Owner agrees to demolish a portion of a garage in order to build a two-story expansion. The owner of a two-story single-family home with a detached garage at 7-12 126th Street sought a variance from rear yard requirements to facilitate construction of a two-story addition. The 1935 home is located in a portion of College Point that the City rezoned from R3-2 to R2A in 2005. 2 CityLand 135 (Oct. 15, 2005).

The owner claimed that a rear yard waiver is required to develop the site because as-of-right development was infeasible due to the lot’s irregular shape and shallow depth— the shallowest among all lots within a 200-foot radius. The owner also argued that the waiver would create a shallower rear yard, which would be compliant under the zoning that existed prior to 2005. In addition to the rear yard waiver, the owner sought a lot coverage waiver that would allow full development of the site. (more…)

Court affirmed power to overturn BSA even when it failed to consider all five variance factors. In 1999, George Pantelidis, owner of a townhouse in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, obtained a permit from the Department of Buildings to construct a glass-enclosed stairwell at the rear of his building. The stairwell allowed the Pantelidis family, who occupied the second and third floors of the five-story building, to move about their residence without using the public stairs.

In 2001, eighteen months after Pantelidis completed construction, a neighbor filed a petition opposing the stairwell’s construction to BSA. BSA sided with the neighbor and revoked Pantelidis’ permit. (more…)

Two private developers applied to BSA for variances to build residential buildings on manufacturingzoned lots in Tribeca. At 415 Washington Street, Joseph Pell Lombardi applied to construct a nine-story, 56,010-square-foot residential building with a 6.02 FAR, exceeding floor area limits and necessitating a use variance. Located within the Tribeca North Historic District, the plan required Landmarks’ approval, which it granted in August 2006. 3 CityLand 125 (Sept. 15, 2006). Lombardi argued that as-of-right construction was infeasible due to high construction costs caused by the site’s location within a flood plain. The site has weak sandy soil, requires soil remediation and the developer must maintain support walls for adjacent buildings. Lombardi estimated that the site’s conditions would increase development costs by $1.9 million.

Tribeca residents and Community Board 1 opposed, arguing that the site’s construction difficulties failed to justify the large building size. The opposition requested that the building be limited to 46,520 sq.ft. (5 FAR). Lombardi submitted a revised proposal of 51,172 sq.ft. (5.5 FAR) and an analysis showing that a smaller building would be infeasible. (more…)

Development site is former Queens cemetery. Queens developer, AMF Machine Corporation, applied to BSA to construct a 201,633-squarefoot, 96-foot tall mixed-use building with 174 residential units in Corona, Queens. The proposed structure exceeded height limits by 46 feet and floor area limits by over 77,550 sq.ft. The development site, an oddly shaped, 14-sided, 62,041- square-foot lot, had street frontage along Corona Avenue and 90th Street, but a majority of the lot’s area stretched behind existing homes. The rear of the lot faced a LIRR right-of-way.

In support of its variance, AMF argued that the additional height and floor area would compensate for the added construction costs caused by the irregular lot. AMF also claimed that proximity to the LIRR, and the long corridors required by the site’s odd shape would significantly decrease the residential units’ value.

Queens Community Board 4 and neighborhood residents opposed, complaining that the building would overwhelm the two-story buildings adjacent to the site and any development on the site would potentially disturb remains from a Colonial-era cemetery once located on the site. (more…)

Senior housing to be constructed on Clove Road in Staten Island. Developers sought a variance from BSA for a three-story, 40-foot high, 34,542-square-foot senior housing facility at 908 Clove Road in Staten Island. The proposed senior residence exceeded total floor area, street wall height, total height, curb cut, and driveway width.

At BSA, the developers, R. Randy Lee and Frank Naso, argued that the site’s 603-foot distance from the nearest sewer connection significantly increased construction costs, and required additional floor area to recoup the cost. The developers estimated sewer construction costs at about $526,000. Additionally, because the lot was adjacent to a cemetery and monument shop, the developers claimed that it would not be possible to sell access rights to the sewer connection to other developers to compensate for its cost. (more…)