Developer failed to issue Staten Island homeowners final C of O three years after construction was completed. In March 2001, Jamie Minchew and Rocco Rinella hired ATP Development Corp. to build a house at 44 Cottontail Court in Staten Island. Eight months later they closed on the house without a final certificate of occupancy, but ATP agreed it would furnish a final certificate of occupancy within one year. Several temporary certificates were issued up until January 2004, after which no more certificates were issued.

In November 2004, Buildings notified Minchew and Rinella that they were occupying the house without a valid certificate in violation of the law. In response, Minchew and Rinella sued Buildings and ATP, seeking to stop Buildings from issuing any violations related to their failure to have a valid certificate, and to compel ATP to obtain a final certificate. Buildings sought to dismiss the petition, claiming that the civil court lacked the authority to forbid the Department from issuing violations or permits. (more…)

Opposing owner spray painted home on eve of Landmarks’ vote. On March 29, 2005, Landmarks voted to hold a public hearing on April 12, 2005 on the possible designation of the James L. Bedell House in Staten Island, an 1874 single-family home and carriage house located on Amboy Road in Tottenville. A Landmarks survey of the architectural resources on Staten Island’s South Shore identified the Bedell House as one of the best preserved Second Empire-style homes, which are typified by mansard roofs, decorative dormers and prominent entryway porches. Once prevalent in New York’s rural areas, a small number of these homes remain.

Just before the March 29, 2005 vote, the Bedell House’s owner of seven weeks spray painted bright orange and neon green patches on the home. Landmarks staff displayed a photo of the spray painted house at the presentation, noting that the owner had since re-painted the home white. (more…)

Tenant will supply U.S. Navy with docking services and emergency provisions. On March 9, 2005, the City Council approved a draft lease submitted by the City’s Economic Development Corporation for a 40,000 square-foot portion of the Staten Island Homeport Pier to a tenant to be chosen by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command. The chosen contractor will provide layberthing services to U.S. Navy vessels, allowing the ships to dock, be maintained in a state of readiness, and be rapidly supplied when called to send emergency provisions to troops. The lease area includes five buildings within the southern portion of the Homeport Pier.

Under the lease, rent to the City for docking one ship is set at $450,000 per year payable at $37,500 per month, increasing to $675,000 per year, $56,250 per month, for a second U.S. Navy vessel. The lease establishes an initial seven-month term, expected to commence in January 2006, with five options that could extend the lease term to December 2010. The approved lease does not set the proposed rent increase for the option periods. Under the lease, the contractor will be responsible for all needed improvements, dredging and utilities. (more…)

Grandfather clause that had allowed removal of slopes, trees and vegetation on large lots eliminated. The City Council approved an amendment to the 1974 Special Natural Area District text that will further protect significant natural features like steep slopes, trees and vegetation in three areas of the City: Riverdale in the Bronx, Fort Trotten in Queens, and Staten Island’s Greenbelt and Shore Acres. The Planning Commission initiated work on the text amendment in 1997 at the request of civic groups and community leaders in the Bronx and Staten Island.

Under the original text, owners had to obtain Commission approval for alterations to lots in the natural area districts, except that owners of lots of less than 40,000 sq.ft. with a residential building constructed prior to December 1974 could enlarge the building and make site alterations without Commission review. This clause grandfathered 50 percent of the lots within the special natural area district in Staten Island and 60 percent in the Bronx and had, since 1974, allowed the removal of natural features on over 50 percent of the lots within the districts without Commission review. (more…)

Undersized Staten Island lot can be developed if trees replanted. Owners of an undersized, 9,733 sq.ft. Staten Island lot at 380 Lighthouse Avenue sought to construct a single-family home that required variance approvals because of the small lot size and because the proposed home failed to meet rear or side-yard requirements.

The lot fell within the Special Natural Area District, a 1974 zoning control passed by the City to protect existing topography, trees, plantings and integral sloping, triggering a separate review. Under the zoning resolution, the Planning Commission normally has jurisdiction over the requirements to protect a lot’s natural features, but with 380 Lighthouse Avenue, only BSA could grant approval because the lot was less than 12,500 sq.ft. and the Planning Commission lacked jurisdiction to vary lot size. (more…)