Building Planting Regulations

The Department of Buildings (DOB) enforces planting regulations for buildings throughout the City.

Planted areas:

Have front yard minimums ranging from 20% for narrow lots to 50% for wide lots.
Can be a combination of grass, groundcover, shrubs, trees, or other living plant material.

Planted areas within a driveway or parking space do not qualify towards the minimum planting requirements.

The minimum requirements for Residential Districts in New York City are:

R1 through R5 Districts: Front Yard Planting

Street frontage of zoning lot	Percentage of front yard (min)
Less than 20 feet	20
20 to 34 feet	25
35 to 59 feet	30
60 feet or greater	50

Report a planting violation.

The Department of City Planning (DCP) has zoning district guides.

Get more information from DCP Zoning District Guides.

Medium and High Density Zoned Districts

Planting regulations also apply to medium- and high-density contextual R6 through R10 districts and where the optional Quality Housing Program is utilized in R6 through R10 districts.

When buildings are set back from the street in these zoning districts, the entire area in the front of the building must be planted, except for the entrances/exits to the building or driveways.

Was this information helpful? Yes No

How can we improve this page?

Was this information helpful?

NoYes

Knowledge Article

IP Address

Building Planting Regulations

Report a planting violation.

Zoning Districts

Was this information helpful? Yes No