CHAPTER V— HEIGHT DISTRICTS 



The districting resolution herewith submitted, together with the ac- 

 companying height district maps, provide for five classes of height dis- 

 tricts limiting the height of the building at the street line to. a varying mul- 

 tiple of the street width. The districts named in accordance with the 

 multiple applied are : one times districts, one and one-quarter times districts, 

 one and one-half times districts, two times districts and two and one-half 

 times districts. 



In limiting the height of all buildings in relation to the width of the 

 streets on which they abut, the Commission has adopted a principle which for 

 a great many years (since 1885) has been applied to tenement house con- 

 struction in New York City. The Tenement House Law limits the height 

 of tenement houses throughout the city to one and one-half times the street 

 width. It has also been extensively applied in European cities. This rule 

 has evident advantages over a flat limitation that operates without regard 

 to the width of the street. A height limit based on street width is seen to 

 have a direct relation to street congestion and to light and air conditions. 



The Commission has modified the strict application of the multiple of 

 street width rule by providing that for the purpose of computing the limit- 

 ing height on the multiple of street width basis a street less than 50 feet 

 wide shall be considered to be 50 feet wide, and a street more than 100 

 feet wide shall be considered to be but 100 feet wide. In other words, the 

 multiple of street width rule is not applied to very narrow streets, nor is 

 it applied to streets of more than a prescribed width. There is for each 

 district a minimum height that will be permitted and a maximum height 

 that may not be exceeded, regardless of the width of the street. This modi- 

 fication is customary in building height regulations based in general upon 

 street width. It is clear that a general multiple if applied to all narrow 

 streets in the business center might seriously interfere with an appropriate 

 and reasonable use of the land. On the other hand if the general street 

 width multiple were applied without limit to very wide streets and open 

 spaces, it would result in an excessive and inappropriate height for a few 

 buildings that would be a serious injury to the light of the neighbors on 

 the sides and in the rear. Moreover, in the interest of safety in case of 

 fire and of the prevention of street congestion in the side streets, it is appro- 

 priate that a maximum height at the street line be established for each 

 district. 



The multiple of street width rule limits the height of a building at the 

 street line only. Above such height limit at the street line, the building 

 may be carried higher by means of mansards or vertical walls provided such 

 extended portion is set back in a prescribed ratio. In the one times district 

 the setback rule is one foot horizontally for each two feet of height above 

 the prescribed height limit at the street line. Similarly in the one and one- 



