98-10 Special Use and Parking Regulations Within the Special West Chelsea District

In any C6 District in the Special West Chelsea District, the provisions of Section 32-422 (Location of floors occupied by commercial uses) are modified to permit commercial uses on the same story as a residential use or on a story higher than that occupied by residential uses, provided that the commercial uses:

(a)        are located in a portion of the building that has separate direct access to the street with no access to the residential portion of the building at any story; and

(b)        are not located directly over any portion of a building containing dwelling units, except this limitation shall not preclude the location of:

(1)        residential lobby space below or on the same story as commercial uses; or

(2)        a commercial use that fronts on the High Line and is located within five feet of the level of the High Line bed.

Except in Subarea J, the special ground floor use and glazing regulations of this Section apply to that portion of a building or other structure fronting on Tenth Avenue in the Special West Chelsea District.Ground floor uses in Subarea J shall be governed by the underlying use regulations as modified by Section 98-13 (Modification of Use Regulations in M1 Districts).

Uses within stories that have a floor level within five feet of curb level, and within 25 feet of the street line, shall be limited to commercial uses permitted by the underlying district or museums or non-commercial art galleries as listed in Use Group 3. A building's street frontage shall be allocated exclusively to such uses, except for lobby space or entryways. In no event shall the length of street frontage occupied by lobby space or entryways exceed, in total, 40 feet or 50 percent of the building's total street frontage, whichever is less.

For any building or portion of a building developed or enlarged after June 23, 2005, each ground floor street wall shall be glazed with materials which may include show windows, glazed transoms or glazed portions of doors. Such glazed area shall occupy at least 70 percent of such ground floor street wall surface. The lowest point at any point of transparency that is provided to satisfy the requirements of this Section shall be not higher than two feet above the level of the adjoining sidewalk or public access area and shall be no less than eight feet in height measured from such lowest point. Not less than 50 percent of such ground floor street wall surface shall be glazed with transparent materials, and up to 20 percent of such ground floor street wall may be glazed with translucent materials.

The sign regulations of the underlying districts in the Special West Chelsea District shall not apply to signs located within 50 feet of the High Line, except for signs located entirely below the level of the High Line bed. In lieu thereof, the sign regulations of a C1 District shall apply, except that accessory signs located within the High Line frontage may have a maximum height of 20 feet above the level of the High Line bed.

No signs affixed to or resting upon the High Line shall be permitted, except as pursuant to a signage plan for the High Line, as authorized by the City Planning Commission, provided the Commission finds that such signage plan will:

(a)        enhance the use of the High Line by providing signage that is consistent with the use of the High Line as a public open space;

(b)        provide, at a minimum, directional, informational and interpretive signage consistent with the use of the High Line as a public open space;

(c)        be integrated with the design of the High Line open space; and

(d)        not adversely affect development adjacent to the High Line and in the surrounding neighborhood.

Accessory off-street parking spaces for existing or new governmental offices may be located on a zoning lot other than the same zoning lot as the use to which such spaces are accessory, provided that:

(a)        such spaces are located within Subarea H and in a facility, or portion thereof, that is entirely below curb level;

(b)        the portion of such facility beneath the required public plaza area shown on Diagram 3 in Appendix A of this Chapter is sufficiently below curb level so that trees may be planted at curb level within such public plaza but is in no case less than four feet below curb level; and

(c)        no more than 377 spaces are provided within such facility.

For purposes of this Section, the governmental offices on Block 688, Lots 1001-1002, as of June 23, 2005, may have up to 377 accessory off-street parking spaces in such facility.