16 COMMISSION ON BUILDING DISTRICTS 



and after notice and hearing, a garage may be erected in a business district 

 on any portion of a street between two intersecting streets on which there 

 exists a public garage at the time of the passage of the proposed resolution. 

 A similar regulation is provided in regard to stables. In the tentative report 

 it was proposed to permit public garages and stables in any business district, 

 but the nuisance features incident to the indiscriminate location of garages 

 throughout the business districts were so great that the Commission recon- 

 sidered its former action. In providing that garages shall in general be 

 forced to go to the unrestricted districts, the Commission has increased the 

 number of small unrestricted sections within convenient access of the local 

 residence and business centers. 



The terms " unrestricted district " and " undetermined district " are 

 used to designate the areas for which no restrictions or regulations as to 

 use are provided. It is assumed that the development in the unrestricted 

 districts will be largely industrial. In the undetermined districts either 

 a residential, business or industrial use may prove the more appropriate, 

 depending largely on future port and terminal developments. The undeter- 

 mined districts differ from most of the other unrestricted areas, chiefly in 

 that it is anticipated that when their appropriate use is more fully disclosed 

 it may seem wise to restrict them in part to business or residence use. The 

 aim has been to give the greatest possible freedom of action and to avoid 

 restrictions that may possibly hinder future growth and development. While 

 it is realized that this can only be partially successful and that any regula- 

 tions now imposed will have to be changed from time to time, it seems 

 important that they shall be so designed as to secure as high a degree of 

 permanence as is at present practicable. 



In general, the salt marshes along and running back from the water- 

 front have been included in the unrestricted district. Industry very naturally 

 pre-empts such localities both on account of the comparative cost of the land 

 and the possibility of good water and rail terminal facilities. In addition, 

 all other navigable waterfront, where the grades and location are favorable 

 to a commercial or industrial development, is left unrestricted. The unre- 

 stricted area is allowed to extend back from the bulkhead line 1,000 feet 

 or more, depending largely on the slope of the land. In many cases the 

 boundary line of the waterfront unrestricted district follows quite closely 

 the 20-foot contour line. This seems to be about the normal level to which 

 industry will extend back from the water. 



An examination of the historical maps prepared by the Commission 

 showing industrial development at various periods during the past sixty 

 years in Manhattan and Brooklyn shows surprisingly little change in the 

 breadth of the industrial belts extending back from the waterfronts. There 

 has doubtless been a great deal of change in the character of the industries 

 located in a particular section. The tendency has been for the heavier 

 bulkier types of industries requiring large plots to move from Manhattan. 

 They have been replaced by a much larger number of industries requiring 



