Chapter 2: Land Use, Zoning, and Public Policy A. INTRODUCTION Under the 2012 City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) Technical Manual guidelines, a land use analysis evaluates the uses and development trends in the area that may be affected by a proposed action, and determines whether that proposed action is compatible with those conditions or may affect them. The analysis also considers the action's compliance with, and effect on, the area's zoning and other applicable public policies. The Applicant is proposing to create and map a new special purpose zoning district, the Special Hudson Square District (the Special District, or Rezoning Area), that would cover an approximately 18-block area of the neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan known as Hudson Square. As described in Chapter 1, “Project Description,” the objective of the Proposed Action is to activate and enhance the Rezoning Area by permitting mixed-use development while preserving the area’s commercial base and existing built character. The Proposed Action is expected to result in new development (including new construction, enlargements, and residential conversion) on sites throughout the Rezoning Area. This analysis identifies anticipated changes in land use, zoning, and public policy that are expected to occur independent of the Proposed Action (the No-Action condition) by the 2022 analysis year, and then assesses any potential impacts to land use, zoning, and public policy associated with the Proposed Action (the With-Action condition). PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS As described in detail in this chapter, no significant adverse impacts on land use, zoning, or public policy are anticipated in the With-Action condition in the primary and secondary study areas. The Proposed Action would not directly displace any land uses so as to adversely affect surrounding land uses, nor would the Proposed Action generate land uses that would be incompatible with land uses, zoning, or public policy in either the primary or the secondary study areas. The Proposed Action would not create land uses or structures that would be incompatible with the underlying zoning, nor would the Proposed Action cause any existing structures to become non-conforming. The Proposed Action would not result in land uses that conflict with public policies applicable to the primary or secondary study areas. As compared with the No-Action condition, the Proposed Action would result in an increase in new residential, retail, and community facility development—and, in some cases, replacement of non-residential use with new development—and a decrease in certain commercial uses, such as transient hotels, in the Rezoning Area. The Proposed Action would incentivize the development of new affordable housing through the Inclusionary Housing Program, and would allow a greater range of cultural and community facility uses, as well as a new school, to support the expansion of residential use in the Rezoning Area. The Proposed Action would preserve commercial uses and the built character of the Rezoning Area through the specific provisions regulating demolition and conversions of existing 2-1 Hudson Square Rezoning FEIS buildings. The Proposed Action would establish height limits, require that buildings be built to the street line, and require retail or other uses at the ground level to encourage street-level activity in the Special District. Thus, new development introduced by the Proposed Action would be consistent with the existing built context, would encourage the enhancement of the area as a mixed-use neighborhood with active street life, and would prevent an influx of new out-of-scale hotel development. The Proposed Action would not result in any significant adverse impacts to with respect to land use, zoning, or public policy. Rather, the Proposed Action would allow the Rezoning Area to evolve into an active, mixed-use neighborhood while preserving its existing built context and commercial uses. B. METHODOLOGY The analysis methodology is based on the guidelines of the CEQR Technical Manual and examines the consistency of the Proposed Action and the two With-Action development scenarios‒Reasonable Worst Case Development Scenario (RWCDS) 1 and RWCDS 2‒with land use patterns and development trends, zoning regulations, and other applicable public policies. According to the CEQR Technical Manual, a detailed assessment of land use, zoning, and public policy is appropriate if a proposed action would result in a significant change in land use or would substantially affect regulations or policies governing land use. An assessment of zoning is typically performed in conjunction with a land use analysis when the action would result in a change in zoning or result in the loss of a particular use. Therefore, a detailed analysis has been prepared that describes existing and anticipated future conditions for the 2022 analysis year, assesses