Community facility

Community facility is the Zoning Resolution's family of institutional uses — schools, houses of worship, hospitals and health facilities, and similar — which districts commonly admit under rules distinct from those for dwellings or commerce. Most consequentially, many residence districts assign community-facility floor area its own ceiling, often more generous than the residential one on the same lot.

That distinct ceiling explains a recurring pattern: institutional buildings bulkier than their residential neighbors, lawfully. It also feeds development arithmetic — a lot's usable budget can depend on program mix, and conversions between community-facility and residential use can change the applicable ceiling. The category's boundaries and conditions are set by the current text, and they are periodically revised.