Parking Lots To Be Landscaped Per Planning Dept.
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

Seeking to help Mayor Michael Bloomberg's effort to bring cleaner air to the city by planting more trees, the Department of City Planning (DCP) has announced all future commercial or community facility developments with open parking areas of at least 18 spaces or 6,000 square feet will be required to plant street trees.

This will visually enhance parking lots and allow for more efficient management of storm water runoff, Tom Wargo, director of zoning, said at the September meeting of the Queens Borough Board.

In addition to supporting the mayor's PlaNYC 2030 initiative, Wargo said all open parking lots, for the first time, would have to comply with minimum standards for parking stalls, aisle widths and curb cuts, thereby improving safety and maneuverability for drivers and pedestrians alike.

Bicycle parking will also be required, at a rate of one bicycle parking for every 10 car parking spaces, up to 200 vehicle parking spaces. After that, the requirement is one bicycle parking space for every 100 car parking spaces. Plans must be submitted to the Department of Buildings showing the location of all parking spaces and compliance with the maneuverability standards.

Wargo emphasized that the new landscaping standards will apply only to commercial or community facility open parking lots of at least 18 spaces or 6,000 square feet where at least one tree for every 25 feet of frontage must be planted, in compliance with city Department of Parks and Recreation standards. A seven-foot-wide strip, landscaped with shrubs no higher than three feet and ornamental trees would be required along the perimeter of the lot to screen the parking area from the street.

For commercial or community facility developments with open parking areas of at least 36 spaces or 12,000 square feet, one shade tree for every eight parking spaces is also required, in addition to the perimeter landscaping requirements. These trees are to be planted in islands evenly distributed throughout the interior of the lot.

The perimeter and interior landscaped areas would be designed to absorb storm water runoff. Paved areas of the parking lot around landscaped areas would be graded so that storm water flows into the landscaped areas, called bioswales. This permits the landscaped areas to receive enough water to ensure the plants' survival and also allows a maximum retention of storm water runoff into city sewers. In case of a severe storm, overflow is diverted to city sewers.

Parking garages, roof parking, gas stations, car washes, and other auto use developments are exempt from the new design standards, said Wargo. Board 7 Chair Gene Kelty questioned the exemption. "We are constantly asking [gas

stations, etc.] to include landscaping," he said.

Any commercial or community facility development that also has residences will be required to comply with the new regulations only in cases where at least 70 percent of the floor area on the zoning lot is used for commercial or community facility uses.

If an existing commercial or community facility use with an open parking area is enlarged, the proposed regulations would apply only if the existing use enlarges its floor area by at least 20 percent, or the enlargement results in an increase of parking spaces by at least 20 percent, in which case the entire open parking lot would have to be upgraded.

The proposed zoning text amendment must still be reviewed and voted on by the City Council. For more information on the proposal, contact the Department of City Planning's Zoning Desk at 212-720-3291.