Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises · Wednesday, October 4, 2023

The one where City Planning asked the Council to stop letting zoning block solar panels, rooftop greenhouses, and batter

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DCP Director Dan Garodnik pitched City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality , a citywide rewrite removing zoning obstacles to solar, battery storage, rooftop greenhouses and EV charging, with Local Law 97 fines looming on buildings. A long parade of clean-energy and housing advocates urged the Council not to 'give this proposal a haircut.' But the easy consensus frayed: a TLC driver flagged $15,000 EV battery costs, an opponent invoked a Warwick battery fire as a safety warning, and others warned the changes could widen equity gaps. Chair Riley pressed on Mitchell-Lama campuses and where noxious uses

From the room

“make sure zoning does not slow down the city's reduction in carbon emissions and ability to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions by eighty percent by twenty fifty”
— Kevin C. Riley

“City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality is the first of three projects that the Department of City Planning is developing as part of Mayor Adams' broader City of Yes initiative”
— Dan Garodnik

“Dan Gorodnik, the Chair of the City Planning Commission and Director of Department of City Planning, is personally here to discuss this critical proposal”
— Kevin C. Riley

“we did not focus on carbon capture equipment in this proposal, so it did not fundamentally change one way or the other the regulations for carbon capture systems”
— Dan Garodnik

The decisions

01LU 0277-2023N 230113 ZRYZoning TextLaid over

City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality

The public hearing on City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality was held and closed, and the item was laid over. The citywide zoning text amendment , the first of three City of Yes projects under Mayor Adams , aims to strip zoning impediments to renewable energy (solar canopies, standalone solar and storage, BESS, heat pumps, recladding, EV charging) to help the city cut operational carbon emissions 80% by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement and meet LL97 and 2030 decarbonization goals.

Conditions

Proposal does not change current height restrictions on wind turbines
CPC modifications: (1) enhanced energy infrastructure/equipment provisions (technical and aesthetic); (2) improved ultra-low-energy buildings provision (adjusted the 2012 Zone Green wall thickness deduction standard in response to practitioner and advocate input); (3) technical edits/clarifications on accessory use, wall thickness, and floor area
Full fencing requirement (all the way around) added for battery energy storage facilities, plus evergreen planting requirement around all facilities, in response to advocacy from community boards, the Borough President and council
Council should narrow the accessory-use change to only bike parking and energy infrastructure equipment, to keep out unintended consequences; clean up parts K and L of the floor area definition before finalizing
urge council to approve without modifying or diminishing the proposal
ensure fire prevention/education measures and FDNY/DOB safeguards tied to approvals; concern re lithium-ion battery fires

+6 more conditions

Land-use review

Legislation →ULURP case →

Also in the record

Records not linked to a specific agenda item

Conditions

modify the 10,000 sq ft energy storage threshold to 10,000 sq ft OR up to 50% of lot coverage, whichever greater, for larger lots to avoid BSA referral
allow more effective recladding of apartment buildings by removing penalties for adding insulation and expanding building envelope size for better heat retention
adopt the screening requirements in the zoning text amendment to make sites compatible with adjacent residential/commercial uses; current framework requires BSA special permit plus FDNY and DOB review

Procedure

Public testimony limited to two minutes per witness — William Vidal
Chair notes a trial run at reducing paper, thanking IT and the legislative document division — Kevin C. Riley
Counsel announces the meeting is held in hybrid format; members of the public may testify in person or remotely — William Vidal
Witnesses should indicate the LU number and/or subject name in the email subject line; remote witnesses to remain until excused as council may have questions — William Vidal

+2 more procedural steps

The people

Public testimony: 18 in favor · 4 opposed

Practitioners & applicants

Howard Slatkin · Kevin Garcia · Jeff Perlman · John Wolfling · Kevin C. Riley · Caroline Harris · Danielle Manley · George Janes · Niles Klingle · Dan Gorodnik

The intelligence

Every parcel, owner, and applicant in this meeting, cross-referenced against Zonable’s NYC ownership, enforcement & legislative graph — the record behind the record.

Sign in for the full graph

Owner portfolios, open OATH/ECB violations, 311 & DOB permits across every parcel discussed, developer track records, and an “ask this meeting” chat.

Ask about this meeting

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Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises · Wednesday, October 4, 2023

The one where City Planning asked the Council to stop letting zoning block solar panels, rooftop greenhouses, and batter

Contents & search

item

laid over

land-use item

Try

From the room

“make sure zoning does not slow down the city's reduction in carbon emissions and ability to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions by eighty percent by twenty fifty”
— Kevin C. Riley

“City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality is the first of three projects that the Department of City Planning is developing as part of Mayor Adams' broader City of Yes initiative”
— Dan Garodnik

“Dan Gorodnik, the Chair of the City Planning Commission and Director of Department of City Planning, is personally here to discuss this critical proposal”
— Kevin C. Riley

“we did not focus on carbon capture equipment in this proposal, so it did not fundamentally change one way or the other the regulations for carbon capture systems”
— Dan Garodnik

The decisions

01LU 0277-2023N 230113 ZRYZoning TextLaid over

City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality

Conditions

Proposal does not change current height restrictions on wind turbines
CPC modifications: (1) enhanced energy infrastructure/equipment provisions (technical and aesthetic); (2) improved ultra-low-energy buildings provision (adjusted the 2012 Zone Green wall thickness deduction standard in response to practitioner and advocate input); (3) technical edits/clarifications on accessory use, wall thickness, and floor area
Full fencing requirement (all the way around) added for battery energy storage facilities, plus evergreen planting requirement around all facilities, in response to advocacy from community boards, the Borough President and council
Council should narrow the accessory-use change to only bike parking and energy infrastructure equipment, to keep out unintended consequences; clean up parts K and L of the floor area definition before finalizing
urge council to approve without modifying or diminishing the proposal
ensure fire prevention/education measures and FDNY/DOB safeguards tied to approvals; concern re lithium-ion battery fires

+6 more conditions

Land-use review

Legislation →ULURP case →

Also in the record

Records not linked to a specific agenda item

Conditions

modify the 10,000 sq ft energy storage threshold to 10,000 sq ft OR up to 50% of lot coverage, whichever greater, for larger lots to avoid BSA referral
allow more effective recladding of apartment buildings by removing penalties for adding insulation and expanding building envelope size for better heat retention
adopt the screening requirements in the zoning text amendment to make sites compatible with adjacent residential/commercial uses; current framework requires BSA special permit plus FDNY and DOB review

Procedure

Public testimony limited to two minutes per witness — William Vidal
Chair notes a trial run at reducing paper, thanking IT and the legislative document division — Kevin C. Riley
Counsel announces the meeting is held in hybrid format; members of the public may testify in person or remotely — William Vidal
Witnesses should indicate the LU number and/or subject name in the email subject line; remote witnesses to remain until excused as council may have questions — William Vidal

+2 more procedural steps

The people

Public testimony: 18 in favor · 4 opposed

Practitioners & applicants

Howard Slatkin · Kevin Garcia · Jeff Perlman · John Wolfling · Kevin C. Riley · Caroline Harris · Danielle Manley · George Janes · Niles Klingle · Dan Gorodnik

The intelligence

Every parcel, owner, and applicant in this meeting, cross-referenced against Zonable’s NYC ownership, enforcement & legislative graph — the record behind the record.

Sign in for the full graph

Owner portfolios, open OATH/ECB violations, 311 & DOB permits across every parcel discussed, developer track records, and an “ask this meeting” chat.

Ask about this meeting

Chat with AI about this meeting. Free account required.