Elmwood/W. Delavan Building Getting an Addition

Yes, as is the attractive weed garden at the corner.

yup, that's why they have to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals in the first place. Otherwise they just would have to get their plans approved through the permits\inspections dept.

This was the variance that was approved:

932 ELMWOOD AVE.-- ROBERT GILL to renovate the
existing one-story medical office and construct a two-story
addition. (180384)
EB district. Section 511-55F(1)(a) ELMWOOD VILLAGE
GUIDELINES FOR BUILDING SCALES

The section should actually be 511-155F(1)(a), I think (511-155 is the Elmwood Village Design Standards section).

511-155F(1)(a) reads:

"New buildings and building additions shall respect the predominant height of buildings within the area. (Drawing 1) Not including stories below grade buildings shall be between two (2) and five (5) stories. All the building stories must be constructed and designed to support business and
residential occupancies as defined in Section 302 of the Building Code of the State of New York."

So yes, I believe it was a variance for building height that was granted. Although looking at the drawing, I think there are probably several other provisions of the EVSD (e.g., window sizing and placement) that also aren't being followed here.

This kind of thing is annoying because it makes me wonder how well the Green Code will be enforced once it is law. I suppose the ZBA felt that an addition to an existing single-story building should not be held to the same standards as a completely new building, but it's a slippery slope. The EVDS do not seem to make any exception for additions, which certainly seem to qualify as either "new construction" or "alterations to existing buildings", both of which the standards apply to.

They could start by simply painting the damn crosswalks fresh like a normal decent city would. I've written to the city about that before.