Directs the board of standards and appeals and the city planning commission in the city of New York to mail a copy of each application for and appeal of a variance to the city council member, borough president and state legislators for the affected land.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4278
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 7, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1
AN ACT to amend the New York city charter, in relation to requiring the
board of standards and appeals and the city planning commission of the
city of New York to provide a copy of each application for a variance
or special permit to the members of the city council and the state
assembly and the state senator in whose districts, and the president
of the borough in which the land, to which the application relates, is
located
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision c, and subdivisions d and e of
2 section 668 of the New York city charter, as amended by local law number
3 103 of the city of New York for the year 2017, are amended to read as
4 follows:
5 1. Each proposal or application shall be filed with the board of stan-
6 dards and appeals, which shall forward a copy within five days to the
7 community board for each community district in which the land involved,
8 or any part thereof, is located, and to the borough board if the
9 proposal or application involves land located in two or more districts
10 in a borough; and shall deliver, within five days, a copy thereof to
11 each member of the council, each member of the state assembly and each
12 state senator in whose district, and the president of the borough in
13 which the land involved is located.
14 d. The recommendation of a community board or borough board pursuant
15 to subdivision c of this section shall be filed with the board of stand-
16 ards and appeals and [a copy] copies sent to the city planning commis-
17 sion, and to each member of the council, each member of the state assem-
18 bly and each state senator in whose district, and the president of the
19 borough in which the land involved is located. The board of standards
20 and appeals shall conduct a public hearing and act on the proposed
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08646-01-3
S. 4278 2
1 application. All testimony delivered at a public hearing by the appli-
2 cant on the proposed application shall be sworn or affirmed under oath.
3 A decision of the board shall indicate whether each of the specific
4 requirements of the zoning resolution for the granting of variances has
5 been met and shall include findings of fact with regard to each such
6 requirement. When the board of standards and appeals grants or denies an
7 application for a variance or special permit, the board shall respond,
8 as applicable, to any relevant recommendation filed with such board by a
9 community board or borough board regarding such application. Inadvert-
10 ent failure to comply with the preceding sentence shall not result in
11 the invalidation of any board decision.
12 e. Copies of a decision of the board of standards and appeals and
13 copies of any recommendation of the affected community board or borough
14 board shall be filed with the city planning commission. Copies of the
15 decision shall also be filed with the affected community or borough
16 boards. In addition, copies of the decision shall be sent to each
17 member of the council, each member of the assembly and each state
18 senator in whose district, and the president of the borough in which the
19 land involved is located.
20 § 2. Subdivision b of section 669 of the New York city charter, such
21 section as designated by a vote of the people of the city of New York at
22 the general election held in November of 1975, is amended to read as
23 follows:
24 b. Such appeal may be taken within such time as shall be prescribed by
25 the board by general rule, by filing with the officer from whom the
26 appeal is taken and with the board a notice of appeal, specifying the
27 grounds thereof. The board shall deliver each notice of appeal so filed
28 within five days to each member of the council, each member of the state
29 assembly and each state senator in whose district, and the president of
30 the borough in which the land involved is located. The officer from whom
31 the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the board all the papers
32 constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
33 § 3. Subdivision a of section 201 of the New York city charter, as
34 amended by a vote of the people of the city of New York at the general
35 election held in November of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
36 a. Applications for changes in the zoning resolution may be filed by
37 any taxpayer, community board, borough board, borough president, by the
38 mayor or by the land use committee of the council if two-thirds of the
39 members of the committee shall have voted to approve such filing with
40 the city planning commission. The city planning commission shall deliv-
41 er each application so filed within five days to each member of the
42 council, each member of the state assembly and each state senator in
43 whose district, and the president of the borough in which the land
44 involved is located. All such applications involving changes in the
45 designation of zoning districts under the zoning resolution shall be
46 subject to review and approval pursuant to section one hundred ninety-
47 seven-c and one hundred ninety-seven-d of this chapter. For applica-
48 tions involving other changes in zoning resolutions and regulations, the
49 commission prior to taking action upon any such application shall refer
50 it to the affected community boards or borough boards for a public
51 hearing and recommendation.
52 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
53 have become a law, and shall apply to proposals and applications filed
54 with the board of standards and appeals and the city planning commission
55 of the city of New York on or after such date.
