23-45 Minimum Required Front Yards

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5

(a)        In the districts indicated, front yards shall be provided as set forth in the following table, except that for a corner lot in an R1-2 District, one front yard may have a depth of 15 feet and, for a corner lot in an R3 District, one front yard may have a depth of 10 feet.

^*        Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this Section

^**        If the depth of a front yard exceeds 10 feet, the depth of the front yard shall be at least 18 feet. Furthermore, developments or enlargements pursuant to the optional regulations applicable in a predominantly built-up area shall provide a front yard with a depth of at least 18 feet. However, on a corner lot, if one front yard has a depth of at least 18 feet, the other front yard shall have a depth of at least 10 feet

Furthermore, if an opening to an accessory off-street parking space is located within the street wall of a building containing residences, there shall be an open area between the opening and the street line which is at least 8 feet, six inches in width by 18 feet in depth, except this provision shall not apply in R5D Districts.

R1-2A R2A R3A R3X R4-1 R4A R4B R5A R5B R5D

(b)        For the purpose of paragraphs (b) and (c) the area between the street line and the front building wall of adjacent buildings on the same or adjoining zoning lots shall be considered adjacent front yards.

Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this Section, in the districts indicated, if adjacent buildings containing residences on the same or on adjoining zoning lots fronting on the same street have front yards greater than the minimum set forth in paragraph (a) of this Section, then a front yard shall be provided which:

(1)        in R1-2A, R2A, R3A, R3X, R4-1, R4A or R5A Districts is at least as deep as an adjacent front yard ; and

(2)        in R4B, R5B or R5D Districts is no deeper than the deepest adjacent front yard and no shallower than the shallowest adjacent front yard.

However, a front yard need not exceed 20 feet in depth, except that in R1-2A Districts, a front yard need not exceed 25 feet in depth.

In determining the depth of the adjacent front yards, balconies and projections from the front building wall that do not exceed 33 percent of the width of the building shall be disregarded.

For developments or enlargements, projections into the required front yard are permitted provided that the width of all projections at the level of any story does not exceed 33 percent of the width of the building. The depth of such projections shall not exceed three feet into the front yard. However, balconies shall be subject to the provisions of Sections 23-13 (Balconies) and 23-44 (Permitted Obstructions in Required Yards or Rear Yard Equivalents).

(c)        The provisions of paragraph (b) of this Section determining the depth of a front yard by the location of a front yard on an adjacent zoning lot, are modified as follows:

(1)        on corner lots, these provisions shall apply on only one street frontage; and

(2)        these provisions shall not apply to:

(i)        any street frontage of a zoning lot where such frontage has a length of at least 150 feet along such street ;

(ii)        any zoning lot located in historic districts designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission; or

(iii)        a frontage of any zoning lot where the depths of 50 percent of the front yards within 150 feet of the side lot lines of such zoning lot are shallower by more than two feet than the shallowest of the adjacent front yards.

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5

(d)        For any zoning lot located in a Historic District designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Section are modified as follows:

The depth of the front yard may vary between the requirements of paragraph (a) of this Section, or as modified in any applicable Special District, and the depth of the front yard of any adjacent zoning lot.

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5

In the districts indicated, a minimum percentage of the area of the front yard shall be planted, which shall vary by street frontage of the zoning lot as set forth in the following table. For the purposes of this Section, the front yard shall include the entire area between all street walls of the building and their prolongations and the street line. Planted areas shall be comprised of any combination of grass, groundcover, shrubs, trees or other living plant material, and shall have a minimum dimension of one foot, exclusive of any bounding walls. Any planted area within a driveway or parking space shall not qualify towards meeting the minimum planting requirements of this Section. For through lots or corner lots, the planting requirement of this Section shall be applied separately to each street frontage. For corner lots, planted areas of overlapping portions of front yards shall only be counted towards the planting requirement of one front yard. For zoning lots with multiple building segments, the planting requirement of this Section shall be applied separately to the entire area between the street wall of each building segment and the street line.

Where multiple buildings on a single zoning lot front upon the same street, the planting requirements of this Section shall be determined by the street frontage allocated to the area occupied by each such building and applied separately to the entire area between the street line and the street wall of each building and its prolongation. The allocation of planting requirements to open areas between buildings shall be determined by dividing such open area evenly, with an equal portion attributed to each building on both sides of such open area.

Any zoning lot occupied by a building constructed after April 30, 2008, shall provide planted areas in accordance with the provisions of this Section. Any zoning lot occupied by a building constructed prior to such date shall not be altered in any way that will either create new non-compliance or increase the degree of non-compliance with the provisions of this Section.

Basic Regulations — Side Yards