131-431 Coney West District, Surf Avenue

The regulations of this Section shall apply along Surf Avenue. The street wall location provisions of paragraph (a) of this Section shall also apply along streets intersecting Surf Avenue within 50 feet of Surf Avenue, and the building base regulations of paragraph (b) of this Section shall also apply along streets within 100 feet of Surf Avenue.

(a)        Street wall location

The street wall of a building base shall be located on the Surf Avenue street line and extend along the entire Surf Avenue frontage of the zoning lot, except that:

(1)        ground floor level recesses up to three feet deep shall be permitted for access to building entrances, except that for building entrances providing direct access to the lowest story located above the base flood elevation, such recesses shall be permitted to have a depth of up to 10 feet provided the width of such recess does not exceed 20 feet and the height of such recessed area is not less than 15 feet at any point as measured from the base flood elevation ;

(2)        to allow for corner articulation, the street wall may be located anywhere within an area bounded by intersecting street lines and lines 15 feet from and parallel to such street lines ; and

(3)        to allow for portions of towers to rise without setback from grade, a portion of a building base below a tower may be set back 10 feet from a street line, provided the width of such setback area is not greater than 40 percent of the width of the street wall of the tower and provided such setback area complies with the provisions of Section 131-47 (Design Requirements for Ground Level Setbacks).

(b)        Building base

A street wall fronting on Surf Avenue shall rise without setback to a minimum height of six stories or 65 feet, or the height of the building, whichever is less, and a maximum height of eight stories or 85 feet, whichever is less, before a setback is required. However, on the block front bounded by West 21st Street and West 22nd Street, the minimum height of a street wall shall be 40 feet and the maximum height of a street wall shall be six stories or 65 feet, whichever is less, before a setback is required.

Above the level of the second story, up to 30 percent of the aggregate width of street walls may be recessed, provided no recesses are located within 15 feet of an adjacent building or within 30 feet of the intersection of two street lines, except where corner articulation is provided as set forth in paragraph (a)(2) of this Section.

All portions of a building or other structure that exceed the maximum heights set forth in this paragraph, (b), shall be set back from the street line at least 10 feet.

(c)        Transition height

Above the maximum base height, a street wall may rise to a maximum transition height of nine stories or 95 feet, whichever is less, provided that such street walls are set back a minimum distance of 10 feet from the Surf Avenue street line. All portions of buildings or other structures that exceed a transition height of 95 feet shall comply with the tower provisions of Section 131-434 (Coney West Subdistrict towers).