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REAL ESTATE
AND
(Copyright, 1917, by Tho Record and Guide Co.)
NEW YORK, APRIL 23, 1917
AMENDMENTS TO THE ZONING RESOLUTION
MADE BY THE BOARD OF ESTIMATE
By GEORGE B. FORD
â– I ' HE New York Zoning Resolution was enacted by the
•'• July 25, 1916, to go into effect immediately. Subsequ
to July 27. The Board was granted the power to enact
ments 242-A and 242-B, passed by them on April 20, 1914.
May 10, 1916, by adding the provisions whereby the Board
law from time to time.
On February, 1912, as the result of a steadily increas
then President of the Borough of Manhattan, the Board of
Arrangement of Buildings. This Commission was asked
and suggest a concrete solution of the problem. This
sett as chairman, and George B. Ford as secretary, handed
ence forthwith. The report included the text for a propo
more especially it showed the necessity for creating distri
the city, not only as regards to the height of buildings,
amendments above referred to were also presented in the
information upon the subject, including its history in other
On June 26. 1914, about two months after the passage
appointed a new bodv called the Commission on Buildings,
hers, with Edward M. Bassett, as chairman, and Roliert
sented tentative zoning maps and a draft of the law. Then
the law and maps were amended to the form, as passed
Board of Estimate and Apportionment of New York on
ently, however, the date of going into effect was extended
such a law by the State Legislature in the charter amend-
This was subsequently amended by the Legislature on
of Estimate and Apportionment may make changes in the
ng demand, and upon the request of George McAneny,
Estimate appointed a Commission on the Height, Size and
to study the question of limiting the heights of buildings,
Commission of nineteen members, with Edward M. Bas¬
in its report on December 21, 1913, and went out of exist-
sed law to limit the maximum height of all buildings, but
cts or zones with d fferent restrictions in different parts of
but also as regard to their area and use. The two Charter
report. The report, which contained also much general
cities, is now out of print.
of the two Charter amendments, the Board of Estimate
Districts and Restrictions. It consisted of seventeen mem-
H. Whitten as secretary. On March 10, 1916. they pre-
as a result of a vast number of conferences and hearings,
July 25, 1916.
â– "P HE Zoning Law was framed to
^ stabilize and conserve property
values, to relieve the rapidly increasing
congestion in the streets and in the tran¬
sit lines, to provide greater safety in
buildings and in the streets, to provide
for a reasonable amount of light and air
in buildings and in the streets, and in
general to make the business of the city
more effic'ent and the life of the city
more healthful, convenient and agree¬
able. It was realized that private re¬
strictions bring these results only in
small degree, at best. It was obvious
that the good of tlie whole city should
be taken into consideration in imposing
official restrictions.
In view of the enormous size of the
city and the number of properties af¬
fected, any law which would force the
city to pay damages, where damages
could be shown, would become so com¬
plicated and costly in its administration
as to be impracticalile. On considera¬
tion, it became evident that no law was
worth enacting, which could not be en¬
forced under the police power of the
State, without any compensation what¬
soever to any property owner.
The police power, as interpreted by
the courts, permits the city to control
the use of private property, wherever
such control can be shown to be de¬
sirable, in the interest of the community
as a whole, from the standpoint of
health, safety or general welfare. Every
detail of the law and of the maps was
drawn with this in view. Nothing was
framed in the law or shown on the maps
that the Commission d'd not fee! would
probably be interpreted by the courts as
a proper exercise of the police power,
without compensation to property
owners.
Realizing that all future developments
and conditions could not be foreseen and
that it was onlv reasonable that the law
or maps should be amended in some in¬
stances to meet these changing condi¬
tions, the enabling act provides the ma¬
chinery whereby the law may be amend¬
ed from time to time. However, the
methods of changing the law is made
purposely difficult so that stability in
real estate, which the law is intended to
bring about, may be preserved and
changes made only wherever it is obvi¬
ous to all that they should be made.
