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Parlor at 918 State.
An Upper State Street tattoo parlor won permission to convert the back half of its shop into two new apartments, in the latest example of ground-floor commercial space transforming into housing.
Zoning commissioners took that unanimous vote Tuesday night during the latest monthly meeting of the city Board of Zoning Appeals, which was held online via Zoom.
The commissioners voted in support of granting a variance to Academy of Responsible Tattooing New York LLC to allow for first-floor residential use at 918 State St. that is not in combination with upper-story residential use.
Zoom
Local attorney Ben Trachten (pictured) explained that the applicant wants to use the rear of the single-story building as two new two-bedroom apartments.
He said ground-floor residential use is allowed in the underlying BA zoning district only when paired with upper-story apartments. This building consists of only one level, he said, and therefore cannot have upper-story apartments — or anything else, for that matter. Thus the request for a variance.
Trachten said that the tattoo shop owners are looking for zoning relief also because of the “change in the nature of workable space in this time of a pandemic. Unfortunately, this space is just way too large. No one wants to go into a 2,000 square-foot tattoo shop any longer.”
He said the owner plans to keep 580 square feet of the current space as a tattoo shop, and then put two two-bedroom residential units in the back of the building.
Trachten added that this is a common set up for this stretch of Upper State. Zoning commissioner Alexandra Daum pointed out that a nearby laundromat also has street-facing commercial space and apartments in the back.
This tattoo shop isn’t the only local business looking to convert ground-floor commercial space into residential. Earlier this year, the City Plan Commission approved a handful of similar requests for buildings across the city. Downtown developers in particular have spoken up about their lack of faith in continuing to hunt for retailers and commercial tenants to fill vacant ground-floor spaces, even before the pandemic.
Tuesday night’s BZA virtual meeting.
A few neighbors from an adjacent condo complex spoke up with a number of concerns about how the planned new tattoo shop apartments would affect the driveway and parking lot for their building. Trachten assured them that it wouldn’t, and city zoning staffer Nate Hougrand said that the zoning commissioners were just voting on the proposed residential use Tuesday. The ultimate layout of the apartments, including the proposed entrance and exits, would have to be vetted by at least the building department, the fire marshal, and the Water Pollution Control Authority before construction could begin.
The zoning commissioners ultimately voted unanimously in support of the requested variance.
While I don't begrudge Ben and his colleagues the billable hours, this type of development should not require a variance (which typically involves hiring a lawyer). I read Jane Jacobs decades ago, and understand the value of "eyes on the street". But ground floor retail space was hard to fill even before the pandemic. And I expect a large number of people will continue to work from home even after the pandemic ends, maintaining life on the streets where they live.