the nature of any changes on these conditions that would be created by the Proposed Action, and identifies those changes, if any, that could be significant or adverse. This chapter identifies a primary study area where the land use effects of the Proposed Action are direct, and a secondary study area where indirect effects may occur. The primary study area encompasses the blocks that would be directly affected by the Proposed Action (i.e., properties within the Rezoning Area). For the purposes of this analysis, the secondary study area extends approximately a ¼ mile from the primary study area boundary. Both the primary and secondary study areas are shown in Figure 2-1. Because of the study area’s large size, for the purposes of analysis the study area is divided into the following subareas (see Figure 2-1) roughly based on existing neighborhood boundaries: • Hudson Square subarea: the area that extends to Canal Street to the south, Hudson and Varick Streets and Avenue of the Americas to the east (along the eastern boundary of the Rezoning Area), the Hudson River to the west; and to Morton, Barrow, Clarkson, West Houston, and Vandam Streets to the north, along the boundaries of the M1-5 zoning district; • SoHo subarea: the area that extends to West Houston Street to the north, Canal Street to the south, as far as Broadway to the east, and Avenue of the Americas to the west; • North Tribeca subarea: the area that extends to Canal Street to the north, as far as Leonard Street to the south, as far as Broadway to the east, and the Hudson River to the west; and • West Village subarea: the area that extends between Barrow and Christopher Streets to the north, West Houston and Vandam Streets to the south (including three blocks east of Rezoning Area between West Houston and Vandam Streets), as far as LaGuardia Place to the east, and the Hudson River to the west. 2-2 W. WASHINGTON PL. AVE. OF THE AMERICAS 7.26.12 PERRY ST. W. 11TH ST. N CHARLES ST. BLEECKER ST. W. 10TH ST. W. 3RD ST. CHRISTOPHER ST. BEDFORD ST. WEST VILLAGE BLEECKER ST. BARROW ST. MORTON ST. W. HOUSTON ST. LEROY ST. CLARKSON ST. PRINCE ST. VARICK ST. W. HOUSTON ST. KING ST. HUDSON PIER 40 WEST BROADWAY SQUARE CHARLTON ST. SPRING ST. WASHINGTON ST. VANDAM ST. SOHO SPRING ST. SULLIVAN ST. THOMSON ST. BROADWAY DOMINICK ST. BROOME ST. BROOME ST. GRAND ST. HUDSON ST. WATTS ST. WOOSTER ST. MERCER ST. GREENE ST. CANAL ST. DESBROSSES ST.GREENWICH ST. NORTH LISPENARD ST. VESTRY ST. TRIBECA VARICK ST. LAIGHT ST. WALKER ST. HUBERT ST. WHITE ST. BEACH ST. FRANKLIN ST. FRANKLIN ST. N. MOORE ST. LEONARD ST. HUDSON ST. WEST ST. HUDSON RIVER WORTH ST. HARRISON ST. CHURCH ST. FEDERAL JAY ST. THOMAS ST. PLAZA DUANE ST. 0 1000 FEET Proposed Rezoning Area (Primary Study Area) SCALE Secondary Study Area Boundary (1/4-Mile Perimeter) Subarea Boundary Land Use Study Areas HUDSON SQUARE REZONING Figure 2-1 Chapter 2: Land Use, Zoning, and Public Policy Various sources were used to comprehensively analyze the land use, zoning, and public policy characteristics of the study area, including field surveys, land use and zoning maps, and online sources from the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) and the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB). ANALYSIS APPROACH As described in Chapter 1, “Project Description,” since the Proposed Action would permit a range of different types of development within the Rezoning Area, RWCDS 1 and RWCDS 2 were developed to represent the potential development scenarios that could result from the Proposed Action. This analysis examines the consistency of the Proposed Action and the two With-Action conditions with land use patterns and development trends, zoning regulations, and other applicable public policies. C. DEVELOPMENT HISTORY The Applicant has been a major influence in the Rezoning Area and its vicinity since 1705, when Queen Anne of England granted Trinity Church a plot of land approximately 215 acres in size, roughly bounded by Christopher Street on the north, Fulton Street on the south, Broadway on the east, and the Hudson River on the west. The land grant was intended to provide financial support for the Applicant by providing income from rentals. The Applicant’s land was initially used for farming and produced little income, but as the city expanded northward, land use in the Hudson Square area became increasingly residential. Through the late 1700s and early 1800s the Applicant sold some of its land and made land grants to other Episcopal churches, as well as to the Lutheran, French, and Presbyterian churches. The Applicant also granted land to the Episcopal Charity School, the Public Free School and King’s College (now Columbia University), among others. As New York City expanded northward in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the demand for housing increased in the Hudson Square area, and portions of the Applicant’s land grant were subdivided and sold for residential development.