On the Ground Today IMPLICATIONS & OUTCOMES
What are the implications of operating within the current zoning and regulatory framework on stakeholders who live and work on Broadway today? This section examines the answers to that question and the effect on specific stakeholders.
ONE
MISMATCH
TWO
UNPREDICTABLE & COMPLEX
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SoHo Zoning Guidebook
At the highest level, there is a mismatch between SoHo’s M1-5B as-of-right uses (manufacturing, office, and JLWQA) and the prevalence of non-conforming uses such as retail and residential. Moreover, manufacturing is essentially non-existent today in a district where it should be the most common use found based on the zoning.
This mismatch can make buying, selling, renting, and owning complicated and unpredictable for both residential and retail purposes. Zoning generally is designed to create predictable and reliable outcomes where the built environment matches the zoning designation. The use of special permits, grandfathering, and other creative approaches allow non-conforming uses - such as retail on the ground floor and residential on the upper floors - to be the rule rather than the exception. More importantly, this complexity allows sophisticated property owners to obtain exceptions to the zoning regulation that are not readily available to ordinary