PURPOSE

1. To ensure that buildings located in mixed-use areas are designed in a way that prioritizes the experience of people using the sidewalk.
2. To allow terraces as a way to provide pedestrian circulation adjacent to Shopfronts on streets with steep slopes.

APPLICABILITY

1. Applies to new buildings or existing buildings that are located within 10 feet of the front lot line, and where there is sloping land in the frontage zone.
2. Applies to projects that propose to construct a terrace.

SLOPES

1. Where new buildings are proposed on a lot that is sloping along the frontage, and where those proposed buildings are located within 10 feet of the front lot line, buildings must be designed with smaller ground floor plates that step down the slope in order to provide primary entrances at the same grade as the abutting sidewalk.
2. Shopfronts in the Neighborhood General District, Village Districts, and Commercial Districts must step down along a slope and meet the following conditions:
   1. The floor plate of a shopfront must change elevation between architectural bays.
   2. The ground floor height of each shopfront may be no greater than or no less than the elevation at either end of the slope as measured at the interior side wall of the commercial unit.
   3. Primary entrances must meet the grade of the adjacent sidewalk.  ****

TERRACES

1. When the grade of a thoroughfare at a primary or secondary frontage has a slope of 5% or greater as measured perpendicular to the sidewalk, and where for reasons of topography the primary entrance of a building cannot be located at grade with the sidewalk, the adjacent buildings may provide a level terrace in their front setback.
2. The following standards apply to all buildings in T4 and T5 that are set back less than 10 ft from the street:
   1. The terrace must be paved to match the adjacent sidewalk.
   2. A railing or low wall must be provided wherever the terrace is elevated more than 1 ft above grade.
   3. Stairs may be provided between abutting terraces to promote pedestrian circulation along shopfronts.
   4. Where provided, terraces must extend along the entire frontage of the building and connect to any terraces provided on adjacent lots.
3. The following standards apply to all buildings in T2 and T3, plus all buildings in T4 with a setback greater than 10 ft:
   1. The terrace must be surfaced with grass or other vegetation with the exception of permitted patios, or driveways, sidewalks, or walkways that cross the terrace.
   2. The lot may be terraced for all, or a portion, of its frontage.
   3. The terrace may provide steps to the adjacent sidewalk anywhere along the frontage.