The Resolution or the maps can be
changed only by the Board of Estimate
and Apportionment. The Board of Ap¬
peals can merely make exemptions from
the law in individual cases, all within
limits closely defined by the Resolution.
The Board of Estimate does not make
exemptions for individual cases. The
changes which it has made are general
rather than particular and not intended
for the sole advantage of the appellant.
During the first six months of the
operation of the Resolution, nine peti¬
tions for amendment to the Zone Maps
have been decided by the Board of Esti¬
mate under the authority granted them
by the amendment to the enabline act
on May 10, 1916. The four petitions
which were denied were recommended
for refusal to the Board by its Commit¬
tee on the City Plan which found so
much objection to them that it did not
consider a signed petition aeainst them
necessary. In none of the five adopted
cases was there an objection on the part
of twenty per cent, of the property own¬
ers affected.
The "denied" petitions are as follows:
Petition of Abraham C. Quackenbush
to change from a business to an unre¬
stricted district the southwest corner of
Park avenue and 12.^d street. Petition
denied October 27. 1916.
Petition of Frederick G. Potter to
change property on 206th street and
207th street. Ninth and Tenth avenues,
to an unrestricted district. Petition de¬
nied Tanuary 12, 1917.
Petition of owners of Lots 61 and 62.
located in the south side of West 152d
street, 12S feet east of Amsterdam ave¬
nue, to place said propertv in an unre¬
stricted district to permit the erection of
a parage. Petition denied December IS,
1916.
Petition of Walters Piano Company to
permit the erection of a garace on prop¬
erty at 226 East 63d street. Petition de¬
nied January 19. 1917.
The "adopted" petitions are as follows:
Petition of Beniamin C. Hitchlnes,
Inc.. and William S. Ross to amend Use
District Map Section 23 so as to include
within the unrestricted district all of
the area not now â– ^n included within the
area bounded by Brooklvn avenue. Ave¬
nue H and the Long Island Railroad,
and so as to include within the unre¬
stricted district the 100-foot square area
at the northeast corner of Avenue H and
East 40th street, and so as to include in
the business district the 100-foot square
area at the northwest corner of Avenue
H and East 40th street. Map change
adopted October 13, 1916.
Petition of Solomon N. Kleier to
amend Use District Map Section No. 13
so as to include within the unrestricted
district all of the area not now so in¬
cluded bounded by Van Dam street,
Nassau avenue. Varick street and Meek¬
er avenue, and by including in the un¬
restricted district all of the area not
now so included in the block bounded by
Meeker avenue. Porter avenue. Cherry
street and Vandervoort avenue. Map
change adopted October 13, 1916.
Petition of property owners to change
the area for 100 feet back on both sides
of Twelfth avenue from the west side
of 44th street to the east side of 48t_h
street from a business district to a resi¬
dence district. Map change adopted
March 2. 1917.
Petition of property owners to amend
Area District Map, Section No. 22. so as
to change the area 100 feet back from
both sides of Albemarle road from the
east side of East Second street to the
west side of East Fifth street from a D
district to an E district. Map change
adopted March 2. 1917.
Petition of William C. Card and the
Cord Mever Company to amend Use
District Map, Section No. 9. so as to
change from a business district to an
unrestricted district all of the area
bounded by Lurting street. Card place
and Corona avenue, that is not already
in an unrestricted district. Map change
adopted February 9, 1917.
-As the value of the Resolution depends
largely on its stability and permanency,
the policy of the Board has been to al¬
low changes only where the desirability
of making a change was obvious and the
advantage general. It will be noted
that two out of the five changes adopted
are the result of petitions to make the
resolution and maps more restrictive.
The other three merely round out cer¬
tain unrestricted districts in a manner
which would probablv have been done
by the framers of the maps if they
could have had all of the facts before
them. . .
The procedure with regard to petitions
for amendments i-s_^s_follows: Tlie