Requires that variance and special permit decisions made by the board of standards and appeals be made by a two-thirds majority of the quorum present and voting.

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S319-2013 Actions

• Jan 9, 2013: REFERRED TO CITIES

S319-2013 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S319

TITLE OF BILL:               REVISED 12/10/12

An act
to amend the New York city charter, in relation to requiring the
variance and special permit decisions made by the board of standards and
appeals be made by a two-thirds majority of the quorum present and
voting

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill sets forth the legislative findings and intent
of the bill.

Section 2 amends subdivision b of section 668 of the New York city
charter, as added by local law number 102 of the city of New York for
the year 1977, by requiring that variance and special permit
decisions shall only be made by a two-thirds majority of the quorum
present and voting.

Section 3 provides for this act to take effect immediately.

JUSTIFICATION:

This bill is being introduced as a companion piece of legislation to a
proposed local law to expand the membership of the Board of Standards
and Appeals (UBSA") to thirteen members, with the eight additional
members to be appointed, one each, by the borough presidents, Public
Advocate, Comptroller and City Council. Therefore, should the
membership of the BSA be increased to 13, this legislation to require
a two-third majority vote will not create a difficult mandate.

The justification for this amendment is based on the understanding
that decisions of this nature - zoning decisions - represent
permanent alterations to the fabric of the city and can affect the
rights of many property owners for years to come.

Therefore, it is reasonable that zoning decisions made by BSA should
only be done where there is a two-thirds majority of the quorum
present and voting.

This will ensure that decisions of such magnitude are addressed by a
substantial majority of the BSA.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2011-12:  S.6105/A.9197 (Brennan)

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:


This act shall take effect immediately.

S319-2013 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                     319

                         2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                                 (PREFILED)

                               January 9, 2013
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sen.  AVELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
    printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities

  AN ACT to amend the New York city charter, in relation to requiring  the
    variance  and  special permit decisions made by the board of standards
    and appeals be made by a two-thirds majority of the quorum present and
    voting

    THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section  1.  Declaration of legislative findings and intent. This bill
  is a companion to the proposed amendment to the New  York  city  charter
  that  adds eight additional members to the New York city board of stand-
  ards and appeals to be appointed by the other major  election  officials
  in  the  city government, the borough presidents, public advocate, comp-
  troller and city council. The legislature finds  that  zoning  decisions
  represent permanent alterations to the fabric of the city and can affect
  the  rights  of  many property owners for years to come. As such, zoning
  decisions made by the New York  city  board  of  standards  and  appeals
  should  only  occur  when  there  is a two-thirds majority of the quorum
  present and voting.
    S 2. Subdivision b of section 668 of the New  York  city  charter,  as
  amended  by  local  law  number 102 of the city of New York for the year
  1977, is amended to read as follows:

    b. The recommendation of a community board or borough  board  pursuant
  to subdivision a of this section shall be filed with the board of stand-
  ards  and  appeals  and a copy sent to the city planning commission. The
  board of standards and appeals shall conduct a public hearing and act on
  the proposed application.  A decision of the board shall indicate wheth-
  er each of the specific requirements of the zoning  resolution  for  the
  granting  of  variances  has been met and shall include findings of fact
  with regard to each such requirement,  AND  SHALL  ONLY  BE  MADE  BY  A
  TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY OF THE QUORUM PRESENT AND VOTING.
    S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD03387-01-3