Walmart Archive II

 

NYC Zoning Variance Procedures

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In NYC, a development project starts when the project conforms to current zoning requirements, and the development group fills out the paperwork for the building department permits along with architectural plans. 

 

While no community involvement occurs, the term “as of rights”, refers to such a process. 
 

If the Building Department of NYC has issue with the plans, the development process moves to the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA).

 

The landowner of the development project will fill an application if the following exceptions become involved:

• Variances

• Special Permits

• Rights to continue Construction/Vested Rights

• Extension and modification to Previous BSA Grants

• General City Law Waivers

• Appeals

 

Essentially the owner is asking the BSA to modify or waive the zoning variances due to economic hardship associated with completing the project under the current zoning laws.
 

Variance  - Section 72-21 of the Zoning Resolution has specific criteria in order to file a variance.
 

Special Permits - Section 73-01 refers to the authorization of special building uses such as physical culture establishments, eating & drinking establishments on commercial and/or manufacturing zones to name a few requirements for NYC.
 

Rights to continue Construction/Vested rights – Section 11-331, the landowner has invested substantial amount of monies already in the existing project, and is claiming hardship if asked to build under the new zoning laws.
 

Extension and modification to Previous BSA Grants – Section 11-441, 11-412, and 11-413 allows the landowner to extend the existing variance if no changes have been made to mitigate the previous variance.
 

General City laws Waivers – refer to Section 35 & 36 of NYS General City Law and are related to very specific situations in development of land projects.
 

Section 35 focuses on a landowner needing access to the street normally not permitted due to a reduced or negative value with their land.
 

Section 36 deals with the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy for the front of a building not facing the designated street. 

 

If the changes to the development cause undue hardship, this law could be waived.
Appeals – Section 72-11 allows the BSA to decide appeal decisions by the Department of Buildings or any other city agency that oversees land use or building structures.
 

The zoning and special order applicants are required to make copies for the following groups:

• Local Community Board

• Borough President

• Councilmember

• Department of City Planning

 

The applicant will meet with the various groups and discuss the changes.  The above groups have to be notified 20 days in advance of a scheduled public hearing.
If a variance is required for the acquisition or disposition of city owned land, the Unified Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) process is used.

Involved steps:

• Filling of Application

• Certification

• Community Board Review

• Borough President Review

• City planning Commission Review

• City Council Review

• Mayoral Review

 

The entire process is scheduled to be completed 50 days from the filling of the application. Yet the City Council can override the veto of the mayor by a two thirds majority. The community board participation is strictly advisory in both BSA and ULURP procedures. This is a very powerful process that informs the community of the development implications for their community. If the development project operates in the “as of rights” method, the community has to monitor the activities of the Department of Buildings.

 

Some community-friendly developers will present their plans to the community board as a courtesy. Communities have to constantly review the zoning laws of the area as new changes can drastically alter existing situations. The zoning laws are in place to protect the integrity of the community.

 

Youth Hidden From Superstore Effects

 

Large and impressive, like Beyonce. That’s the first impression many neighborhood youth carry when thinking of a superstore.
 

Young folks like them because they are big, according to Billali Karreim, from the Youth Services for Queens Community Board 12. 
 

Do many young people think of an economic importance? Superstores have big selections and are usually very cheap. Besides the cost, those stores offer convenience so the young person doesn’t have to go outside the neighborhood.
 

However, when the youth looks deeper at how the stores have an impact on them, many stated those stores fail to provide decent jobs.

 

Employment usually comes as low-level jobs, or the youth are underpaid with no health insurance or real benefits, according to Karreim.

 

Young people focus on fitting in with school and family life so often they don’t see what happens to smaller stores that are displaced by mega ones.

 

Some young folks really like local stores because they have better customer service, Karreim pointed out. Yet those smaller stores cannot compete with the super store prices.

Prices become so crucial that young people often feel forced to go to other communities where product selections are better even in the same brand name stores.
 

How does the young person think about the ethics of superstores? They do not understand the relationship between the store and their lives until they start applying for a job, Karreim explained. Then the youngster might place items on a shelf from another country and realize the same group of people who manages him could represent cheap goods from overseas' workers.
 

