City To Require Bike Racks In Buildings

The Department of City Planning's initiative to require secure parking for bicycles in new multi-family residential, commercial and institutional buildings throughout the city has entered the public review process, according to DCP Commissioner Amanda M. Burden.

Recent studies by City Planning have found that the lack of safe and secure bicycle parking is a leading factor preventing people from cycling to work. In addition, the lack of bicycle storage facilities in residential buildings can make bicycle ownership impractical.

The proposal is the most comprehensive bike parking zoning requirement of any dense U.S. city and is part of a coordinated multiagency effort with the city Department of Transportation to promote New Yorkers' use of bicycles.

"Our proposed citywide bicycle parking requirements will make it possible to secure one's bike at home and at work, thereby making it easier to commute to work, to school and run errands by bike," said Burden.

"Bike commuting is up 35 percent in the past year alone, which underscores the need for more bike parking," said NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

The new zoning provides that:

• Residential buildings with more than 10 units must provide secure bike parking for 50 percent of the units, or one space for every two units.

• Commercial office buildings must provide one space for every 7,500 square feet.

• Retail and most other commercial uses, as well as most community facility uses, would be required to provide one space for every 10,000 square feet of floor area. Smaller buildings, where three or fewer bicycle spaces are required, can waive the requirement.

• Universities and hospitals will be required to provide secure bike parking but special provisions would allow these institutions to locate spaces more flexibly in a campus setting.

• For industrial and semi-industrial uses, religious institutions, and certain other facilities with varied employment densities or unusual space demands, bicycle parking would not be required but would not count against permitted floor area.

• Public parking garages would be required to provide one bicycle parking space for every 10 automobile parking spaces.

• Requirements would apply to new buildings, enlargements of 50 percent or more, and conversions to residential use.

• Fifteen square feet would be required per bicycle parking space. The amount of parking space required per bicycle can be reduced to as little as six square feet per bicycle with the submission and approval of a more efficient layout.

• In order to address a wide range of building configurations, bicycle parking may be provided in a variety of locations, including on the ground floor of a building, in a cellar or in a parking garage.

The chairperson of the City Planning Commission may authorize a reduction or waiver of bicycle parking spaces when subsurface or below-ground infrastructure conditions make bicycle parking infeasible.

The initiative complements other city efforts to promote cycling and increase bicycle infrastructure throughout the city, with the goal of doubling bicycle commuting by 2015 and tripling it by 2020.

The new citywide requirements will be considered by 59 Community Boards and the five Borough Presidents.