C8 Zoning in NYC: General Service Districts Explained

C8 is the one commercial district where warehouses, self-storage and trucking terminals are allowed, and the one C district where no residence of any kind is.

What a C8 district is for

C8 districts are General Service Districts. The Zoning Resolution says they provide "necessary services for a wider area than is served by the Local Commercial Districts," and that because these services "often involve objectionable influences, such as noise from heavy service operations and large volumes of truck traffic, they are incompatible with both residential and retail uses." New residential development is excluded (ZR 31-18).

In practice that means C8 allows car dealers (without the no-repair condition that applies to dealers in C2 and C4 to C7), gas stations, auto repair, warehouses and self-storage, but not apartments (ZR 32-161, 32-163, 32-191, 32-121).

C8 bulk at a glance

Commercial FAR: ZR 33-122. Community facility FAR, also the cap for lots with both commercial and community facility uses: ZR 33-123. Height: ZR 33-432 (initial setback 20 ft on a narrow street, 15 ft on a wide street). Parking: ZR 36-21. Floor area may not exceed the ZR 33-12 amount by more than 20 percent except where the Resolution expressly allows (ZR 33-12).

Uses allowed in C8

Uses are grouped into Use Groups I to X, in effect since June 6, 2024 (ZR 11-24, 32-00). The C8 column of the Use Group tables is the broadest of any commercial district for vehicle and storage uses:

• Housing (Use Group II): not permitted, including single-family, two-family and apartment buildings (ZR 32-121).
• Automotive: automobile dealers and other motor vehicle dealers are permitted with open use allowances; automotive service stations (gas stations) and light motor vehicle repair shops are permitted with conditions, where most other commercial districts need a special permit or bar them (ZR 32-161).
• Storage (Use Group IX): warehouses, self-service storage, moving and storage offices and trucking terminals are permitted in C8 and in no other commercial district; building materials or contractors' yards are permitted up to 10,000 sq ft of lot area per establishment (ZR 32-191, 32-193).
• Production (Use Group X): many production uses are permitted with conditions, without the ground-floor size cap that applies in C1, C2 and C4 to C7 (ZR 32-201, 32-202).
• Offices and retail: offices are permitted (ZR 32-171), and retail and services are broadly permitted, with fuel dealers limited to 5,000 sq ft of floor area per establishment (ZR 32-161, 32-162).
• Hotels: listed with conditions; new hotels, conversions and enlargements of 20 percent or more need a City Planning Commission special permit (ZR 32-151, 32-153).
• Entertainment: amusement and recreation facilities are permitted with open use allowances; drive-in theaters and racetracks need a special permit (ZR 32-181).
• Enclosure: uses must be in completely enclosed buildings, except storefronts that open to serve customers outside, unless the Use Group table gives a specific open use allowance (ZR 32-412, 32-10).

Height and setback

• C8 uses the sky exposure plane in ZR 33-432. In C8-1 the front wall can rise to 30 ft or two stories, whichever is less, within the initial setback distance, then the building must stay under a 1 to 1 plane.
• C8-2 and C8-3 allow 60 ft or four stories, and C8-4 allows 85 ft or six stories, followed by a plane of 2.7 to 1 on narrow streets or 5.6 to 1 on wide streets (ZR 33-432).
• In C8-1, community facility buildings (or buildings with both community facility and commercial uses) get a front wall of 35 ft or three stories, whichever is less (ZR 33-432).
• In C8-3 and C8-4, a community facility building may use the tower rule, covering up to 40 percent of the lot above the sky exposure plane (ZR 33-453, 33-451).
• Because there is no residential equivalent, the contextual residential height rules that apply to suffixed C1 to C6 districts do not apply here (ZR 33-03, 34-112).

Parking and street trees

Accessory parking for commercial and community facility uses is required in C8-1 to C8-3 at the rates in ZR 36-21; for offices (A3) that is 1 space per 300 sq ft in C8-1, 1 per 400 in C8-2 and 1 per 1,000 in C8-3. C8-4 requires none. The requirement is waived when it adds up to fewer than 15 spaces in C8-1 or 25 in C8-2 (ZR 36-231), and in C8-3 when fewer than 40 spaces are required in a category (ZR 36-232). New developments and enlargements of 20 percent or more must plant street trees, but in C8 the frontage used for the count may exclude curb cuts serving auto repair, gas stations and certain storage uses (ZR 33-04).

A worked example: 20,000 sq ft lot in C8-2

• Commercial building, for example a car dealership with a service shop: 20,000 x 2.00 = 40,000 sq ft (ZR 33-122).
• Community facility building, for example a medical office: 20,000 x 4.80 = 96,000 sq ft (ZR 33-123).
• Lot with both: up to 96,000 sq ft in total, of which commercial floor area can be no more than 40,000 sq ft (ZR 33-123).
• Parking for a 40,000 sq ft office building: 40,000 / 400 = 100 spaces, above the 25-space waiver threshold, so the requirement applies (ZR 36-21, 36-231).
• Front wall: up to 60 ft or four stories, whichever is less, within 20 ft of a narrow street line, then a 2.7 to 1 plane (ZR 33-432).
• Housing: none, because residences are not permitted in C8 (ZR 32-121).

C8 zoning FAQ

Related pages

• M1 zoning
• C4 zoning
• C1 and C2 overlays
• C3 and C7 districts