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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter from Clare Bolduc, Esq. 2.2.2021 Clare Bolduc, Esq. AdmPed to CT&NY cb@bolduc-low.com (0)203-653-8535 (c)203-641-5777 BOLQUC LAW LJ 1 January 29, 2021FEB _2 2021 Via FedEx Delivery VILLAGE OF RYE B"1710K Mr. Michael Izzo, Building Inspector BtJ U.)ING nUEPAR7�4:N Village of Rye Brook 938 King Street Rye Brook,NY 10573 RE: Owners: Timothy Parton and Olivia Parton Property: 760 King Street,Rye Brook,NY Dear Mr. Izzo: Please be advised that our office represents Timothy Parton and Olivia Parton, the owners of property located at 760 King Street in Rye Brook. The property is currently under contract for sale. An examination of the municipal records reveals that there is no Certificate of Occupancy for the original house, cottage and garage. I am enclosing a copy of the search for your reference. I am writing to you to formally request a pre-date letter for these structures situated on the Property. If you have a specific building department form for such a request, a required fee associated with the filing and preparation of the pre-date letter, or require any additional information, please advise. Lastly, if you should have any questions regarding this request, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above number. Sincerely, A1411A Clare Bolduc CC: E. Beane (via ebeane@kblaw.com_) Encl. MDS Search 01/15/2021 Bolduc Low LLC 1 67 Holly Hill Lane,Suite 200 I Greenwich,CT 06830 1 bolduc-law.com 25 Hyatt Street-Suite 301Staten Island,NY 10361 . MU N I C I PAL DATA Phone-(718)85-0707 SERVICES Fax-(718)815-9101 www.munidata,com Search Date: 01/15/2021 County: WESTCHESTER City/Town: Town of Rye Village: Village of Rye Brook Title/CoNo.: LANG LTA-9878 Address: 760 KING STREET Section: 136.21 Block: 1 Lot: 32.1 CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY SEARCH We have been advised by the Building Department that a search of their records has been made for the above captioned premises. The following information has been found: No Certificate of Occupancy on file for original structure ASSESSOR'S INFORMATION SHOWS BUILDING ERECTED CIRCA 1866 BUILDING PERMIT#24 ISSUED 9/25/1933 FOR ALTERATION BUILDING PERMIT#384 ISSUED 3/1/1951 FOR GARAGE A PREDATE LETTER CAN BE REQUESTED BY OWNER AT THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT. Attached please find Certificate of Occupancy# 1209 ISSUED 8/9/1994 FOR DECK Attached please find Certificate of Occupancy# 2296 ISSUED 6/29/2000 FOR KITCHEN ADDITION AND GLASS PORCH ENCLOSURE Attached please find Certificate of Occupancy# 3530 ISSUED 12/13/2005 TO REPLACE EXISTING PORTICO AND STEPS Continued on next page Municipal Data Services Inc.certifies that the records of the above municipal agency were examined on behalf of LANGDON TITLE. The information reported above is a true and accurate abstract of the information on file therein.This report is submitted for information purposes only.There are no intended third party beneficiaries. No liability is assumed. 00005.00 3676748 12376122 • 25 Hyatt Street-Suite 301 Staten MUNICIPAL DATA Phone-Island,18)8 5-0707 SERVICES Fax-(718)815-9101 www.munidata.com Search Date: 01/15/2021 County: WESTCHESTER City/Town: Town of Rye Village: Village of Rye Brook Title/CoNo.: LANG LTA-9878 Address: 760 KING STREET Section: 136.21 Block: 1 Lot: 32.1 CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY SEARCH Continued Attached please find Certificate of Occupancy# 15-004 ISSUED 1/12/2015 FOR INTERIOR KITCHEN RENOVATION Attached please find Certificates of Compliance: # N/A ISSUED 6/16/2016 TO REMOVE AND INSTALL OIL TANK Municipal Data Services Inc.certifies that the records of the above municipal agency were examined on behalf of LANGDON TITLE. The information reported above is a true and accurate abstract of the information on file therein.This report is submitted for information purposes only.There are no intended third party beneficiaries. No liability is assumed. 00005.00 3676748 12376122 flit copy VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK MAYOR 938 King Street, Rye Brook, N.Y. 10573 ADMINISTRATOR Paul S. Rosenberg (914)939-0668 • Fax (914)939-5801 Christopher J. Bradbury www.ryebrook org TRUSTEES BUILDING&FIRE Susan R. Epstein INSPECTOR Stephanie J. Fischer Michael J. Izzo David M. Heiser Jason A. Klein February 3. 