Owner claimed that narrow lot could not accommodate a financially feasible manufacturing use. The owner of 133 Taaffe Place in Brooklyn applied to BSA for a use variance to construct a four-story, three-unit residential building on a vacant lot zoned for light manufacturing. The lot had once been occupied by a residential building that was demolished in 1994 due to fire damage. The owner’s initial proposal called for a 6,073 sq.ft. building with a fifteen- foot backyard on a lot 25 feet wide and 83 feet deep. During the hearing process, the owner reduced the plan to reflect a 4,571 sq.ft. building with a 30-foot backyard.

At BSA, the owner claimed the lot would not accommodate a conforming use because it was too narrow for a loading dock and too small for floor plates suitable for a commercial or manufacturing use that would provide a reasonable economic return. The owner submitted evidence demonstrating that conforming uses in the surrounding areas were located on larger lots. Five lots within 400 feet of the site had conforming uses and widths of 25 feet or less, but all five were deeper than the owner’s property. An adjacent property owner to the rear of the site expressed concerns about potential impacts from excavation work near the rear lot line.

BSA granted the variance. BSA found that because of the lot’s size, the owner could not develop a conforming use that would provide a reasonable return. Noting that the lot was surrounded by a mix of uses, including a residential building to the south and a mixed-use building to the north, BSA also found that an additional residential building would not alter the neighborhood’s character.

BSA: 133 Taaffe Place, Brooklyn (28- 09-BZ) (June 8, 2010) (Moshe M. Friedman, for owner).