The unprecedented, 39-sided gerrymandered zoning lot for 200 Amsterdam Avenue.
GO to the Hearing: Tues, June 25th, 10am Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street
In March, the New York State Supreme Court, ruling on an Appeal by the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development and the Municipal Art Society alleging that the developers abused zoning rules, overruled the city’s decision to allow a permit for 200 Amsterdam Avenue.
The judge vacated and annulled the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) July 2018 decision OK’ing the original Department of Building’s issuance of permits to SJP Properties, the developer of 200 Amsterdam, and ordered the case back to the BSA “to review DOB’s approval of the building permit application in accordance with the plain language of the Zoning Resolution.”
That review — and the public’s chance to see how the city might defend an unprecedented 39-sided zoning lot that the DOB itself has said should never have been allowed — is TOMORROW.
There’s more: The Court also rejected the developer’s argument that just because DOB originally issued the permit, it was therefore entitled to complete the building. Not so fast, said the Court: “Vested rights cannot be acquired by relying on an invalid permit.”
SO, the BSA is under orders to “start fresh” and re-evaluate the permit–this time, it is hoped, without allowing creative manipulation of loopholes in the Zoning Resolution.
AT ISSUE: What constitutes a legal zoning lot.
AT STAKE: The allowable height of a building. (And public integrity…)
AVAILABLE TOOLS: “the plain language of the Zoning Resolution.”
GO WITNESS THE HEARING as the Municipal Art Society and CESD make their case again and the BSA makes their decision:
Tuesday, June 25th at 10:00am
The Board of Standards and Appeals
Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street (Just north of Municipal Bldg)
Open to the public, but no public statements will be heard.