The NYC Zoning Resolution has Use Groups to categorize buildings based on their use. NYC Zoning Use Group 9 consists of Commercial Business Services.
Commercial Zoning NYC Use Group 9
Certificate Of Occupancy for Use Group 9
Use Groups are listed on the Certificate Of Occupancy for a building. Use Group 9 has three categories. A Certificate Of Occupancy or CO for Use Group 9 would identify the use of spaces as:
- 9A
- 9B
- 9C
Use Group 9A Retail or Services
- Car Dealerships: Automobile, motorcycle, trailer, or boat showrooms
- Banquet halls
- Business schools or colleges
- Catering Halls
- Clothing or costume rental
- Docks for sightseeing, excursion, or sport fishing vessels
- Gymnasiums, only for basketball, handball, paddleball, racketball, squash and tennis.
- Medical or dental laboratories for research, testing, or the custom manufacture of artificial teeth, dentures or plates.
- Musical instrument repair
- Plumbing, heating, or ventilating equipment showrooms, without repair facilities
- Printing establishments, up to 2,500 square feet of floor area for production
- Auction rooms
- Art, music, dancing, or theatrical Studios
- Trade schools
- Small business machine sales, rental or repair
- Wedding chapels
Use Group 9B
Use Group 9B consists of certain Wholesale establishments
- “Hair Products for headwear”
- Photographic Development and printing up to 2,500 square feet
Use Group 9C
Use Group 9C contains Accessory Uses to other Use Group 9 uses.
Additional Restrictions on Use Group 9
There are restrictions and special requirements for Commercial uses in certain situations below are a few examples.
Medical or Dental facilities for research or production restrictions
“Medical or dental laboratories for research or testing, or the custom manufacture of artificial teeth, dentures or plates, not involving any danger of fire or explosion nor offensive noise, vibration, smoke or other particulate matter, odorous matter, heat, humidity, glare or other objectionable effects.”
Zoning Restrictions for C4 or C5 Zoning
Most of the uses in Group 9 cannot be on the ground floor of a building unless it is 50 feet from the street wall in C4 or C5 Zoning.
Where Can You Build Use Group 9 Commercial uses in NYC?
Residential Zoning Districts
You cannot develop commercial uses in residential zoning districts unless there is a commercial overlay.
Commercial Overlays
A Commercial Overlay is a commercial zone mapped within Residential Zoning Districts to allow for Commercial Use and or Residential. C2 commercial overlays allow for Use Group 8.
Commercial Zoning Districts
You can develop Use Group 8 in most commercial districts in NYC including their respective subdistricts and contextual districts.
- C2 Local Service
- C4 General Commercial
- C5 Restricted Central Commercial
- C6 General Central Commercial
- C8 General Service
Manufacturing Zoning Districts
Manufacturing Zones allow for Use Group 9 commercial uses
NYC Commercial Zoning Use Group 9
As an architect I study Zoning Codes closely, but these are complicated and quite involved issues. In this article we reviewed some of the basic concepts with regards to the NYC Zoning Use Group 9 for Commercial establishments. This post does not assume to cover every possible issue or condition, but provide a general overview of the topic.
Thank you for reading our blog post on Commercial Use Group 9 in the NYC Zoning Code.
I hope this was helpful. Please leave questions and comments below. If you would like to speak with an architect you can Contact Fontan Architecture directly.
This post was written by Jorge Fontan AIA a Registered Architect and owner of New York City architecture firm Fontan Architecture. Jorge Fontan has earned 3 degrees in the study of architecture including two degrees from the City University of New York and a Masters Degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. Jorge has a background in construction and has been practicing architecture for 20 years where he has designed renovations and new developments of various building types.
