The New York City Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) granted an amendment to a 1963 zoning ordinance to allow the College of St. Francis Xavier to merge its zoning lot with an adjacent lot owned by the Clothing Workers Center Incorporated. In upholding the Board’s decision, the appellate found that there was a rational basis for the determination that the request to modify sought only a minor modification of the previously approved variance and that it did not change any of the conditions of the 1963 variance pertinent to the building and side and rear yards authorized by that variance. Further, the Court noted that the Board determined that no new non-compliance would be created as a result of the lot merger. Therefore, the BSA’s decision to consider the variance as amended without conducting a new analysis under the Zoning Resolution, since the requirements contained therein had already been satisfied, was not arbitrary or capricious. Lastly, because the BSA’s approval was ministerial in nature, it was not an “action” subject to environmental review.
Fisher v New York City Board of Standards and Appeals, 2010 WL 815281 (N.Y.A.D. 1 Dept. 3/11/2010).
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2010/2010_01893.htm
