The cellar of the Bnos Menachem school to house a private onsite catering service and events. Bnos Menachem is a not-for-profit girls school with pre-school to seventh grade classes located in a residentially- zoned area of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. It sought a variance from BSA to allow a private, for-profit catering company, Ragzag, Inc., to operate from the school’s cellar. The caterer would operate after school hours and provide services to the school and the community with a total event capacity of 550 people. Outside events would be limited to forty percent of the total events each year.

The school argued that the manufacturing nature of its 33,646 sq.ft. building, originally used by a publishing company, made it unsuitable for residential uses. Noting that the catering business was permitted as-of-right on the other floors, the school argued that the cellar was unfit for the school’s classrooms. It also stressed its great financial need, explaining that families in the area could not afford high tuition costs. (read more…)