Young people could be better educated about superstores. They want to help the local stores, but sometimes those owners do not understand the culture of the community, Karreim warned. If the local merchants were of the same culture, maybe relationships would keep the youth in the smaller, neighborhood stores.
 

Leadership Can Help Youth

 

With such an environment, those young people have become desensitized to the superstore use of sweatshops in how the supply chain works. In the minds of the youth, those sweatshops are out of sight and out of mind.
 

The local community could reach out to show how superstores relate to youth. We have to teach them how things work, and how to make the changes, according to Karreim. We need to show them how to start their own businesses.

 

Employment usually comes as low-level jobs, or the youth are underpaid with no health insurance or real benefits, according to Karreim.

 

Young people focus on fitting in with school and family life so often they don’t see what happens to smaller stores that are displaced by mega ones.

 

Some young folks really like local stores because they have better customer service, Karreim pointed out. Yet those smaller stores cannot compete with the super store prices.

Prices become so crucial that young people often feel forced to go to other communities where product selections are better even in the same brand name stores.
 

How does the young person think about the ethics of superstores? They do not understand the relationship between the store and their lives until they start applying for a job, Karreim explained. Then the youngster might place items on a shelf from another country and realize the same group of people who manages him could represent cheap goods from overseas' workers.
 

Employment usually comes as low-level jobs, or the youth are underpaid with no health insurance or real benefits, according to Karreim.

 

Young people focus on fitting in with school and family life so often they don’t see what happens to smaller stores that are displaced by mega ones.

 

Some young folks really like local stores because they have better customer service, Karreim pointed out. Yet those smaller stores cannot compete with the super store prices.

Prices become so crucial that young people often feel forced to go to other communities where product selections are better even in the same brand name stores.
 

How does the young person think about the ethics of superstores? They do not understand the relationship between the store and their lives until they start applying for a job, Karreim explained. Then the youngster might place items on a shelf from another country and realize the same group of people who manages him could represent cheap goods from overseas' workers.
 

Young people could be better educated about superstores. They want to help to local stores, but sometimes those owners do not understand the culture of the community, Karreim warned. If the local merchants were of the same culture, maybe relationships would keep the youth in the smaller, neighborhood stores.
 

With such an environment, those young people have become desensitized to the superstore use of sweatshops in how the supply chain works. In the minds of the youth, those sweatshops are out of sight and out of mind.
 

The local community could reach out to show how superstores relate to youth. We have to teach them how things work, and how to make the changes, according to Karreim. We need to show them how to start their own businesses.

 

Young people could be better educated about superstores. They want to help to local stores, but sometimes those owners do not understand the culture of the community, Karreim warned. If the local merchants were of the same culture, maybe relationships would keep the youth in the smaller, neighborhood stores.

 

With such an environment, those young people have become desensitized to the superstore use of sweatshops in how the supply chain works. In the minds of the youth, those sweatshops are out of sight and out of mind.
 

The local community could reach out to show how superstores relate to youth. We have to teach them how things work, and how to make the changes, according to Karreim. We need to show them how to start their own businesses.

 

Techniques to Learn About the Opposition

 

Writing uses the same analytical skills that community people rely on to plan strategies for development. As a writer covering the Walmart news, I required an examination of each part of the issue in the same manner as a community activist views stages in a local advocacy campaign.



The process-

[1 Find a change transforming the area

 

[2 See who becomes affected the most

 

[3 Discover the size of the opposition 

 

[4 Weigh solution options.

 

First, any news strikes because a change has hit a group of people. With Walmart, protests over the past few years struck a nerve as heightened emotions reacted to Walmart’s growth into areas once used by smaller stores

​As part of that change, a following step required writing information to deal with how the local community or audience would be affected.

 

The information becomes relevant only when we learn about the size of the problem. 
 

That means defining the background of the company like Walmart, or the development plan for a neighborhood.

 

That background information should ask for some knowledge on the track record of similar events.

 

What happened when others encountered the same problem? How did the proponents of the opposition move to further an agenda?

Somewhere in the process, the research will locate glimmers of a solution and those glimmers can be applied to specific neighborhood issues.

 

That glimmer can spark a new direction.

All that’s needed then is the flint from the desire of the reader or the community to respond to the information.​