Developer proposed unique design to exploit loophole in zoning text. Fred Corono applied for a building permit to add a second building in the rear of his oversized 6,938- square-foot lot in Staten Island. The Department of Buildings denied the application, believing that Corono specifically designed the new building to evade the requirements of the City’s Lower Density Growth Management zoning restrictions. The controls, enacted in 2004, set strict size and yard limits on proposals to build two buildings on one lot. The text in the zoning resolution, however, only covers projects where the rear building’s footprint is more than 50 feet from the street.

With Corono’s building, the bulk of his proposed two-story, two-family building sat beyond 50 feet from the street, but the building included a narrow one-story structure that extended eight feet from the rear of the building to a point past the 50-foot line.

Corono appealed Building’s denial to BSA, arguing that the text clearly did not apply to his building. Buildings countered that Corono’s design thwarted the intention of the lower density controls, and BSA should apply the restrictions since the City intended to restrict development of two buildings on one lot. To support its argument, Buildings submitted a letter from David Karnovsky, General Counsel of City Planning, which outlined the intentions behind the text.

BSA agreed with Corono, noting that from a plain reading of the text, it did not apply to Corono’s design. Buildings failed to provide any reason for a different interpretation, BSA added, noting that the legislative history provided by City Planning did not indicate an intention to apply the text differently than it was written.

BSA: 8 & 12 Reynolds Street (276-06-A) (May 22, 2007) (Adam Rothkrug, for Corono; Janine A. Gaylard, for DOB). CITYADMIN

CITYLAND Comment: City Planning is considering amendments to sections 23-711 and 23-88 of the zoning resolution to address this loophole.

Home of former Assemblyman and opera singer designated. Landmarks designated the brick and stone Italianate villa located at 190 Meisner Avenue in Lighthouse Hill, Staten Island as both architecturally and historically significant on May 15, 2007. Built in 1856 for Nathaniel J. Wyeth, a prominent lawyer and Assemblyman, the home retains its octagonal cupola, molded caps and two chimneys. In 1925, opera star Graham Marr purchased the house, living there with landscape architect Norman Robert Morrison. Marr and Morrison rebuilt the captain’s walk around the cupola.

During the unanimous vote to designate, Commissioners Roberta Brandes Gratz echoed many other commissioners’ sentiments by saying “it is hard to believe that the home is located within New York City.” (more…)

EDC seeks proposals for a post-secondary school to occupy 98-acre site containing designated buildings. On February 28, 2007, the New York City Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals for a site formerly used as the City’s Farm Colony.

Starting in the 1850s, the City provided housing to indigent New Yorkers in exchange for their labor on the Farm Colony. The facility expanded several times, but by the 1940s its use began to decline. It remained open until 1975 when the City moved the remaining residents to the adjacent Sea View Hospital. In 1985, Landmarks designated the entire area as the Farm Colony – Seaview Hospital Historic District, including the Farm Colony’s eleven buildings. (more…)

Council Member Lanza and City Planning push forward Prince’s Bay down-zoning. On October 11, 2006, the Planning Commission approved a proposal to down-zone an 172-acre portion of Prince’s Bay, Staten Island and to adopt text amendments to restrict future development on an additional 830 acres. Council Member Andrew Lanza withdrew his original rezoning application in 2005 when opposition called it too restrictive and claimed it would interfere with a potential senior housing development on the Mt. Loretto site, a large tract of land owned by the Archdiocese of New York.

A majority of the 172-acre area to be down-zoned retains the original 1961 R3-2 zoning, which allows multi-family buildings as well as detached and semi-detached homes. The new proposal seeks to restrict future development to one and two-family detached homes on 40-foot lots (R3X). The second zoning change would impact the 22- acre former Camp St. Edwards site, currently under development. The proposal would match the current construction, changing the zoning to limit development to single-family homes with a minimum of 5,700- square-foot lots (R3X to R1-2). (more…)

Photoplays theater built in 1914. The Claremont Theater building, located at 3320-3328 Broadway in Harlem, Manhattan, is one of the oldest structures in New York City constructed specifically for showing motion pictures, originally called “photoplays.” The 1914 theater was designed in the neo-Renaissance style and faced in white terra cotta and white glazed brick by architect Gaetano Ajello, best-known for his apartment buildings on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The building has an unusual arrangement with three distinct fronts, including an elaborately decorated clipped corner facade that served as the auditorium’s original entrance. In 1915, the theater’s entrance was prominently featured in a short film produced by Thomas Edison. Noting its well-preserved exterior and importance to the city’s cultural history, Landmarks unanimously voted to designate the Claremont on June 6, 2006.

Landmarks also unanimously approved the designation of the Mark W. Allen house in New West Brighton, Staten Island on June 13, 2006. The house, one of only a few remaining craftsman-style homes, was built in 1920-21 for Mark W. Allen, a prominent Staten Island politician. Landmarks noted that the house retains a high degree of original fabric. 3 CityLand 4 (May 15, 2006). (more…)