In early December 2024, the New York City Council is expected to hold a final vote on a comprehensive zoning reform proposal entitled the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (COYHO). COYHO is designed to alleviate New York City’s housing shortage and historically low vacancy rate by significantly amending the zoning code to facilitate housing development in every City neighborhood. The City Council held two days of hearings on COYHO in late October 2024, which were followed by negotiations and modifications to the plan by City Council’s land use and zoning committees in November 2024.

COYHO is the third of three City of Yes initiatives by the Adams Administration. The City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality was passed by City Council in December 2023 and covered by the SPR Blog, and the City of Yes for Economic Opportunity was passed by City Council in June 2024.

The major categories of zoning reforms included in the COYHO proposal as modified in November 2024 are summarized below.

Universal Affordability Preference: COYHO includes a Universal Affordability Preference (UAP), which would allow for at least 20% larger building floor areas if that additional space is permanently used for affordable or supportive housing; such housing must be affordable to households earning 40% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The UAP would apply in all R6+ zoning districts citywide that are not Mandatory Inclusionary Housing areas. The UAP would replace the more narrowly crafted Voluntary Inclusionary Housing program, which currently provides a floor-area bonus to buildings in R10 districts or Inclusionary Housing Designated Areas that include permanently affordable units at or below 80% of AMI.

Relaxing Off-Street Parking Mandates: While the original COYHO proposal would have ended off-street parking mandates for all new housing development citywide, the modified proposal establishes a three-tiered system for parking mandates. At the time of this writing full details have not yet been released; however, the contours of this three-tiered system are as follows. In Zone 1 (including Manhattan south of Inwood, Long Island City, and parts of western Queens and Brooklyn), off-street parking would be optional for all new housing developments. In Zone 2 (including sections of upper Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island with access to transit), parking requirements would be significantly reduced for most types of multi-family housing. In Zone 3 (including remaining areas in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island), most current parking mandates would remain in effect. However, in all three zones, parking mandates would be eliminated for affordable housing, office-to-residential conversions, transit-oriented development, town center development, and ancillary dwelling units. Existing buildings would remain subject to the parking requirements that were effective at the time they were built.

Office-to-Residential Conversions: COYHO would legalize the conversion of non-residential buildings constructed before 1991 into housing in any area of the City where residential use is allowed. Current zoning rules prevent such non-residential buildings from converting if they were built after 1961 or are located outside of central business areas. COYHO would also allow for residential conversion into a range of housing types, including shared housing, dorms, or supportive housing.

“Town Center Zoning” and Transit-Oriented Development: COYHO seeks to promote “missing middle” housing (i.e., apartment buildings of three to six stories) in low-density areas of the City. To this end, the proposal would permit the new construction of two to four stories of housing above a commercial ground floor in certain mixed-use districts, which is often prevented by the current zoning code. COYHO would do so by, for example, increasing the residential floor area ratio (FAR) and height limits in low-density commercial districts (with additional FAR granted to qualifying mixed-use developments).

COYHO would also allow the new construction of “modest apartment buildings” near public transit. The proposal would legalize three- to five-story apartment buildings on street corners or facing a street that is at least 75 feet wide and within a quarter mile of Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North stations. Larger housing developments with more than 50 units would only be allowed if 20% of the units are affordable at or below 80% of AMI.

Small and Shared Housing: COYHO would remove the existing zoning restriction on shared housing (i.e., housing with shared kitchens or other common facilities) in New York City, opening the way for Administrative Code changes that would allow such housing. It would also allow for the construction of buildings with a higher proportion of studios and one-bedrooms in their unit mixes by: (a) eliminating the “dwelling unit factor,” which sets a minimum average unit size for multifamily buildings, in the area encompassed by the proposed “Inner Transit Zone” (i.e., generally tax blocks that are zoned for multifamily use within a half mile of a subway station), and (b) reducing the dwelling unit factor for buildings outside the Zone.

Ancillary Dwelling Units: COYHO would legalize ancillary dwelling units (ADUs) on lots with one- or two-family housing. ADUs include, for instance, garage conversions, backyard cottages, and basement apartments. ADUs would be limited to one unit no larger than 800 square feet per zoning lot and the homeowner must live on the property. Ground floor and basement ADUs could not be constructed in the coastal flood zone or in areas vulnerable to inland flooding from heavy rain. ADUs would be exempt from one- or two-family zoning restrictions, bulk regulations, and parking requirements. However, detached and backyard attached ADUs would be prohibited in Historic Districts and in certain low-density zoning districts. Moreover, detached ADUs could not be built at the lot line, would require side yard access, and would be subject to other maximum building size constraints.

Campus Infill: COYHO also includes a suite of zoning reforms designed to make it easier for campuses on lots larger than 1.5 acres or that occupy a full block (such as churches, co-ops, schools, and other institutions) to add new infill housing development. For instance, COYHO would simplify complicated and restrictive rules for infill development and would relax the distance-between-buildings regulations to align them with the more permissive requirements of the state Multiple Dwelling Law.

Miscellaneous: Further reforms proposed in COYHO include the creation of new types of residential zoning district designations with higher FAR, updates to the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, relaxed building height and setback regulations in certain waterfront areas,[1] and reduced restrictions on the transfer of development rights from designated landmarks.

[1] See the COYHO Annotated Draft Zoning Text at §§ 62-30 to 62-363.