Town of Huntington Tightens Reins on Mixed-Use Buildings Amid Mixed Opinions
Latest from Long Island Land Use and Zoning
Long Island Sand Mining Further Undermined By State Legislature Bill
Last week, New York’s State Legislature passed a bill (A10001) seeking to amend NYS Environmental Conservation Law (“ECL”) §23-2703 in order to protect Long Island’s sole source aquifer. The amendment would allow local governments in Nassau and Suffolk counties the ability to prohibit sand mining operations where it is determined that mining is “inconsistent with water quality protection and public health.” Governor Andrew Cuomo must still sign the bill for it to become law.
Long…
Appellate Division Upholds Denial of Article 78 Petition Against Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village of North Haven
Ronald A. Kaye, the property owner at 39 Actors Colony Road, Village of North Haven, sought to subdivide his 157, 241 square foot property into two residential lots. The subject property is located in the Residence R-1 Zoning District where the minimum lot size is 80,000 square feet. In October of 2016, he made an application to the Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”) for a lot area variance to subdivide the property into two lots,…
“General” Code Provision Saves Dollar Store Endeavor: Superfluous Interpretations Are Not Required
In Cady v Town of Germantown Planning Bd., 2020 NY Slip Op 03440 [3d Dept 2020], the Appellate Division, Third Department, reversed the Columbia County Supreme Court’s judgment annulling site plan approval, and dismissed the Article 78 petition. Among other things, the Court’s decision addressed whether the Planning Board exceeded its authority and improperly interpreted the zoning code when it approved a 71-foot façade for a project within a scenic overlay district where the…
Smithtown Seeks to Reinvent the Hauppauge Industrial Park by Allowing Residential Development
The Town of Smithtown is considering the adoption of a local law that would allow residential uses as part of mixed-use developments in the Hauppauge Industrial Park.[1] The proposal follows on the heels of an April 2019 report commissioned by the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency (“SCIDA”) which called for the park to position itself to become a regional economic hub that fosters the growth of key industries by, among other things, creating a…
Landowner’s Intent to Mine Property Sufficient to Establish Nonconforming Use
In a recent decision, Matter of Red Wing Properties, Inc. v. Town of Rhinebeck, et al., the Second Department held that a landowner’s intent to continue using its property for mining operations established a valid pre-existing nonconforming use.
Red Wing Properties, Inc. (“Petitioner”) owns roughly 241 acres of property located with the Town of Rhinebeck (the “Town”). For several years, Petitioner used its property for sand and gravel mining. However, at the time of…
How and When to Challenge SEQRA Determinations: Addressing Ripeness and Finality in Article 78 Cases
How and when to challenge multiple municipal actions regarding a single project often perplexes Article 78 litigants. Varying statutes of limitations may apply to actions taken at various stages for one project, and the judicial concepts of finality and ripeness affect the viability of a challenge. For example, a litigant must challenge a lead agency’s determination pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) within four-months, but must challenge a zoning board’s decision within…
Short-Term Rental Law Survives Regulatory Taking Claim
Municipal Development Agreement: Found To Be Illegal Contract Zoning
In the Matter of Giora Neeman v Town of Warwick, __AD3d__, 2020 NY Slip Op 03112, the Second Department recently declared that a development agreement entered into between the respondent/defendant Black Bear Family Campgrounds, Inc. (“BBFC”) and respondent/defendant, Town of Warwick, (“Town”) as part of a settlement of a separate civil proceeding, constituted illegal contract zoning, and was therefore, null and void.
This is a cautionary tale of how making a deal with a…
Appellate Division Affirms Annulment of License Agreement to Affix Private Dock to Property Owner’s Association Community Docks
The Lattingtown Harbor Property Owners’ Association, Inc., (“POA”) entered into a license agreement, dated November 29, 2017, with another member, Peter Tully, granting an exclusive right to affix private docks to the POA’s community dock in exchange for a license fee and services provided to the POA by Tully’s construction company. Another member of the POA, Peter Beckerman, brought an Article 78 Proceeding against the POA to annul the license agreement, alleging that the POA…