BILL NUMBER: S6801
SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the multiple dwelling law, in relation to the definition
of floor area
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to amend the definition of floor area to
prevent the misuse of mechanical voids to increase the height of
skyscrapers.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the opening paragraph and paragraph b of subdivision 2
of section 26 of the multiple dwelling law, the opening paragraph and
paragraph b as amended by chapter 748 of the laws of 1961 and subpara-
graph 1 of paragraph b as amended by chapter 857 of the laws of 1985 to
redefine the term "floor area."
Section 2 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New building development has an inalterable effect, for better or worse,
on the surrounding local community. To try to manage these strains, both
contextually and on local infrastructure, floor-area-ratio (FAR) limits
are set to put a size cap on new development in a given area. Unfortu-
nately, through vagaries in the multiple dwelling law that allow devel-
opers to exploit local zoning loopholes, developers are often able to
circumvent these restrictions. Some of the loopholes increasingly
exploited, pertains to mechanical void spaces, ceiling heights and
shared balcony loopholes, which are not counted toward the FAR, thus
allowing developers to build higher than would otherwise be permitted.
Mechanical voids are spaces in buildings - sometimes spanning across
multiple floors - where mechanical infrastructure, such as HVAC systems,
are housed. Because mechanical void space is not counted toward the
building's total FAR, developers often creatively locate mechanical void
space throughout a building, as opposed to hosing it in the basement or
on the roof, to add additional height to their building. Similarly,
because it is not counted towards FAR, developers will often increase
the ceiling heights on individual floors to increase overall building
height. These loopholes also extend to terraces, balconies and porches,
the floor area of which is not currently counted toward total FAR.
This legislation aims to ensure developers are building within the
intention of the multiple dwelling law by closing existing loopholes.
This legislation imposes restrictions on the size of allowable mechan-
ical voids, sets a ceiling height cap of 12 feet for a given floor's
area to only be counted once and ensures that balconies and terraces
will be counted towards a building's total floor area.Through this added
specificity, communities across the state will be able to better control
the scale of new development.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S.353 - Referred to Housing, Construction and Community
Development/A.3514 - Referred to Housing
2021-2022: S.2016 - Referred to Housing, Construction, and Community
Development/A.2128 Referred to Housing
2019-2020: S.3820-A - Referred to Housing, Construction, and Community
Development/A.5026-A - Referred to Housing
 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.