Agenda - 11-25-1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• § 8.01[2] ZONING AND LAND USE CONTROLS 8-4 • municipality would not otherwise be able to construct itself, usually - because of the prohibitive cost of eminent domain.Amenities include • non-revenue producing building features, such as public plazas, ,parks,covered pedestrian space, theaters,off-street parking,arcades and on-site subway access.s In return,the developer is given permis- sion to use his property in a manner not otherwise allowed by the zoning ordinance; for example, to construct his building with more • •floor area than is normally permitted.9 Incentive zoning is thus a trade-off between,the developer and the municipality, resulting in both increased developer profit and public amenities.19 • • - • a See San Francisco Planning Code§ 122. • Also,see Elliot and Marcus,"From Euclid•to.Ramapo:New Directions in Land Development Controls," I Hofstra L Re;.54161 (1973). . . • 9 See, eg:. San Francisco Planning Code§ 122. • The San Francisco plan establishes a special district in the downtown area -whereby a builder receives a bonus in the form of a larger floor area ratio(hereinafter • called FAN than normally permitted. Bonuses are given in return for the devel- oper's providing certain enumerated features in his building,such as a pedestrian mall or a covered plaza.. • 10 See Freilich,"Awakening the Sleeping Giant.New Trends and Development in Environmental and Land-Use Controls,"1974 Institute on Planning.Zoning and Eminent Domain 1,45 (SW Legal Found, Matthew Bender& Co.). The author states: "Bonus or incentive zoning is actually a sophisticated form of barter.A devel- oper,for instance,will want to construct a building higher than a zoning orch- • name allows;or otherwise use his property in such a way that the density will be greater than the municipality allows. On the other hand, the municipality desires amenities which it usually cannot afford to construct itself, usually due • to the prohibitive cost of eminent domain. Bonus zoning is thus a means of . achieving both developer profit and municipal amenities. New York and San ,. Francisco are excellent examples of cities which have enacted comprehensive p ordinances detailing the trades each city is willing to make, in exchange for a • legitimate theatre,off-street parking,a public plaza,multiple entrances,or access to rapid transit.Each amenity.or combination.allows a certain density increase, as by increasing the floor-area ratio.Thus,increased density,which is generally considered undesirable,is offset by an increase in public amenities directly related . to the density,or by public facilities such as theatres or observation decks which the municipality has found to be so desirable as to be willing to accept the y problems inherent in additional population." • • • •• 4�. µ'