NY State Senate Bill 2015-S688

Senate Bill S688

2015-2016 Legislative Session

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

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Cities Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2016	referred to cities
Jan 07, 2015	referred to cities

2015-S688 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Cities
Law Section:: New York City Charter
Laws Affected:: Amd §668, NYC Chart
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S6105
2013-2014: S319
2017-2018: S1545

2015-S688 (ACTIVE) - Summary

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.

2015-S688 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S688

 TITLE OF BILL :  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 669 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 ("BSA") 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
2013-14, S.319

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.

2015-S688 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                   688

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2015
                               ___________

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.
                                                           LBD00308-01-5

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