a property in a M1-1 district with an existing residential unit and am trying to understand what this means for future development options.

I understand that it is a legal residential use as it is existing and that no new residential in this area is permitted. But can we in the future change a part into commercial use or can we convert into live-work units?

Also, as of now the FAR that the building occupies is 2.30, and I know that the max. allowed FAR for commercial use on this property is only 1? Does this mean that there might be potential legal issues?

Help would be greatly appreciated..
Thanks

[lofter1]

If you're seriously considering purchasing such a property you'd be well advised to first have a sit down with a savvy NYC attorney well versed in zoning issues.

[Tipton]

Here's my understanding of how the law works. The FAR for each use cannot be added to each other, they have to split according to how much of the site is used for each purpose. That is, you have to apply the appropriate FAR to the percentage of the site devoted to each use. For example, if you have a 2,000 sf site, and you devote 50% for residential use and 50% for commercial use, then you could build 2,430 sf of residential space and 1,000 sf of commercial space.

Planner_girl, in your case, since 94.65% of the allowable FAR has already been used for residential, that means that 5.35% remains unused. So, the formula for calculating the amount of additional space you can build would be
(5.35%) * (FAR) * (size of lot)

where FAR is equal to either 1.0 or 2.43 depending on whether you want to build for commercial or residential use.

[planner_girl]

Thanks for your replies.

Tipton, are you sure that the residential allowed FAR is 2.43 on a M1-1 property?

[benzapp]

Thanks for your replies.

Tipton, are you sure that the residential allowed FAR is 2.43 on a M1-1 property?

Residential uses are not permitted on M1-1 lots. Now, if there is a residential property there it means that it was constructed prior to the current zoning plan. This is very common -M1-1 zones are buffer zones that separate more heavy industry from residential areas.

You could possibly modify the building, but you'd best speak with an architect/attorney on the subject.

[Tipton]

Sorry planner_girl, I used the numbers that Henri provided to your case--which should not have been done. In your case, you wouldn't be allowed to build any additional structure since you're already above the maximum FAR.

Converting the residence to commercial shouldn't be a problem since you're converting it from a nonconforming to a conforming (or less nonconforming) use, however you would need the City's permission to do it legally. What your future intentions are may affect how you go about getting that permission. Do you want to combine the residence with the rest into a larger unit or do you want to keep them separate? If you convert to commercial do you want the ability to change back to residential?

One option is to apply for permission to lease or use the residence as commercial or live/work space through either a CPC Authorization, CPC Special Permit, or BSA Special Permit. This would allow you to keep it listed as a residence, possibly keep taxed as a residence, and allow you to change back at a later date if you wanted. However, definitely talk to the Planning Commission and to a real estate lawyer on how to proceed.