Mainstreet Makeover 2, Inc. v. Meenakshi Srinivasan

55 A.D.3d 910, 866 N.Y.S.2d 706
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedOctober 28, 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 55 A.D.3d 910 (Mainstreet Makeover 2, Inc. v. Meenakshi Srinivasan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mainstreet Makeover 2, Inc. v. Meenakshi Srinivasan, 55 A.D.3d 910, 866 N.Y.S.2d 706 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review a determination of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York dated December 13, 2005, made after a hearing, which denied an appeal from a determination of the Staten Island Borough Commissioner of the Department of Buildings of the City of New York dated April 22, 2005, denying the petitioner’s request to lift a “hold” placed upon its building [911]*911permit application, Meenakshi Srinivasan, Satish K. Babbar, and. James Chin, constituting the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York, and the Department of Buildings of the City of New York appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Richmond County (Gigante, J.), dated November 17, 2006, which granted the petition, annulled the determination, and directed the Department of Buildings of the City of New York to renew the “current permits for alterations and allowing completion of the home at the subject site.”

Ordered that the judgment is modified, on the law, (1) by deleting the provision thereof granting that branch of the petition which was to annul so much of the determination of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York dated December 13, 2005, as denied the appeal from so much of the determination of the Staten Island Borough Commissioner of the Department of Buildings dated April 22, 2005, interpreting the applicable zoning regulations to include a certain retaining wall within the definition of “structure,” and thus to include the construction of the retaining wall within the definition of a “development” pursuant to New York City Zoning Resolution § 12-10, consequently making it subject to City Planning Commission approval, and substituting therefor a provision denying that branch of the petition and confirming that portion of the determination of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York, and (2) by deleting the provision thereof directing the Department of Buildings of the City of New York to renew the “current permits for alterations and allowing completion of the home at the subject site”; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York for further proceedings in accordance herewith.

In November 2002 the petitioner sought and received approval from the Department of Buildings of the City of New York (hereinafter the DOB) of its pre-consideration request to “enlarge the existing house [on the subject premises] and to replace and relocate the existing square footage so as to be in compliance with existing zoning and to upgrade the structural integrity of the structure.” Upon receiving such approval, the petitioner filed a site alteration permit application describing the project as a “[h]orizontal and vertical enlargement as well as a relocation of existing square footage.” The petitioner submitted plans along with the application which proposed a complete demolition of the existing building and construction of a new building on a different portion of the lot. The DOB ap[912]*912proved, the site alteration permit on March 3, 2003, and issued it on March 4, 2003. Thereafter, the petitioner demolished the existing structure, leveled an existing steep slope on the property, constructed a 130-foot by 15-foot retaining wall along the property line, and began construction of a new three-story building on a previously-undeveloped portion of the lot.

On May 18, 2004, following an inspection of the premises, the DOB issued a “notice of violation and hearing” (hereinafter the notice) to the petitioner, in which it asserted that the work was being performed without a demolition permit in violation of Administrative Code of the City of New York § 27-147. The notice stated, in pertinent part, “work without permit. . . (Demo[lition]) ... 3 st[ory] [new building] was in progress: work was done under Alt Permit (Horizontal and vertical enlargement of existing house) ... no visual confirmation of existing house being in place.”

On June 9, 2004, the DOB placed a “hold” on the original building permit, apparently determining that the petitioner should have sought a new building permit for the work being performed. On October 13, 2004, the City of New York Environmental Control Board dismissed the notice upon a finding by an administrative law judge that the DOB’s approval of the preconsideration application in 2002 obviated the need for a demolition permit.

By letter to the New York City Department of City Planning (hereafter the DCP) dated November 16, 2004, the petitioner requested confirmation that the erection of a retaining wall is neither a “site alteration” nor a “development” as defined by New York City Zoning Resolution (hereafter ZR) § 105-01, and accordingly, that such work does not require the filing of an application with the New York City Planning Commission (hereafter CPC) pursuant to ZR 105-021. In response, by letter dated February 2, 2005, the DCP denied the petitioner’s request. Specifically, the DCP determined that construction of the retaining wall was a “development” for the purposes of ZR 105-40 because the retaining wall met the definition of a “structure” within the meaning of ZR 12-10. Therefore, the DCP concluded that the construction of the retaining wall required CPC approval.

The petitioner subsequently requested that the DOB remove the “hold” status so that the building permit could be renewed and reinstated. On April 22, 2005, the Staten Island Borough Commissioner of the DOB denied the petitioner’s request on the ground, in effect, that the DCP determined that the petitioner must obtain CPC approval pursuant to ZR 105-40.

[913]*913The petitioner appealed the April 22, 2005, determination to the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York (hereinafter the BSA), again seeking to have the “hold” status removed so that the building permit could be renewed and reinstated.

On October 7, 2005, during the pendency of the BSA appeal, the DOB sent the petitioner a “notice of intent to revoke approval and permit” pursuant to Administrative Code of the City of New York § 27-197 on the ground that the pre-consideration request contained a misrepresentation of fact such that it was erroneously presented as a basis for the issuance of the altération permit; final revocation was stayed by the DOB pending the outcome of the BSA appeal.

On December 13, 2005, after a hearing and upon accepting submissions by the parties, by a vote of zero in favor and three in opposition to the appeal, the BSA adopted a resolution which, in pertinent part, found that (1) the DOB’s application of the relevant definitions to the construction of the dwelling and wall at the premises was correct, and (2) the DOB’s refusal to lift the “hold” and reinstate the permit and application approval for failure to submit the proposal to the CPC was an appropriate exercise of its jurisdiction. Specifically, the BSA found that the construction of the new residence and the retaining wall each independently satisfied the definition of “development” under ZR 12-10, such that CPC approval was required for the construction of both the new residence and the retaining wall pursuant to ZR 105-40.

The petitioner commenced the instant proceeding against the BSA and the DOB pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review the BSA determination.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
55 A.D.3d 910, 866 N.Y.S.2d 706, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mainstreet-makeover-2-inc-v-meenakshi-srinivasan-nyappdiv-2008.