Section B-304.8 excludes certain portions of an interior of a building from the calculation of Gross Floor Area [GFA]: 

B-304.8 GFA shall not include cellars, exterior balconies that do not exceed a projection of six feet (6 ft.) beyond the exterior walls of the building, all projections beyond the lot line that may be allowed by other Municipal codes, vent shafts, and pipe chase shafts above the ground floor, atriums above the ground floor, ramps on the ground floor leading down to areas of parking on a lower level; and in residential zones, the first floor or basement area designed and used for parking or recreation spaces provided that not more than fifty percent (50%) of the perimeter of that space may be comprised of columns, piers, walls, or windows, or similarly enclosed.  

Developments are increasingly using automobile elevators instead of ramps to access underground parking garages. As an automobile elevator is the functional equivalent of the car ramp, the Zoning Administrator has determined that such automobile elevators may also be excluded from GFA calculations. 

As an example, where an applicant proposes to use an automated parking garage with an automobile elevator on the ground floor that takes cars to a ‘P1 level’, where the parking spaces are located, then such automobile elevator may be excluded from the calculation of GFA.