Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency

*This event is occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program.*

The City of New York has developed new Zoning for Coastal Flood Resilience (ZCFR), which would improve homeowners’ and business owners’ ability to withstand and recover from future storms and other disaster events. ZCFR builds on years of collaboration with floodplain communities to support post-disaster recovery and promote long-term resiliency. Following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the City adopted temporary emergency zoning rules that made it easier for New Yorkers to rebuild. ZCFR would update those rules with lessons learned and make them permanent. The proposal would allow homeowners, business owners, architects and others to design resilient buildings that are better protected from flood risk and reduce flood insurance costs. It would protect and support public access to waterfront sites through resilient open space design. It would also help New Yorkers recover quickly from other future disasters, including the COVID-19 crisis.

In this program, representatives of the Zoning Division will present elements of the ZCFR to the design community. The main objectives of this training is to provide practitioners with:

• An overview of NYC's flood risk
• The regulatory framework that applies to buildings located within NYC's floodplain
• The Building Code regulations that govern floodplain construction
• The proposed citywide zoning text amendment, Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency, intended to promote and protect public health, safety, and general welfare of the city's floodplain neighborhoods and beyond.

More information about ZCFR, including a one-page summary, the project description, proposal slides, and the proposed zoning text with annotatins, can be found on New York City's ZCFR page.