The board was down a member, which mattered. Only four of the five board members were present, so the chairman explained up front that a project still needed three "yes" votes to pass. He offered each applicant the choice to table their request and wait for a fifth member, but both chose to move forward.

The Henry Street convenience store was denied, 3-1. Malik Sherry asked to convert the building at 324 Henry Street into a mixed-use building with a small convenience store and deli. Because the property is in an R2 residential zone, a retail store isn't an allowed use, so it required a use variance.

Sherry and his adviser argued the store would help neighbors who lost their nearby grocery options, and said they believed the use was allowed when they bought the building. The board's central problem was the fourth test, "self-created hardship." A city zoning official said on the record that he had personally told Sherry, before the purchase, that the building was in a residential district and would need a variance. They also claimed that Sherry's belief the property could be used commercially came from a real estate agent, not from the city.

Two neighbors spoke against the project. A resident directly across the street said an Aldi and a Walgreens are already within walking distance and objected to cars and noise outside her bedroom window. Another neighbor pointed to small children on the block, the building's poor condition and tornado damage, and parking spaces that had already been striped before any approval.

The Oneida County Department of Planning returned the project with "no recommendation,” finding the store would alter the neighborhood's character and that apartments were a realistic alternative. The lone yes vote, argued that every neighborhood used to have a small corner store and that he didn't think it would harm the area.

The South Jay Street apartment conversion was approved, 4-0. Jason Wang, owner of the former Rome Cable office building at 402-406 South Jay Street through Castle Rock Plaza LLC, asked for a use variance to turn the vacant two-story building into a three-story building with 40 apartments above ground-floor commercial space, including a restaurant and his own wellness clinic. The building sits in an industrial zone, where apartments are a prohibited use. Wang said the office-leasing market collapsed after the pandemic, that he had spent years trying to make the building work as commercial space. He has since joined a New York State housing program that would set aside 10% of the units as affordable for tenants earning below 80% of the area's median income. He estimated the project at about $8 million, financed through a mix of a state loan, a bank, and private investment.

Three South Jay Street neighbors objected, describing a building left in disrepair for years with one resident calling a 40-unit building "kind of a stretch" on a street that doesn't even have 40 houses. The board sided with Wang on all four tests. They accepted that he couldn't get a reasonable return from office use, that the former Rome Cable building is a genuinely unique property, and that the tornado and the pandemic (not the owner) created the hardship.

Why one was denied and the other approved, two blocks apart. The board drew the contrast directly. The key difference was intensity of use. In the residential Henry Street neighborhood, a store is more intense than the apartments the zoning already permits, so it would change the neighborhood's character. On industrial South Jay Street, the zoning would actually allow a factory. Since apartments are less intense than that, the board reasoned they wouldn't alter the area's character. They also explained that Wang's hardship wasn't self-created while Sherry's was, also impacting the decisions.

Check zoning with the city before you buy. Several members said they sympathized with Sherry, and DiCastro noted this was "probably the 10th time" the board had seen a buyer misled about what they could do with a property. But the board stressed that the four-part test is an "and," not an "either/or,” so an applicant has to meet every standard. The board's repeated advice to anyone watching was to do your due diligence and confirm a property's zoning with the city directly rather than relying on a real estate listing or a seller's word.

A note on the environmental votes. Before voting on either variance, the board first took up the State Environmental Quality Review, or SEQR, which is a required check on whether a project will significantly harm the environment. Both projects received a "negative declaration," meaning the board found no significant environmental impact and could move on to the variance itself.