Upper West Side Retail Rezoning Plan Modified

REBNY (Real Estate Board of New York )reports The City Planning Commission has modified the plan to rezone storefronts on the Upper West Side.and will now go to the City Council this summer for a vote. The modifications are in response to many issues raised by property owners and businesses including members of the Real Estate Board of New York.

TD Bank 86th & Columbus Avenue

These proposed retail storefront restrictions would apply on Broadway from 72nd to 110th streets; Amsterdam Avenue (on the east side) from 73rd to 87th streets and 105th to 109th streets and (on the west side) from 75th to 110th streets; and Columbus Avenue from 72nd to 87th streets. 

The plan limits store frontage to 40 feet wide along sections of the Columbus and Amsterdam corridors and limits banks to 25 feet on these avenues and Broadway. The aim of these regulations is to limit the number of banks and drug stores and other large stores and to promote a more vibrant streetscape.

The revised plan includes a simplified certification process that would allow existing businesses to apply for an expanded frontage up to 60 feet. This new certification would require applicants to do three things: show proof that the frontage will not exceed 60 feet; produce an affidavit that the use has existed for at least one year and that the use cannot otherwise expand due to physical restrictions, presence of other uses or regulatory limitations; and prove that at the time of the application, not more than one non-residential establishment exceeding 40 feet exists on the same block, the block directly across the street or the blocks immediately north and south of the applicant's block.

Make Meaning 329 Columbus Ave (75th/76th St) 

The modifications also include regulations that would allow active projects in the development pipeline to continue unaffected by the new rules for retail storefronts.  
 
To qualify, the work must have a building permit no later than the final date of adoption of the zoning change and be finished within six months, or in the case of a landmarked building there must be a complete application at the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) before the date of adoption and work must be completed within six months of receipt of an LPC permit.