QUESTION
What is the process and cost for an individual business owner to change their business's zoning to be compliant with the law?
2:43:33
·
127 sec
Director Garodnick explains that for a business owner to change their zoning to be compliant, it would require a lengthy and expensive multi-year process.
- The business owner would need to hire a lawyer and go through an environmental review
- An area-wide zoning change would need to be proposed, requiring approvals from the community board, borough president, City Planning Commission and City Council
- The property owner must be the applicant proposing the zoning change, not the business owner if they are a tenant
- The process would likely take several years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
Keith Powers
2:43:33
So if I was a business owner and I was 1 in on one of those blocks where it'd be restricted and down the block is the one where they get to play by a whole different set of rules.
2:43:42
I identify a location.
2:43:43
I get my liquor license permit.
2:43:45
I find out, oops, I can't do this and just to be safe.
2:43:48
I wanna be make sure I'm in compliance of the law.
2:43:51
Don't wanna lose my license or my building.
2:43:53
What is the what would be the process then as an
Dan Garodnick
2:43:55
individual business owner I would have to go through in order to be compliant.
2:44:01
So if you found yourself without any changes here, So without rationalizing a C1C2 or C4C7, if you found yourself in a business area where you are not able to conduct the business that you otherwise were intending to do, you would have to hire a lawyer.
2:44:20
You would have to go through a process including environmental review.
2:44:25
If an avenue at the board of standards appeals were somehow available to you because of a hardship.
2:44:30
That could be a path.
2:44:30
Otherwise, you would need to propose an area wide change of zoning to change the commercial overlay, for example, that you are in to a more sympathetic set of rules to allow you to be able to operate.
2:44:44
And, of course, with that comes visit to the community board, the borough president, city planning commission, and, of course, to the council at the end of the day, the cost of probably several years of time and several $100,000.
2:44:55
Okay.
Keith Powers
2:44:55
You asked my second question, the time and the cost of doing that.
2:44:57
In fact, I'd have to hold the property perhaps, as a leaseholder until I actually get that approval, is a is a tendant allowed to be an applicant to the city planning, or would I require the property owner to have to bring forward the application?
Dan Garodnick
2:45:13
The property owner has to be the applicants, but let me double check and make sure that there's no circumstance in which somebody else could propose.
Keith Powers
2:45:22
So it is essentially, in my view, impractical.
2:45:25
That unless you are the property owner or own in your the ground floor retail as well, that wants to do a nightlife establishment or a try and be in full compliance with the law, it feels very impractical to me.
2:45:37
Do you agree with that?
Dan Garodnick
2:45:38
No.
2:45:38
That's right.
Keith Powers
2:45:39
Okay.