2021 Bolduc Law LLC Via I51 Class Mail 67 Holly Lane-Suite 200 Greenwich,CT 06830 Re: 760 King Street,Rye Brook, NY - Parcel ID#136.21-1-32.1 Dear Ms. Bolduc, The Building Department is in receipt of a letter from you dated January 29.2021 requesting pre-date letters for multiple structures present at the subject property. Attached to that letter was a two-page property abstract from MDS. A complete copy of your pre-date request letter package is attached hereto for your convenience. Please note that the Rye Brook Building Department does not issue pre-date letters and has not done so for over thirty(30)years. I will however be happy to provide you with a letter of clarification of the record for this property if you wish. Please feel free to contact me via post or email should you wish to request the aforementioned clarification letter. Please note that Mr. Edward Beane has retired from his firm and that this correspondence will be copied to our current legal representative at Keane& Beane. T nk ou. ichael B ' i & Fire Inspector m izzona.aebrook.org. cc: Drew Gamils, Esq., Keane& Beane. P.C. H1 Hollis Laidlaw&Simon P.C. ollis 55 Smith Avenue La%dlaW Mount Kisco,NY 10549 (914)666-5600 Simon Fax(914)666-6267 hollislaidlaw.com Attorneys at Law March 14, 2021 © r�C � QE D Via Email and FedEx MAR 16 2021 Michael J. Izzo VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK Building& Fire Inspector BUILDING DEPARTMENT Village of Rye Brook 938 Ding Street Rye Brook,New York 10573 Re: 760 King Street,Rye Brook, NY 10573 Dear Mr. Izzo, Our firm represents Timothy and Olivia Parton, the owners of the above referenced property (the"Premises"). You already spoke with Olivia Parton regarding a request for certificates of occupancy or predate/compliance letters for the Premises. As you know from records on file with the Village,the main house was built in 1866 and the cottage around 1900. As you also may know from speaking with our client's realtor and real estate counsel, our clients currently have a prospective purchaser for the Premises with whom they have been in contract since November 2020 and who requires predate letters in lieu of a Certificate of Occupancy or Completion for the main house, cottage and the one car garage attached to the cottage. Attached is a current Certificate of Occupancy Search so you can see that since our clients purchased the Premises in 1998, a number of improvements were made and permits were appropriately taken out and closed. I understand that you have declined to issue a predate letter as of this date and this letter is being submitted to ask you to reconsider your earlier position because, I respectfully submit, your position is not supportable by either the Village's records, past practices or controlling law. In further support of our request for issuance of predate letters, I am attaching the following documents: a. 1906 Map of Byram Ridge. The Premises is part of Lot 5 on this map and shows the dwelling and the cottage as buildings on the lot prior to any subdivision. Westchester I New York City I Long Island I Rockland Hollis Laidlaw & Simon b. Property Card from Town of Rye indicating under Building Record (page 2) guesthouse from 1866. The 2017 Property Card indicates the garage from 1940 (though there is an open permit from 1951 for construction of one car garage) and misc. structure (which l believe would be the cottage) from 1866. c. 1991 Subdivision Map showing the improvements on the Premises (Lot No. 3 on said Map)which is how the property currently exists and what will be conveyed to the purchaser if the transaction goes forward. d. Tax Map showing 1 I Beechwood Blvd in relation to the Premises which was subdivided in 1992. The lot at 1 I Beechwood is directly to the west of the Premises and in 1990 received the attached CO letter regarding a 1970 permit to enclose a porch which specifically says "policy prior to 1980 concerning Certificate of Occupancy on permits for additions, alterations and repairs was at the discretion of the Building Inspector depending on the size and nature of the addition, alteration or repair. The above captioned permit was not issued a Certificate of Occupancy at the time and none is required now." Not only have you failed to distinguish the basis for the difference of your position from that of Mr. Gerardi in 1990, but you have also failed to recognize a most compelling legal point, i.e.,The Village of Rye Brook was not established until 1980 and its Zoning Code not adopted until then, making buildings in existence before then (and certainly those constructed in the 19th and early 20th Centuries) prior legal nonconforming structures. Nonconforming uses are protected at both the state and local levels. Section 250-6 of the Rye Brook Zoning Code, subsection (F)(2) provides that"nonconforming structures, uses and lots may be continued despite their respective nonconformities with the regulations then in effect for the district in which such land or use, structure or lot is situated." As stated by the New York State Court of Appeals, "prior nonconforming uses in existence when a zoning ordinance is adopted are, generally, constitutionally protected even though an ordinance may explicitly prohibit such activity." Buffalo Crushed Stone Inc. v. Town of Cheektowaga, 13 N.Y.3d 88, 97, 913 N.E.2d 394, 399 (2009). A property owner may establish that a nonconforming use is legal by demonstrating that the use was legal prior to the enactment of the zoning ordinance that allegedly renders it nonconforming. See Abbatiello v. Town off. Hempstead Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 164 A.D.3d 785, 786, 84 N.Y.S.3d 250, 251 (2d Dep't 2018) ("to establish a legal nonconforming use, a property owner must demonstrate that the allegedly preexisting use was legal prior to the enactment of the zoning ordinance that purportedly rendered it nonconforming"). While Subsection 250-6(F)(4) states that the issuance of a certificate of occupancy shall be presumptive evidence that any use was lawful and conforming with the previous regulations, it does not specifically require a certificate to establish legality, nor do the courts. In Abbatiello, the petitioner sought a variance permitting him to continue using his property as a two-family property in a business district, despite 1945 amendments to the Zoning Code prohibiting all residential use in that district. The Board of Zoning Appeals refused his application but the court reversed the Board's determination because the petitioner was able to present evidence, including affidavits from neighbors and others, sufficient to establish that the property had been used as a two-family residence prior to the 1945 amendments. 2 Hollis Laidlaw & Simon In the instant application, the Zoning Code at issue was only implemented in 1980 and we have offered several pieces of documentary evidence establishing that the structures on the property were built before the Zoning Code was implemented. Accordingly, our clients are entitled to a letter sanctioning the current use of the property. See Labate v. DeChance, 189 A.D.3d 838, 138 N.Y.5.3d 196, 199 (2d Dept 2020) (the court remitted the matter to the local Zoning Board of Appeals for the issuance of the requested certificate of existing use after finding that the petitioner had, through the presentation of testimony and an affidavit, established that the use predated the Zoning Code). Our clients are in danger of losing both this possible sale and the benefit of the extremely "hot" real estate market at present for sellers, resulting in serious economic damages for them. We would respectfully request that you adhere to the most reasonable past practices followed by the Village and issue a letter in the form and substance similar to the one issued by Mr. Gerardi for I I Beechwood Blvd. in 1990. ectfully submitted, p P. Daniel Hollis, III cc: Jennifer Gray, Esq. Keane& Beane Enc. 3 Mike Izzo From: Mike izzo Sent: Monday, March 15, 2021 2:25 PM To: Sara M.O'Shea;Jennifer Gray Cc: P. Daniel Hollis; David Simon; Drew Gamils Subject: RE: Property at 760 King Street Attachments: March 14 Letter to M Izzo with Exhibits.pdf Dear Ms. O'Shea, Thank you for the email and for the copy of Mr. Hollis' letter. Please note that I have thoroughly reviewed the attached letter and am forwarding this email along with the letter to our legal counsel for review and recommendation. Thank you. /zz0 Building& Fire Inspector Village of Rye Brook, NY (914) 939-0668 From:Sara M. O'Shea <soshea@hollislaidlaw.com> Sent:Sunday, March 14, 2021 6:57 PM To: Mike Izzo<Mlzzo@ryebrook.org>;Jennifer Gray<jgray@kblaw.com> Cc: P. Daniel Hollis<pdhollis@hollislaidlaw.com>; David Simon<dsimon@hollislaidlaw.com> Subject: Property at 760 King Street Good afternoon Mr. Izzo and Ms. Gray, I hope this email finds you both well.As you may know,our firm represents Timothy and Olivia Parton with respect to the property located at 760 King Street in the Village of Rye Brook. Please find attached a letter and several exhibits explaining the status of said property and further supporting the Parton's request. Please let me know if you have any issues accessing the attachment. Very truly yours, Sara M. O'Shea Sara M. O'Shea, Esq. Hollis Laidlaw& Simon, P.C. 55 Smith Ave. Mount Kisco,New York 10549 (914) 666-5600 (ext. 334) (914) 666-6267 (fax) sosheakhollislaidlaw.com i