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Village of Lansing Trustees considered amending the zoning law Monday to adjust the 'One Unit Residence Converted' use category.  "About a year or so from when the Planning Board started discussing this in the context of the definition of 'family,'" explained Village Attorney David Dubow.  "It plays on whether it's a one family residence, a two family residence, or three family residence.  The one unit residence converted was a defined use that had to do with somebody that had a single family residence and wanted to convert it into two residences.  It was permitted, but with a rather cumbersome process that included some special permit approval from the planning board."

The current law says that a builder can get a permit to build a two-family house, but owners of a one-family house must go through a more complicated procedure if they decide to convert it from one to two-family.  Dubow says that Code Enforcement/Zoning Officer Ben Curtis asked the Planning Board to recommend the change to simplify the law for homeowners.

The law was written because of concern that homeowners who wanted to move away but could not sell their home would convert their homes to two or more family houses to increase their value as rental units owned by absentee landlords.

Dubow says that has not proven to be a problem.  "That didn't turn out to be," he notes.  "I think there was a particular incident that prompted the consideration of the local law and the adoption of this somewhat cumbersome process at that time.  It stayed on the books for some time."

"There wouldn't be any issues with respect to the zoning other than a two-family use would be permitted as a matter of right," Dubow explained to the Trustees.  "A one unit residence that is converted into two units would be a permitted use, but would require a special permit from the Planning Board."

Trustees scheduled a public hearing at 7:35pm on September 15.

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