Developer gets an earful at appeals hearing

By Manny Grossman

The Cannon Place developer who has been trying unsuccessfully for years to construct out-of-zone homes in Van Courtlandt Village once again came up against stiff community opposition.

Six community leaders and neighbors gave impassioned testimony against developer Ismael Fernandez's project on Dec. 4 at the first of two Board of Standards and Appeals hearings that will determine whether construction can proceed or if the semi-built structure will have to be torn down.

Citing "undue hardship," Adam Rothkrug, a lawyer for Mr. Fernandez, argued for a variance that would allow his client to continue to build three attached two-family houses at 3880, 3882 and 3884 Cannon Place. The current zoning designation allows only single- and two-family detached homes.

Mr. Fernandez's previous lawyer argued unsuccessfully for a variance at Community Board 8's land use committee meeting in June. He was unanimously denied, and the matter was sent to the Board of Standards and Appeals.

The wooden skeleton of a three-family attached home has stood untouched since 2004, when watchful neighbors contacted the city Department of Buildings about the out-of-zone structure. Since then Mr. Fernandez has been trying to re-start construction by winning a variance.

At the recent BSA meeting, Mr. Rothkrug argued that the expense of blasting thousands of tons of bedrock from the site raised the cost of building so much that Mr. Fernandez will only turn a profit if he is allowed to continue building.

But activists charge that the zoning laws in the neighborhood were changed a full year before Mr. Fernandez submitted his development plans, and that any hardship was self-created. They also claim that Mr. Fernandez built the structure in direct contradiction to plans that were submitted to the Buildings Department, a violation which resulted in multiple stop-work orders.

"Mr. Fernandez bought an obviously difficult-to-build site, and now wishes for a variance from the zoning resolution because it is expensive to build on such a site," said Lynn Schwartz, vice president of the Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association. She said the building should be torn down and replaced with a legal structure.

"The developer wants the BSA to give them a handout," said Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who also testified at the hearing. "They broke the rules. Either they knew they were breaking the rules, which shows intent, or they didn't, which means they're incompetent."

The BSA will hold the next hearing on Jan. 29, and a verdict is expected then.

Mr. Dinowitz said he's "reasonably confident" the BSA will "do the right thing" and deny the request for the variance.

"If the BSA allows it to stand, that would render the new zoning rules useless because this is the first test," Mr. Dinowitz added.

This is part of the December 13, 2007 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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