ELKUS MANFREDI ARCHITECTS
The proposed new lab and office tower at 101 College.
The City Plan department has proposed updating the city’s zoning laws to allow for larger developments in exchange for more environmentally friendly construction standards and the creation of more publicly usable open space.
The proposed law change would apply only to the mixed-use central business district, which covers a narrow stretch of the former Rt. 34 Corridor that includes the site of the planned new bioscience lab and office tower at 101 College St.
City Plan Director Aïcha Woods submitted the proposed zoning text changes for the BD‑3 Central Business / Mixed Use district to the Board of Alders on April 20.
The proposed zoning ordinance amendment was included as a communication in the agenda package for Monday night’s full Board of Alders meeting. It now advances to the City Plan Commission for a public hearing and review before moving back to the local legislature for a committee hearing, first and second readings, and a final vote.
“Through the implementation of Downtown Crossing, the development of 101 College and the development potential of other sites in the BD‑3 zone, the former Rt. 34 Corridor is under going a transformation that will provide new jobs, commercial vitality and realize the promise of new transit-oriented development and a reconnected City first envisioned in the the Hill to Downtown Plan,” Woods wrote in her April 20 letter to aldermanic leadership, referencing several of the ongoing and planned development projects for the former Rt. 34 district.
“Taking pause to consider the potential economic impacts of the current Covid-19 health crisis, this proposed zoning change will reduce barriers to thoughtfully considered and impactful growth in one of New Haven’s key economic sectors and districts.”
Thomas Breen file photo
City Plan Director Aïcha Woods (right) with LCI’s Arlevia Samuel.
Click here to download the full proposed zoning ordinance text amendment in full, as well as an accompanying letter and summary penned by Woods. Click here to view a zoning map of the city that describes its existing BD‑3 zones.
The proposed zoning update would allow for developers to increase the allowable Floor-Area Ratio (FAR) for a building from 6 to 8 depending on how many sustainable building standards and public space improvements they include in their project. FAR refers to the ratio of a building’s total floor area to the size of the lot on which the building sits. The higher the allowable FAR, the larger a building can be.
Some of the environmental incentives included in the proposed zoning text amendment range from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings to on-site renewable energy generation to the use of ecoroofs and greenstormwater infrastructure to the creation of publicly accessible plazas.
The proposed amendment defines the latter as “privately operated open areas on a lot intended for public use and enjoyment.” It includes detailed requirements for area dimensions (not less than 3,000 square feet), orientation (to “maximize access to sunlight and air”), paving (“non-skid durable materials that are decorative and compatible in color and pattern with other design features of the public plaza”), access and circulation (“at least 30 percent of public plaza street frontage shall be free of obstructions”), seating (at least one linear foot of seating for each 75 square feet of public plaza area), and more.
The current BD‑3 district includes the site of the future 101 College St. development.
The developers of the 101 College St. bioscience lab and office tower have already committed to including a public plaza as part of that project, according to a separate proposed Development and Land Disposition Agreement (DLDA) currently before the alders.
That DLDA states that the tower will be between 350,000 and 550,000 square feet large, cost the developer roughly $100 million to construct, create upwards of 1,000 new permanent jobs, and include a privately-owned public plaza and a maximum of 175 on-site parking spaces.
“The BD3 zone, created specifically to encourage the development of the city’s commercial Life Science and Biotech sector, will benefit from these new zoning incentives,” Woods wrote. “Commercial lab buildings in particular have larger floor plates than other types of buildings and will benefit from the potential of increased size based on higher allowable FAR potential.”