NEW YORK CITY-Working to alleviate concerns of the home and business owners most vulnerable to hurricane damage, the city's Department of City Planning has released a plan to certify proposed zoning changes that would permit the elevation of buildings.
The effort is a response to maps issued earlier this year by the Federal Emergency Management Association that doubles the number of properties in the flood zone by majorly expanding the area, according to Crain's New York Business.
The new plan, according to the announcement, codifies and expands on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's emergency executive order—issued on January 31, 2013—that temporarily suspended height and other restrictions to allow flood-resilient reconstruction. Newly proposed text changes to that order would eliminate conflicts between current zoning regulations and building code for buildings adhering to FEMA's flood standards by allowing limited additional flexibility for building height, placement of stairs and ramps, and location of mechanical systems and off-street parking. The proposal also would mitigate the effects of federal requirements on ground-floor activity and quality of the streetscape.
Owners of severely damaged or destroyed buildings are required to comply with the flood resistant construction standards of building code when they rebuild, the announcement notes. In addition, any property owner within the newly enlarged FEMA flood zones may wish to make their building comply with new FEMA standards, which call for them to be raised or flood-proofed to a higher elevation. This will reduce their vulnerability to future floods, as well as help to avoid higher flood insurance premiums. However, in many instances, zoning regulations or conflicts between zoning and Building Code requirements would make it difficult, or in some cases impossible, for owners to build or retrofit to these standards.
The proposed text amendment would apply to all buildings that meet flood resistant construction standards in the 100-year (1% annual chance) flood zone identified on the most recent FEMA flood maps, using the most recent FEMA flood elevations. Like the Executive Order, the proposed Flood Resilience Text Amendment modifies zoning to enable buildings to meet the latest flood zone standards.
It also removes additional impediments to flood-resistant construction, and modifies regulations to mitigate potential negative effects of flood-resistant construction on the streetscape and public realm. Issues addressed by the text amendment include measuring building height with respect to the latest FEMA flood elevations; accommodating building access from grade; locating mechanical systems above flood levels; accommodating off-street parking above grade; accommodating flood zone restrictions on ground floor use and improving streetscape.
Says City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden in the announcement, “These adjustments will relieve conflicts between zoning and present steps owners of buildings in flood zones can take to make their buildings more flood resilient. It will enable them to rebuild or retrofit to new flood protection standards and help restore the same amount of living and working space they were previously permitted. And they recognize that a vibrant public realm is critical to the fabric of the city's communities, and that zoning can promote neighborhoods that are active and pedestrian-friendly as well as flood-resistant.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
