Zoning and land use
Special permits
A special permit is relief the Zoning Resolution already contemplates, granted on stated findings. Here is who grants which one and how the two paths differ.
What is a special permit and who grants it?
Quick Answer
Getting relief from a rule
Who does this land on?
Owners and operators of uses the district permits only conditionally, and developers seeking bulk modifications the Resolution allows by permit rather than by variance.
What governs it?
- The specific Zoning Resolution section authorizing that special permit, which states its own findings and conditions
- The Board of Standards and Appeals for the permits the Resolution assigns to it
- The City Planning Commission for the permits assigned to it, which are actions subject to the uniform land use review procedure
- Environmental review, which attaches to either path because both are discretionary actions
- The community board, which reviews and comments on both paths
How does the process run?
- Find the Resolution section that authorizes the permit for that use or condition, and read its findings as a checklist
- Confirm which body grants it, because that decides the process, the calendar and the record you have to build
- Assemble the application: plans, a statement addressing each finding, environmental forms and any studies the findings require
- Where the City Planning Commission grants it, prepare for certification, community board and borough president review, Commission hearing and City Council action
- Where the Board of Standards and Appeals grants it, prepare for the community board referral and the Board hearing
- Accept and calendar the conditions in the grant, then file at the Department of Buildings against the approved plans
Where does it bite in a transaction?
- A tenant signs a lease for a use that needs a permit nobody has applied for
- A schedule assumes a Board timeline for a permit that is actually a City Planning action with a public review clock
- A grant lapses because the permit was never exercised within the time the resolution allowed
- Operations drift from the approved plans and the departure is written up as a violation of discretionary zoning conditions
How is a special permit different from a variance?
A special permit is a use or condition the Zoning Resolution already contemplates in that district, subject to findings. A variance is relief from a rule the Resolution does not bend, granted only on hardship. The practical difference is the burden: a special permit is a compliance showing, a variance is a hardship case.
Which special permits go to City Planning rather than the BSA?
The Resolution assigns each one. Broadly, permits with a wider planning impact are assigned to the City Planning Commission and carry the full public review process, while site-specific permits are assigned to the Board of Standards and Appeals. The section that authorizes the permit names the body, so that is where the reading starts.
Does a special permit expire?
Many do. Grants commonly require a permit within a set period and completion within another, and some carry a term after which renewal is required. Those dates belong in a tickler at the moment of the grant, because reviving a lapsed permit means going back through the process that produced it.
What else should you read before you file or sign?
In the glossary
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- Violation (cited against the premises)An agency record that a condition at a property does not comply with a code or rule. It attaches to the premises and follows the property through a...
- OATH Hearings DivisionThe City tribunal, OATH (formerly ECB), that adjudicates summonses from most New York City enforcement agencies. Unpaid or defaulted summonses beco...
Zoning and land use
- Use varianceA use variance asks the Board of Standards and Appeals to permit a use the district bars. It is the hardest relief in NYC zoning. Here is what it t...
- Area varianceAn area variance asks for relief from bulk rules: floor area, height, setback, yards, parking. Here is how it differs from a use variance and what ...
- How a Board of Standards and Appeals application runsA Board of Standards and Appeals case runs on a public record: filing, community board, hearing, continued hearings, then a vote. Here is the seque...
- ULURP, the uniform land use review procedureULURP is the public review process for rezonings and other listed land use actions, on a fixed clock that starts only after certification. Here is ...
- Can your business legally operate at this address?Before signing a commercial lease in New York City, check the district, the use group, the certificate of occupancy and the signage rules for that ...
The violation code
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Legal Disclaimer: This page is general information about New York practice. It is not legal advice, it does not account for the terms of any particular contract, building or transaction, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.