South Park Slope Community Group

It is perhaps no surprise that Issac Katan’s attorneys, Howard Hornstein and Peter Geis of Cozen O’Connor, filed at the last moment on Friday, August 25, 2006, an Article 78 appeal with the New York State Supreme Court disputing the July 25, 2006 ruling by the Board of Standards and Appeals to not vest 182 15th Street under old R6 zoning.

The BSA had unanimously voted to deny vesting of this property due to a myriad of issues, most notably the misrepresentation of facts concerning illegal mechanical demolition.

The track record at this appelate court has been to uphold the BSA’s decisions, and the BSA has stated that they have a solid case. BSA confirmed the filing and said they would be “in court” by late September.

UPDATE: after pulling the decision from the case folder today, 09.11.06, we learned the BSA actually vested 1638 8th Ave. under their “A” application (vested rights) not their BZY (foundation complete) appeal. This would make more sense since the property was filed similarly as 400 15th St. and 639 6th Ave. which were already vested. The BSA found that a significant amount of $$ had been spent compared to the overall development budget. While they did not allow “soft costs” (legal fees, property acquisition, repairs to adjacent properties, etc) to reflect the final amount, but they did go back as far as 2003 financially. Still a bummer “Lake Windsor” was vested, regardless of the reason.

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On Tuesday, August 22, the Board of Standards and Appeals vested 1638 Eighth Ave., aka “Lake Windsor,” on substantial completion of foundation.

It was expected that this property would vest through its hardship appeal and not through its foundation completion appeal, as with 400 15th St. and 639 6th Ave. Both of those properties’ developers filed both BZY (foundation) and A (hardship) applications as well and were not found to have substantially complete foundations but financial hardship should the developer not be allowed to continue building under old R6 zoning.

The attorney representing all three properties, Deidre Carson of Greenberg Traurig, cited 400 and 639 in all her submissions for 1638 as precedence for the granting of common law vesting of 1638 Eighth Ave., hence speculation that the property would be granted common law vesting.

Six down with one win, one to go (614 7th on Sept 12).

Developer’s Attorneys Submits “Mystery Set” of Architectural Plans at 11th Hour

On Friday, August 11, 2006, the Board of Standards and Appeals received a last-ditch effort by the developer’s attorneys to derail the final vesting decision set for Tuesday, August 15. A third “mystery set” of plans for the property “approved” by the DOB on September 1, 2005 has apparently been found. The applicant’s attorney is claiming the DOB audited the “wrong set of plans,” which resulted in a revocation of the work order on November 3, 2005. The only set of architectural plans on file at the DOB are a set approved August 30, 2005. Which plans are the “right” ones?

The developer’s attorneys would like the BSA to believe the DOB mishandled the audit of the original selfcertified plans by architect Robert Scarano by auditing a “wrong set” of plans. The ONLY plans on file and microfilmed at DOB are dated August 30, 2005. How could DOB have audited the “wrong set of plans” if the August 30 plans were THE ONLY ONES ON FILE TO AUDIT?

JOIN US AT THE BSA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2006 AT 40 RECTOR STREET, 6TH FLOOR FOR ANOTHER EXTENSION TO THIS HEARING. DOB AND PUBLIC COMMENTS WILL BE HEARD.

NOTE: Public comment should be limited to this NEW development ONLY. Please bring 7 copies of your testimony for submission. You must have valid ID to enter the building.

UPDATE: DOB submits testimony to the BSA on August 22 that deems the “mystery plans” invalid since they never were properly filed as a PAA (post approval amenment) with the DOB. No plans were filed. No microfilm submitted. No dues paid by the architect. No mas! This gives the BSA rock solid amunition to say “no to vesting” for 614 7th Ave. Final decison date is set for Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006.

On Tuesday, August 15, The BSA will give its final decision on the vesting application for 614 7th Ave. The final submission from the DOB recommends that the BSA ignore any work done from the issuance of work permits through the final audit on Nov. 15, 2005…one day before the rezoning. they contend the original self-certified plans submitted by Robert Scarano were faulty and would never had valid permits issued if they had gone through the normal process. While the developer claims their foundation is 86% complete, DOB’s final assessment will render only 3 hours of work allowable. We are very hopeful the BSA will decide against vesting and set another precedent “that illegal activity, whether it work or faulty plans, will not be tolerated.”

Hearing time is set for 10:00 AM, 40 Rector Street, 6th Floor.

At its Tuesday, August 8, 2006 hearing, the Board of Standards and Appeals granted vestment to the appealing developer of 422 Prospect Ave. The construction of this property can now continue under R5 zoning, which was changed on November 16, 2005 to R5B.

This leaves two properties in our area awaiting vesting decisions: 614 7th Ave. (the “Minerva Building”), with a decision date of next Tuesday, August 15, and 1638 Eighth Ave. (“Lake Windsor”), with a decision date of Tuesday, August 22. Only one of a total of seven properties in South Slope/Greenwood Hts. seeking vestment under old zoning–182 15th St. (“Katan Towers”)–has so far been turned down by the BSA in a huge victory for our neighborhood.