UOB Realty (USA) Ltd. v. Chin

291 A.D.2d 248, 736 N.Y.S.2d 874, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1400

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: February 7, 2002
• Status: Published

Opinion

—Determination of respondent New York City Board of Standards and Appeals, dated August 8, 2000, which granted respondent building owner’s application for a variance, unanimously confirmed, the petition denied and the proceeding brought pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this Court by order of the Supreme Court, New York County [William Davis, J.], entered November 9, 2000), dismissed, without costs.

The Board’s finding that the minimum variance necessary to remedy the subject premises’ inefficient elevator service is a new elevator bank to be contained in an external tower in the building’s rear yard is supported by substantial evidence of a unique physical condition rendering it impractical to install a new elevator bank in the premises’ interior space, namely, the construction of a large portion of the premises on pilings. We reject petitioners’ contention that the requirement of “unique physical conditions” in New York City Zoning Resolution § 72-21 (a) refers only to land and not buildings (cf., eg., Matter of SoHo Alliance v New York City Bd. of Stds. & Appeals, 95 NY2d 437, 440-441). We have considered petitioners’ other arguments and find them unavailing. Concur — Williams, J.P., Saxe, Ellerin, Lemer and Friedman, JJ.