By:Doug Miller
Sun America's original application called for 64 condos units in a five-story building with a parking garage at 125 E. Broadway, but the city's Zoning Board of Appeals granted a variance for only 50 units, and insisted that the building be 40 feet narrower than originally proposed. The variance passed by a vote of 6-0, with one member absent.
The appeal was filed July 23 under article 78 of the state of New York's Civil Practice Law and Rules, which allows aggrieved citizens the right to appeal zoning variances they feel are detrimental to their quality of life. A decision is due this month
In their appeal, the neighbors claim the ZBA did not give them equal time to respond to Sun America's presentation, did not consider the environmental impact of the project and ignored the overall feeling of the community.
The appeal was filed by Long Beach attorney Howard Fishman. It also alleges that the ZBA was denied access to a letter from City Council President James Hennessy, Vice President Tom Sofield, Councilwoman Mona Goodman and Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford urging the ZBA to deny the petition. The four politicians were elected in 2003 on an anti-overdevelopment platform.
The letter was sent to the editor of the Long Beach Herald and published before the variance was granted, and a copy was sent to ZBA Chairman Dr. Rocco Morelli. Fishman alleged in his filing that the letter did not appear in the ZBA's files and was therefore withheld by counsel.
The ZBA's counsel, Charles Theofan, said he knows the letter was given to the ZBA members, and that if it did not appear in the file, it was an oversight.
Call for an end to rent control
The attorney for several Long Beach landlords whose court victory in the rent control matter was overturned by an Appellate Court two weeks ago fired back at Theofan - who is also the city's attorney and its acting city manager - saying that while the court ruled there was no basis to award the landlords damages, the city was "obligated under statute to declare the [rent] regulation emergency at an end" and therefore to cease rent stabilization procedures in his clients' buildings.
State rent regulations stipulate that if the supply of apartment vacancies exceeds 5 percent in those buildings, the buildings can no longer be subject to rent control. The city accused several landlords in 1996 of hoarding empty apartments by keeping them off the market in order to duck rent control. The landlords sued and ultimately won damages of $6.2 million, an amount the city was ill-prepared to pay, but the award was overturned last month.
The attorney, Herbert Rubin, represents the owners of buildings involved in the case: 854 and 860 East Broadway, known as the Executive Towers; 630 Shore Road, 465 Shore Road; 25 Franklin Blvd.; and 10 Monroe Blvd. Rubin said he has filed for re-argument and would "love to see the appellate division hear us again."
Rubin argued that the city was hurting itself by pursuing rent stabilization, since "creating substantial tax refunds payable to these owners [comes] at the expense of taxpaying homeowners."
The city's case is that setting aside whether the vacancy rate had achieved critical mass, the statute does not provide for monetary damages.
"We believe that the court did establish the fact that damages were not an available remedy," Theofan said. "We were victorious in the first, and we believe we will prevail in the second case."
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