125-33 Required Street Walls

(a)        Street wall location

All street walls of buildings shall be located on street lines of zoning lots as shown on Map 3 (Street Wall Location) in Appendix A of this Chapter. For the purposes of applying the height and setback regulations of this Section, wherever a building fronts upon any public park, or any sidewalk widening, publicly accessible open area or private street provided in accordance with the design requirements of Sections 125-41 through 125-46, inclusive, the boundary of such public park, sidewalk widening, publicly accessible open area or private street shall be considered to be a wide street line.

(b)        Minimum base heights

All street walls shall extend up to at least a minimum base height of 50 feet or the height of the building, whichever is less, except that a minimum base height of 40 feet shall be permitted in the locations specified on Map 4 (Minimum Base Heights of 40 Feet) in Appendix A of this Chapter.

(c)        Maximum base heights

The maximum height of a street wall before setback shall be 70 feet, except in the locations specified on Map 5 (Maximum Base Heights Other Than 70 Feet) in Appendix A of this Chapter.

(d)        Recesses

Recesses, not to exceed three feet in depth, shall be permitted on the ground floor where required to provide access to the building, and recesses, not to exceed five feet in depth, shall be permitted on the ground floor where required to provide access to utilities. Above the height of the second story or 30 feet above adjoining grade, whichever is greater, up to 30 percent of the aggregate width of street walls may be recessed beyond the street line.

(e)        Required setbacks and maximum building heights

Setbacks are required for all portions of buildings that exceed the applicable maximum base height, except schools. All required setbacks shall be provided at a height not lower than the applicable minimum base height. A setback with a depth of at least 10 feet shall be provided from any street wall fronting on a wide street, and a setback with a depth of at least 15 feet shall be provided from any street wall fronting on a narrow street, except that the depth of such setbacks may include the depth of any permitted recesses in the street wall. For the purposes of this paragraph (c), the following shall be considered wide streets:

(1)        Second Street between 54th Avenue and Borden Avenue

(2)        55th Avenue between Center Boulevard and Second Street

(3)        Center Boulevard between 50th Avenue and 57th Avenue.

Above the applicable maximum base height, the maximum height of a building or other structure shall be 125 feet, except where towers are permitted, pursuant to Section 125-34.