Also known as: floor area ratios · FAR · floor-area ratio
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A zoning regulation that limits the total floor space permitted in a building on a given lot. It establishes a mathematical ratio between the area of the lot and the allowable floor area of the structure.
Francisco Frost purchases a downtown lot and proposes a twelve-story office tower. The applicable zoning ordinance imposes a floor area ratio of 4.0. Frost's design exceeds the ratio by forty percent. The planning commission denies the permit because the project would violate the bulk restriction.
Felipe Figueroa obtains a building permit for a mixed-use structure on his corner parcel. The ordinance sets a floor area ratio of 2.5. A neighboring owner sues claiming the approved plans exceed the ratio and will cast excessive shadow. The court reviews whether the city correctly calculated the allowable floor area.
Fatou Fall sues the city after her application for a six-story apartment building is rejected under a floor area ratio limit of 3.0. Her complaint states the denial in numbered paragraphs each addressing a separate aspect of the calculation. The court requires separate counts for the due-process and equal-protection theories.
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Ferrum Metals subscribes for shares to finance construction of a headquarters building. The board later calls for payment under the pre-incorporation agreement. The project must comply with a floor area ratio of 5.0 on the chosen site. The corporation uses the proceeds only after confirming the design meets the zoning limit.
Fulton Shipping borrows to construct a warehouse on industrial land subject to a floor area ratio of 1.5. The lender records a mortgage on the improved parcel. After transfer of the note the mortgage remains enforceable only while the building stays within the ratio.
Flagship Logistics holds a nongeneral power to appoint a downtown parcel improved by a building that already meets the floor area ratio of 4.0. The donee fails to exercise the power. The property passes to the permissible appointees under the default rule because they form a defined class.
The ratio equals the total floor area of all stories divided by the area of the lot. A FAR of 2.0 permits twice as much floor space as the lot size.
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No. It controls total floor space. A developer may achieve the same ratio with a low wide building or a tall narrow one.
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Yes. Courts have upheld floor area ratios when they reduce impacts on surrounding properties or infrastructure.
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A floor area ratio limits total building floor space relative to lot size. An open-space ratio directly limits the percentage of the lot that a building may cover.
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…reasonably relates to the preservation and protection of maternal health. Examples of permissible state regulation in this area are requirements as to the qualifications of the person who is to perform the abortion; as to the licensure of that person; as to the facility in which the procedure is to be performed,…