2422 West 1st Street, Brooklyn

Brooklyn property with two-family home was being used as contractor yard, junk salvage, and for commercial vehicle storage. Between December 2011 and April 2012, the City Department of Buildings sent inspectors three times to 2422 West 1st Street between Avenues X and Y in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The R4 residentially zoned lot is occupied by a two-story, two-family home. The inspectors, during their visits, observed in the property’s rear and side yards construction equipment and tools; wood, bricks, and plastic containers; and a commercial vehicle advertising N.B. Construction. The property’s certificate of occupancy permits only a two-family dwelling, and no commercial or manufacturing uses are permitted on the property as of right. Buildings sought an order to seal the lots under the padlock law to halt an alleged public nuisance.

Prior to a hearing at OATH, one of the property’s co-owners agreed to discontinue the illegal use. Another co-owner, Mohammed Ghuman, and BNY Mortgage Co. LLC, failed to appear at the hearing. ALJ Astrid B. Gloade credited Buildings’ evidence that the owner and occupants had used the lot to store commercial vehicles, an impermissible commercial use, and as a contractor’s yard and salvage storage yard, both impermissible manufacturing uses. The uses violated both the zoning resolution and the property’s certificate of occupancy. ALJ Gloade recommended that Buildings seal the property in a way that would not impede on the residential portion of the premises.

DOB v. 2422 West 1 Street, Brooklyn, OATH Index No. 1909/12 (July 24, 2012).

Brooklyn building owner operated commercial uses in residential zone. The lot designated as 1801 Avenue P, Brooklyn, NY is in a district zoned for residential use. Buildings charged that the structure at that address was being used as a crating establishment, and for food processing and preparation, commercial vehicle storage, and junk salvage storage in violation of the New York City zoning resolution. Buildings sought an order of closure. The respondent was properly notified of the petition and hearing, but failed to appear at trial. (more…)

Occupants illegally used driveway and yard of residential property for automobile repair, salvage, and dead storage. Between 2009 and 2011 the Department of Buildings sent inspectors six times to 610 Mead Street in the Van Nest section of the Bronx. The R5-zoned property contained a two-story, two-family building with a one-car garage on the first floor. The inspectors observed over the course of their visits automobiles in various states of repair in the driveway, including a damaged vehicle with its front end removed, and two cars under repair with one elevated on a jack and one without a license plate. The inspectors also observed in the property’s rear yard automobile parts, garbage, additional unlicensed vehicles, tires, junk storage, and automobile parts. Buildings sought an order to seal the premises under the padlock law to halt an alleged public nuisance.

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Owner of vacant residential lots stored vehicles and construction materials. A Department of Buildings inspector visited four R4-zoned residential lots located on 78th Street between Dumont and South Conduit Avenues in Lindenwood, Queens. The inspector, during three visits, observed stored on the site a large excavator and two commercial trucks, and construction tools and equipment, including a drilling machine, a generator, and large quantities of lumber and pipes. Subsequently, Buildings sought an order to seal the premises under the padlock law to halt an alleged public nuisance.

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Location of air conditioning units was legal because units were located outside the required rear yard. Buildings issued a notice of violation to the owner of 1027 East 2nd Street in Brooklyn for maintaining an obstruction in a required rear yard. An officer issued the NOV after observing four air conditioning units in the rear yard within four inches of the side-lot line. Properties in residential districts are only permitted to install AC units in a required backyard if they are located at least eight feet from any lot line.

At a hearing, the owner stated that the property was located in the Ocean Parkway Special District, which requires a minimum backyard depth of twenty feet from the rear-lot line instead of the thirty-foot backyard required by the area’s underlying R3-1 zoning regulations. The owner argued that while his property had a thirty-foot rear yard, the AC units were located in a ten-foot portion of the yard closest to his home and not in the twenty-foot portion of the required yard under the special district’s regulations. An ALJ upheld the NOV, finding the special district’s rules did not redefine the requirements of other zoning regulations and were not meant to affect the rear yard regulations. (more…)