Contextual vs Non-Contextual Districts After City of Yes

The letter after the number decides more of your massing than the number does. Here is what A, B, D and X change, and what districts without a letter can still do.

What "contextual" means in today's Zoning Resolution

"Contextual" is not a defined term in the current Zoning Resolution. In practice, it means a residence district with a letter suffix after the number: A, B, D or X. Those districts must build to a base, a setback and a maximum height that match a typical street wall building. Districts with no letter suffix (R6, R7-1, R7-2, R8, R9, R10, R11, R12, plus the numbered R6-1, R6-2, R7-3 and R9-1) are the ones people call non-contextual.

The big change came with City of Yes for Housing Opportunity on December 5, 2024. Before then, a non-contextual district had two optional rule sets: height factor rules or the Quality Housing Program. The ZR now refers to the Quality Housing Program only "as such program existed prior to December 5, 2024" (ZR 12-10, floor area). Today every R6 to R12 building starts from the same base-and-setback rules in ZR 23-43, and the old height factor approach survives only as an option called a "sky exposure plane building" (ZR 12-10, 23-73).

Which districts are which

District lists and heights from the ZR 23-22 and 23-432 tables. Where two heights are shown, the higher one applies within 100 ft of a wide street. Qualifying affordable or senior housing has taller limits in the same table. Low-density suffixes (R3A, R4B, R5D and others) follow different rules and are not covered here.

What actually changes for a design

How the sky exposure plane option works

• FAR from height factor: FAR and a minimum open space ratio come from a table keyed to the height factor (total floor area divided by lot coverage) instead of ZR 23-22 (ZR 23-732, 12-10).
• No affordable bonus: where elected, that FAR applies to all residences, including qualifying affordable or senior housing (ZR 23-732).
• Height by plane: instead of a fixed maximum height, the building stays under a sloping sky exposure plane that starts above the street line at 60 ft (R6, R7) or 85 ft (R8 to R10) (ZR 23-736).
• Towers: in R9 and R10, a tower may penetrate the plane under ZR 23-737.

Worked example: one lot in R8, R8A, R8B and R8X

A 100 x 100 ft interior lot (10,000 sq ft) on a 60 ft narrow street, more than 100 ft from a wide street.

• Same FAR, different shape: R8, R8A and R8X all allow 60,200 sq ft of standard floor area here, but the maximum height runs from 115 ft to 155 ft, so the same floor area is either a squatter or a slimmer building (ZR 23-22, 23-432).
• R8 as a sky exposure plane building: the R8 column of the height factor table peaks at 6.02 FAR for height factors 17 to 20. At a height factor of 17 the open space ratio is 10.7, so 60,200 sq ft needs 10.7% x 60,200 = 6,441 sq ft of open space. Lot coverage is then 10,000 - 6,441 = 3,559 sq ft, and 60,200 / 3,559 = 16.9, which rounds to a height factor of 17 (ZR 23-732, 12-10).
• What that buys: a slender building on about 36% of the lot, a front wall up to 85 ft or nine stories, then a 20 ft initial setback and the sky exposure plane on this narrow street (ZR 23-736). What it costs: no 7.20 qualifying FAR, and no street wall location rules to fall back on for context.

Setbacks above the base are 15 ft on a narrow street under the default envelope (ZR 23-433). Special purpose districts and Limited Height Districts can override any of this.

Contextual districts FAQ

Related pages

• R8 zoning
• R6 vs R6A vs R6B
• Sky exposure plane
• Wide vs narrow street
• City of Yes for Housing Opportunity