18.13.H RIV-3 Bywater Sub-District Standards

The following standards apply to the landside of the floodwall or levee:

Ord. 27,674 MCS, §2, March 6, 2018, Zoning Docket 085-17

18.13.H.1 Design Standards   

a.  Buildings shall generally be built along the lot lines on streets parallel to the river and along Montegut Street.

b.  Building facades shall include architectural features to avoid the appearance of blank walls facing the street.  These include, but are not limited to changes in the wall plane of at least six (6) inches such as an offset, reveal, pilaster, or projecting rib, changes in wall texture or masonry patterns, colonnade, columns, or pilasters.

c. Buildings shall be designed with galleries, awnings, canopies, and other weather protections devices.

d. Pedestrian and main entrances shall be located on the streets parallel to the river.

e.  First floor residential units located adjacent to the public street shall have individualized and direct entrances from the public sidewalk at the front (major access corridor parallel to the river or along Montegut Street) elevation, where possible.

f.  Curb cuts and vehicular access areas should be located on secondary side streets, if possible.

g.  Areas dedicated to servicing and loading and vehicular access shall be minimized through the use of shared infrastructure and efficient layouts.  Garage doors and service openings shall be minimal in size, and recessed or screened in order to be minimally visible from the street.

h.  Developments shall contribute to traffic signaling or lane striping if deemed necessary by the Director of the Department of Public Works.

i.  Developments shall include a type of neighborhood amenity or public open space such as, but not limited to, landscaped public open space, public art, mural, dog park, transit shelter, public rofftop access, restaurant with outdoor seating, or public plaza, subject to the Public Plaza Standards and Guidelines contained within Section 17.5.F.2 except that the plaza may be located more than three (3) feet above the adjacent sidewalk area in order to provide better views.

j.  Historic buildings shall be retained and reused to the greatest extent possible.

Adopted by Ord. 27,674 MCS, §2, March 6, 2018, Zoning Docket 085-17; Ord. 28177, Sept. 5, 2019, ZD 41/19

18.13.H.2 Building Heights   

a.  Stepbacks

i.  Properties with street frontage along Chartres Street between Homer Plessy Way and Desire Street are permitted a maximum building height of forty (40) feet with a maximum of three (3) stories along that street frontage.  Any additional height above forty (40) feet shall be setback from the front property line at Chartres Street at a minimum distance of two (2) feet for every one (1) foot above forty (40) feet up to a maximum allowed by the base zoning district.

Figure 18-1: Building Height Stepback Requirement for Properties on the Riverside of Chartres Street (RIV-3 District)

ii. Properties bounded by Homer Plessy Way and Chartres, Montegut, and Dauphine Streets are permitted a maximum building height of forty (40) feet with a maximum of three (3) stories along Montegut Street, Chartres Street, and Dauphine Street frontages.  Any additional height above forty (40) feet shall be setback from the property line a minimum distance of one (1) foot for every one (1) foot above forty (40) feet up to a maximum allowed by the base zoning district.

Figure 18-2: Building height Stepback Requirements for Properties Bounded by Homer Plessy Way and Chartres, Montegut and Dauphine Street (RIV-3 District

iii.  Development sites with more than 100 feet of frontage may increase a portion (up to thirty-five percent (35%) of its street frontage) of their building height, to a maximum allowed by the base zoning district.

Figure 18-3: Allowable Building Height Variation Along Street

b.  Flat roofed structures should provide an adequately-sized  parapet in order to mitigate the sight of rooftop equipment.

c.  Where provided as accessory flat roof features, open spaces located on roofs shall be excluded from the calculation of building height and gross floor area in accordance with Section 21.6.O.

Adopted by Ord. 27,674 MCS, §2, March 6, 2018, Zoning Docket 085-17; Ord. 28177, Sept. 5, 2019, ZD 41/19

18.13.H.3 Use Standards and Use Restictions   

a.  Required Uses for Ground Floors

Multi-family development that is forty-thousand (40,000) square feet or more in gross floor area shall allocate at least twenty percent (20%) of the floor area of the ground story for commercial or institutional use, subject to the permitted and conditional uses of the base zoning district.  Floor area does not include corridors or other spaces used in common with other uses.  Single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings, educational facilities, and townhouses are exempt from this use restriction.

b.  Commercial Use Floor Area Limitation

In the RIV-3 Bywater Sub-District, each ground floor commercial use shall not exceed five thousand (5,000) square feet of total floor area unless approved as a conditional use.

c.  Short-Term Rental Restriction

Commercial Short-Term Rentals are prohibited within the RIV-3 Bywater Sub-District.

Adopted by Ord. 27,674 MCS, §2, March 6, 2018, Zoning Docket 085-17