Developer obtains a 35-space reduction based on soil conditions. Anthony Racanelli, owner of 23,564- square-foot lot fronting Forest and Decker Avenues in Staten Island, proposed to demolish an abandoned gas station on the site and replace it with a two-story drug store, triggering a 74-space, on-site parking requirement. Racanelli applied to BSA to reduce the parking requirement to 39 spaces, arguing that, due to the site’s poor soil conditions and high ground water levels, it … <Read More>
Board of Standards & Appeals
Extension granted to construct 3-family home
Permit grandfathered due to completed excavation and substantial progress made on foundation. On May 10, 2005, BSA granted a permit extension, which allowed work to continue on the development of a 3,037-square-foot, three-story, three-family dwelling located at 1420 Balcom Avenue in Schuylerville, Bronx that exceeded the zoning requirements set by a 2004 rezoning of the area.
On September 28, 2004, the City Council approved a 295-block rezoning in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx … <Read More>
Parking lot approved for Queens residential district
Residential uses found infeasible due to the site’s odd shape and Astoria Boulevard frontage. Showky Kaldawy, owner of four vacant lots in East Elmhurst, sought a variance to allow his residentially-zoned lots to be used as a 33-space accessory parking lot for an adjacent rental car company. Three of the four lots comprising the 17,866 square-foot site front 110th Street, and the fourth fronts Astoria Boulevard, one of Queens’ major commercial arteries.
Kaldawy argued that … <Read More>
Owner withdraws application to legalize lofts
Owner converted manufacturing building into residential units. La Perst LLC, owner of a four-story building located at 260 Moore Street in an M1-2 manufacturing district of East Williamsburg, sought to legalize forty residential units in a previously vacant building that had been used for commercial and manufacturing purposes. The owner converted the building into residential units in 2003 contrary to the permissible manufacturing use under the zoning text.
In its application to BSA, La Perst … <Read More>
East side tower allowed to reduce plaza area
Plaza was larger than required to support the increased FAR incorporated into the 36-story building. Akam Associates, owner of 300 East 74th Street, sought to amend a 1966 variance that had granted additional floors for a 36-story mixed-use building currently standing on the site. The variance contained a plaza bonus, allowing an increase in floor area in exchange for creating a street-level public plaza. The zoning allows a maximum FAR of 10, but the building’s … <Read More>
BSA rejects owners request for rehearing
Applicant claimed new evidence of increased remediation cost. Basile Builders Group applied to BSA for a rehearing on a variance, denied in 2002, for a residential development at 2353 Cropsey Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. The original application sought to construct a four-story, 45-foot tall residential building that would have exceeded size, lot coverage and height restrictions and failed to provide sufficient open space or side yards. In its denial, BSA found that Basile failed to … <Read More>