City: Rediscovering the Center

B. Mandating of Retailing at Street Level

APPENDIX B MANDATING OF RETAILING AT STREET LEVEL In the 1975 tightening of requirements for open-space bonuses, the New York City Planning Commission took a first step toward banning blank-wall frontages. It required that as a condition of the bonus at least 50 percent of the frontage on the plaza be devoted to retail uses. In the 1982 revision of midtown zoning, the commission went further. It required that all of the frontage on retail streets be used for retailing, whether there was a bonus or not. Stores had to be accessible from the street, and the glass fronts had to be of transparent glass. Below is the commission's "plain English" explanation, and the abridged text. 81-42 Retail Continuity along Designated Streets The vitality of retail commercial streets depends upon a continuous row of retail establishments which can draw pedestrian shoppers along the length of the street. Areas occupied by open space or non-retail uses can interrupt the flow of shopping pedestrians and impair retail activity along nearby frontages. The provisions of this section are designed to protect the retail activity along designated streets by restricting ground floor occupancy to those commercial uses which will enhance the existing retail character. Abridged text: 81-42 On designated retail streets . . . a building's street frontage shall be allocated exclusively to [retail, personal service, or amusement] uses . . . Museums and libraries shall be permitted . . . Store fronts for the permitted ground floor uses shall be not more than 10 feet from the street line or, where an arcade is provided with supporting columns at the street line, not more than ten feet from the supporting columns. APPENDIX B [349] In no event shall the amount of street frontage occupied by lobby space or entrance space or a building entrance recess exceed 40 feet. 81-142 On wide street frontages in underlying C5 commercial districts, at least 50 percent of a building's street wall surface shall be glazed and transparent at ground floor level. New York City Planning Commission, Midtown Zoning (New York: 1982). (Available from the commission at 7 Lafayette Street, New York, N.Y. 10007.) ...