Landmark variance timeline question

We’re debating whether to ask for a variance from Landmarks. I’m wondering how long the process generally is. Has anyone been through the process?

Thanks

arewedoneyet

in General Discussion 2 years and 10 months ago

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andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Ok, once you do this and they have your house where they think it should be, you might not have a bargaining chip later. It costs nothing to apply. Submit pictures of what to have and what you want to do with details. Give it a week and see if you can get a conversation or even a reply from staff. They will advise you on what you can do and what you might be able to do through committe. Ask them, how long if it goes to committe. Committe meets like 2x a month??? I forget. The staff know exactly when the next meeting is all the time and will say this if that is the direction you are going. If there is no negotiation, it can be approved right away. If you begin asking for things that don’t look right, you will add delays. If you do not have your answer in 2 mos, pull your application and move foward using your secondary, faster to approve choice.

Because i am less experienced with this than others out there, any time something is going to go to c ommittee, i let my customers handle it because i don’t want the denials on my shoulders. And customers manage this stuff fine.

arewedoneyet | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Thanks everyone – I’ve read Landmarks documents and have heard that they aren’t the enemy. I’m really trying to decide whether I want to spend the time going through the process. We are ready to move forward on construction and this issue is holding us up. Our expediters have said it may take 6 months to get this larger window approved or denied whereas if we simply replace windows we can get desk approval which will move much faster.

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Dealing with them is not like a poker game or dealing with the irs. You can be frank. They want to help you. They don’t want us sneaking around.

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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I just read what you are doing. Read the guide book. They did not even have that years ago, not in that detail. Read that and see if they address that and call them and ask questions. Keep in mind, if you have things that are non compliant, say a 1970’s aluminum window or something else on the front of the house that is out of place, you can tell them you want to fix that AND do this. You might get what you want. Its not a variance per se.

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Landmarks will negotiate certain elements. Say your house is now out of what they view as what it should be – or what is compliant to them – and they want you to pull most of that into what they want, they may very well allow some things to get other things. I suspect in some cases, they might rather work with you than have you leave a wreck of a place a wreck.

I saw this with a house where the homeowner wanted a mansard roof, to add a floor. It was a no. BUT, the customer was able to get it by following very specific requests from them right down to egg and dart molding on doors.

We had tried to negotiate certain finishes on a door once but the customer was more concerned about the “frosted” glass for privacy. The doors at the start of the project were purple. Landmarks nor my customer wanted purple doors. We went back and forth with them and in the end he got his glass and they got rid of the purple doors. The customer did not get the stained and varnished finish, he got black. I negotiated that and had to withdraw the application and refile as we d iscussed options. The staff person at landmarks was great, warning me if we put certain things before committee, they would reject it. It was quid pro quid.

jimhillra | 2 years and 10 months ago

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arewedoneyet – Please call me on Monday if you have the time: (646) 309-7259. I’ll ask you to send a photo of the neighbor’s window, and then we can talk in detail.

Jasperrose11 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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If you haven’t read the LPC Permit Guidebook it is a good overview of what process you can expect for various alteration types. Chapter 2 covers windows and doors. https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/lpc/downloads/pdf/LPC-Permit-Guidebook.pdf

arewedoneyet | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Thanks for the feedback. I don’t know that I’m using the correct word. We want to enlarge one small garden floor window that is on the street side. It’s a small near-grade window and we’d make it something larger but not enormous. We are in a row of 4 houses which are the same, One of them enlarged a window the same way (pre-landmarking). When you say longer time-wise can you give me a sense of how long you mean?

jimhillra | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Variance? Landmarks doesn’t do variances. If you want/need to do something that you don’t think LPC will approve, the process is similar to their regular application but longer. You start with drawings and an application form. The staffer will help you (and your architect) prepare to present the issue to the local community board and the LPC commissioners. After some debate, they’ll vote on it and then your architect works out the details with the staffer. We’ve done this many times, and have found that most of what we propose gets approved, possibly with some modifications. The process is long and time consuming, but it’s not impossible, depending of course upon what it is you’re looking to do.

Can you respond here with a brief explanation of what you’re trying to do and why you think it would need a “variance”?