NYC Zoning Handbook:
Community Facilities
Chapter 6
The Zoning Resolution recognizes certain types of uses which serve the
general welfare as community facilities. There are three broad
categories of community facility uses:
Local Community Facilities
Local community facilities-elementary and secondary schools, branch
libraries, houses of worship, community centers and settlement
houses-provide essential services for the neighborhoods in which they
are located. While some of these facilities may serve an area larger
than the surrounding community, it is generally agreed that they exist
primarily to enrich the residential community.
Regional Community Facilities
Regional community facilities serve the population at large. Some uses
in this category, such as colleges, central libraries, museums and
hospitals, could locate almost anywhere. Other community facilities in
this category are residential facilities such as orphanages, nursing
homes, and homes for retarded children.
Auxiliary Community Facilities
Auxiliary community facilities include uses which support local or
regional community services. For example, monasteries, convents, college
dormitories, hospital staff housing, parish houses or rectories do not
usually provide a direct service to the public but some colleges,
hospitals, schools, churches and community centers could not function
effectively without them. Virtually all of the uses in this category are
places of residence.
Community facilities are listed in either Use Group 3 or Use Group 4. As
a rule, facilities found in Use Group 3 are deemed to be incompatible
with Use Groups 1618 uses and, therefore, are not allowed in C8 and M1
districts. Facilities listed in Use Group 4 are allowed as-of-right in
C8 districts and are permitted by special permit in M1 districts. No
community facilities are allowed in M2 and M3 districts. The Zoning
Resolution has generally encouraged the location of community facilities
in residential areas.
The 1961 Zoning Resolution allowed a community facility to be larger
than a residential structure built on a zoning lot of equal size in the
same zone. If the same residential bulk controls were imposed on most
community facilities as on residential buildings in the district, many
community facilities would not be able to locate in most residential
districts. A school, house of worship, hospital or college must be a
certain size to operate efficiently, even in low-density, low-bulk
zones. Applying the same residential floor area ratio to community
facilities would require community facilities to occupy significantly
larger sites in most zoning districts. Assembling large sites in New
York City is complicated, difficult and expensive, creating problems for
institutions the city needs and wants and for the neighborhoods in which
they locate. Also, by allowing community facilities, which are often
tax-exempt, to fit more floor area on smaller sites, more land remains
on the tax rolls. However, in some districts, the City Planning
Commission has determined that community facility buildings should not
be significantly larger than neighboring residential buildings.
In 1973 the Zoning Resolution was amended to require that community
facilities in R1 and R2 districts be limited to the same FAR as
residential developments. Another amendment of that year provided that
several types of community facilities with sleeping accommodations could
no longer exceed the residential floor area ratio except by special
permit Medium and higher density contextual districts generally allow
community facilities either the same (or only slightly higher) floor
area ratios than the other uses in the district.
The Department of City Planning is currently reviewing land use needs
and the regulations that affect community facility uses in New York
City.