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May 22, 2009
2 Family Conundrum
Hi Everyone, I'm considering a house in the PLG "Manor" that is recorded with the city as a 1 family house, but I would like to share the purchase with a friend of mine and create two separate residences. I wonder if it would be possible to change the status of the house to a 2 family, and how difficult such a process might be. Any advice would be appreciated. The two adjacent buildings (which from the street appear to be identical) are recorded with the city as 2 families.
Comments
If it is one house that you would be sharing and that house is in the historic district, then you cannot change the deed to a two family. These houses have a single family restriction that dates back to when the Lefferts family allowed the land to be developed.
Your post says something about two adjecent houses, so I'm a little confused.
Posted by: dt at May 21, 2009 10:22 PM
sorry, I meant adjacent.
Posted by: dt at May 21, 2009 10:23 PM
Hi dt,
If this is so, then how come 2 families exist on both sides of the house in question?
Posted by: professorlonghair at May 21, 2009 10:47 PM
IIRC there are several houses in Lefferts Manor that were somehow made legal two families before the R2 zoning went into effect c. 1960. They are thus grandfathered in. They remain covenant violations, but the City doesn't enforce the single-family covenant--just the single-family zoning, which was something the Lefferts Manor Assoc. pushed for to avoid having to bring legal action to enforce the 1893 covenant. My knowledge of this is a little vague--I was in high school back then and (shudder) living in QUEENS.
AFAIK you couldn't change the status of an existing one-family house to two-family now--it'd be a covenant AND zoning violation.
All this has nothing to do with the PLG Historic District, about 40% of which is outside of Lefferts Manor and isn't zoned R2.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at May 21, 2009 11:36 PM
Sounds like you'd like to make a 1 family house into a two unit condo. I would suggest looking outside the Manor, there are a lot of fine houses in PLG that would be better prospects.
Posted by: LM at May 22, 2009 3:11 PM
When I said "historic district" I meant Lefferts Manor, not PLG at large. Sorry.
Posted by: dt at May 22, 2009 3:42 PM
Thank you for the advice.
Is one allowed a "mother-in-law suite" in the mostly above-grade basement?
Posted by: professorlonghair at May 22, 2009 6:06 PM
Thank you for the advice.
Is one allowed a "mother-in-law suite" in the mostly above-grade basement?
Posted by: professorlonghair at May 22, 2009 6:06 PM
Mother-inlaw suites that have kitchens and full baths may well be seen as apartments by the DOB. You need to check.
Posted by: LM at May 22, 2009 8:30 PM
Such things as mother-in-law suites undoubtedly exist in some houses, usually where there's an extended family living in the house. They generally stay under the radar. However they might not be a good idea if you're sharing the purchase with a friend, especially if you're making changes that require DOB approval, where the R2 zoning would be a bigger problem than the restrictive covenant. I second LM's suggestion to look outside of Lefferts Manor, to avoid potential problems--perhaps as close as the north side of Lincoln Road,or the south side of Fenimore Street.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at May 22, 2009 9:39 PM
I'd suggest moving to a non-communist/socialist country and doing what you want.
Posted by: goodoleboy at May 23, 2009 1:39 AM
LOL! I've heard of restrictive covenants being attacked for many reasons, but never for being "communistic/socialist". Thanks for a good laugh goodoleboy.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at May 23, 2009 3:41 PM
I know, that's hilarious. One-family zoning when attacked in places is generally attacked for being too exclusive, geared towards higher income people and not allowing enough economic diversity in a town. Kind of the opposite of it being seen as communist or socialist.
Posted by: traditionalmod at May 24, 2009 10:42 AM
This sort of reminds me of the time thirty odd years ago, when I was called a Communist for supporting that hotbed of proletarian class consciousness the PLG HOUSE TOUR. I'm not kidding--it was one of those elderly Lefferts Manor ladies (extinct long ago) who thought that, if we showed how nice our houses were, "they" would come and rob us.
Bob Marvin
PLG Commissar for Agitprop :-)
Posted by: Bob Marvin at May 24, 2009 4:04 PM
Ahhh.. I just figured out which house you're looking at. The two houses next to it are owned by the same family. The smart cookie matriarch of the family had the designation changed to two family for these houses before the city put in the single family restriction. She has owned her house for 50 years.
Posted by: dt at May 25, 2009 11:16 AM
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