The sun., 1916-01-23

~ Of the work OF the commission
ssich for two years has been laboring
~,h a plan for creating trade and resi-
s.niiai districts in New York, limiting
ia heigh, OF buildings and hmiting the
,res OF lots on which buildings may be
.r.c,.d. Their tentative plans have
zen completed and at a public meeting
~ be held on February 3 in the rooms
a, the Merchants Association In the
Woolworth Building they Will be sub
mit,ed TO all persons who may be in
,.,ss,ed for discussion and criticism. IL
.nv reasonable suggestions are made for
,,srine the plan such alterations will
r. made. after which the matter will he
s,ced before the Board Of Estimate to
"a .oproyed by II and made part OF the
s,v law. The power to distrlct the city.
,imi, building heights and area OF lots
ocupied by buildings was granted to
an, Board OF Estimate through Charter
amendment in 1914.
or the plan as II stands now Its
-.Lsrs say 1t Ia only tentative and sub
,sct 10 radical revision II the necessity
q shoyn. Indeed, the members OF the
commission. eager to meet the views OF
,he ereat majority OF land owners and
rssldents have laid out a scheme which
vtli be called most conservative by those
vbo Judge II from the standpoint of
hsnent to the whole city. though some
,roperty owners may feel that their
,iehts are invaded. They, however, are
pkely 20 form n small minority.
In carrying out the big work the COM
mt,ee. Of which Edward NJ. Bassett Is
chairman. was divided into Ave sub
rommi,,ees, one for each borough.
walter Stabler. comptroller OF the Met
,opol.tan Life Insurance Company,
headed the subcommittee for Manhat-
ian. These committees have made three
mans OF every borough. one showing
.dstrcts set aside for residential and
business purposes. the latter districts
again being divided for offices. manu-
featuring and retail purposes. second
mao represents height to which build
,ngs may he erected In various parts OF
,he city, while the third represents the
area OF lots that may be covered In
various sections.
No description Of these districts will
he attempted here because OF the wish
Of the members OF the commission that
soihng definite be made public about the
pans until the meeting next week. Per-
mission has been given to say that ac-
cording to the proposed plan two and
one-half times the width OF the street
On which I, fronts will be the limit of
teght TO which a structure may he
cared and this will apply only in the
financial district of Manhattan. The
minimum height will be once the width
o. the street in outlying sections OF the
'our other boroughs. With certain set
backs buildings may be erected TO any
height. or area to be covered The maxi
mum is 100 per cent. for storage ware
houses down 20 80 per cent. in few
smail districts where an attempt VIII he
made to conserve small individual homes.
EXPLANATION OF the details of the plans
will be made at the public meeting hy
George b Ford. consultant OF TIE COM
m,tee. and By DR.. Robert ". Whitten
as secretary.
In working out it's various schemes the
sjb-commdttees were In consultation In
every borough with many authorities on
The subjects considered. Use districts
heght districts and area districts are the
-ault. In the use districts. residential
districts are those from which business
and industry will be excluded. Busi.
r.ss districts are those from which OBJ
,ectionable trades and industries and tine
Mger type Of factory will he excluded.
The remaining portions OF the ely Will
te left unrestricted as to use. This viii
include all areas where an Industrial use
is anticipated and also certain lar-e
areas in the undeyeloped sections where
ether a residential or industrial use may
prove the more appropriate. depending
'argely on future pC:T and terminal de-
velopmeuts
Height districts in five classes are pro-
vided, limiting the height OF the building
Al the street line to "A varying multiple OF
ne street width. Back of the street wall
me height of which is limited by q null
'ple OF the street width. the bIildinc
may GO higher but not beyond the line
formed by the extension OF a lire drawn
from the GENRE of the stree; To The limit
'rs height OF the street wall.
This viii give "A much greater { eeCon
v building construction tIln 4 flat
imitation OF height. 1t will allow any
height OF building back of thc street line
nat Will not intere fere with the reqIircd
angle ~ iight.
Area districts are IN fyc classes which
rropose fixing varying percentages %
'ot that may be covered and correspond
.ng regulations as to courts and yards
Tne 100 per cent, class Is intended chief,
!or. warehouse. terminal and neavy manu-
featuring areas for which yard and cour
requlrenents would have no particulal
Importance In the 30 per cent. clas!
Buildings other than residential are per
m'i,ed - cover 100 per cent. 70" tn,
FIRST tpo stories ard 90 Pc cent, ABOVE
Residence buildings are, however, re
Trcted To % per cent as provided II
W" tenement house law.
80 per cent. class Is intended TO
Sytons where the four story apart
r"n' or Nat seems an appropriate type
Higher buildings are discouraged by TN
fTJvs.on that FIVE story apartmcn
MAY cover nut 90 per cent. ~: the 10
snd SIX story apartment hut 30 nc