感兴趣的各方必须在7月中旬进行审查proposed zoning changesto facilitate flood-resilient construction in designated flood zones in New York City. The City Planning Commission, which released the proposed zoning text amendment on May 20, will refer the proposals to 41 community boards—all of which contain flood zones—and all five borough presidents and borough planning boards for a 60-day review period, which would include public hearings.
根据小组的咨询建议，计划委员会将进行自己的审查，举行公开听证会，可能对这些建议进行修改并进行投票。该过程通常需要一个到两个月。然后，这些提议作为决议去了市议会。经过更多的听证会，有一票，很可能有些时候中倒了。
下个月，由纽约市议会议长克里斯汀·奎因（Christine Quinn）和市长迈克尔·R·彭博（Michael R. Bloomberg）的要求召集的建筑弹性工作组将发布其对城市建筑法规更改的建议，以促进洪水区的洪水建筑。纽约市建筑物（DOB）专员兼工作队指导委员会成员的罗伯特·林德里（Robert D. Limandri）说：“将制定行动计划和变革的机会。”
The task force is considering both direct effects of extreme weather on buildings, such as flooding or wind damage, and secondary effects on buildings caused by infrastructure outages like loss of electricity and water. It will also make recommendations for more-resilient infrastructure, says LiMandri. He expects the first pieces of legislation proposing building code changes to be presented to the City Council in the fall.
拟议的分区更改旨在使整个指定洪水区的新建筑物和现有建筑物能够满足最新的抗洪水建筑标准。The changes expand on Bloomberg’s emergency executive order announced on Jan. 31, which temporarily suspended height and other restrictions to allow flood-resilient reconstruction after Superstorm Sandy's surge ravaged low-lying areas last Oct. 29. The order, which will expire, must be codified by a zoning text amendment.
The proposed text amendment would eliminate conflicts between current zoning regulations and the city’s building code for buildings adhering to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) flood standards by allowing limited additional flexibility for building height, placement of stairs and ramps, and location of mechanical systems and off-street parking. The proposal would also mitigate the effects of federal requirements on ground-floor activity and quality of the streetscape, according to the Dept. of City Planning.
桑迪飓风过后,联邦应急管理局发布了新的non-binding flood maps for New York City, reflecting the best available information about the city’s flood risks. The city also increased the flood elevation standards required under the building code by including an additional one or two feet of required elevation, known as “freeboard,” to code requirements.
严重损毁建筑物的所有者are required to comply with the flood-resistant construction standards of the building code when they rebuild. In addition, property owners within the newly enlarged FEMA flood zones may wish to make their buildings comply with new FEMA standards. This would reduce vulnerability to future floods as well as help to avoid higher flood-insurance premiums. However, in many instances, current zoning regulations or conflicts between zoning and building-code requirements would make it difficult or, in some cases, impossible for owners to build or retrofit to these standards, says the Dept. of City Planning.
These adjustments will “relieve conflicts” and enable owners of buildings in flood zones “to rebuild or retrofit to new flood-protection standards and help restore the same amount of living and working space they were previously permitted,” says City Planning Commissioner Amanda M. Burden in a press release.
Howard Slatkin, the Dept. of City Planning's director of sustainability, says the proposed changes are not controversial in and of themselves. "Most of the issues are embedded in FEMA standards and everything flows from that," he says. The zoning changes are trying to support people who are trying to raise their buildings, he adds.
According to Slatkin, it is difficult to generalize the cost of elevating a building because it differs depending on the building type. "FEMA talks about elevating houses on blocks off a foundation," he says. "In New York City, there are all sorts of conditions, including apartment buildings with residents on the first floor, that don't lend themselves to easy fixes," he adds.
由于FEMA的变化，尤其是关于高架建筑物的变化，对落在建筑法规下的楼梯和其他建筑要素具有影响，并且由于DOB执行建筑物和分区代码，因此DOB已积极参与重新分区的工作。Limandri说：“我们一直在（城市规划）合作，使分区和建筑法规非常吻合。”
