Long Island Land Use and Zoning

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Latest from Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Parking Ticket Fix Earns Counsel Two Years’ Suspension

December 2, 2019

In Matter of Weissmann, 2019 NY Slip Op 06170 (2d Dep’t 2019), the Special Prosecutor for the Village of Spring Valley Justice Court received a two-year suspension from the practice of law for helping select defendants favorably dispose of parking tickets at the direction of a Village Trustee. This cautionary case serves as a poignant reminder for private practitioners who cross the threshold into public service in their local municipalities. Mr. Weissmann was appointed as…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Unique Procedural Rule Requires Transfer of Article 78 Proceeding to Appellate Division

By Kyle Gruder

November 25, 2019

A recent Second Department decision, Matter of Reddock v New York State Dept. of Envtl. Conservation, highlights a unique procedural quirk involving Article 78 proceedings where the challenge is based upon “substantial evidence”. The petitioners in Reddock own a 2.07-acre parcel of property in the Town of Smithtown adjacent to the Nissequogue River (the “Property”) and within the Nissequogue Recreational River Corridor (the “Corridor”), as defined in New York Environmental Conservation Law Section 15-2714(3)(ee)…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Standoff Between National Grid and New York State Over Gas Pipeline is Impacting Homeowners and Businesses

By Anthony S. Guardino

November 17, 2019

In May 2019, National Grid – the utility company that provides natural gas to approximately 1.8 million customers in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island – announced a moratorium on the processing of applications for new gas service. The moratorium was imposed following a May 15, 2019 Decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) denying a water-quality permit for a portion of a proposed 23-mile underwater gas supply pipeline, known…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

SEQRA Challenge Rejected by Appellate Court Because of Lack of Standing and Untimeliness of the Challenge

By Charlotte Biblow

November 11, 2019

Several prior blog posts discussed standing requirements under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and the timeliness of challenging a SEQRA determination. A decision from the Appellate Division, Third Department, Schulz v Town Board of the Town of Queensbury, issued on October 24, 2019, involved both of these elements and was a one-two punch that knocked out a challenge to a municipal decision. Here are the pertinent facts. The Town of Queensbury Sanitary Sewer…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Lack of Standing Prevents a Challenge to a Local Law that Requires Massage Therapists to be Licensed by the Municipality

By Charlotte Biblow

November 4, 2019

The Appellate Division recently issued a decision that explained why a massage therapist and the American Massage Therapy Association, (AMTA), a professional organization of massage therapists, lacked standing to challenge a local law enacted by the Town of Greenburgh. At issue in Matter of American Massage Therapy Association v Town of Greenburgh was a local law that required massage therapists to obtain licenses from the Town. The local law was inapplicable to solo practitioners. The petitioners…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Supreme Court Reminds: Schools are Special, but Not Exempt When It Comes to Local Zoning

By Philip A. Butler

October 28, 2019

Residents of the Village of East Williston have prevailed (for now) over the East Williston Union Free School District’s plan to install a six-foot tall perimeter fence at the North Side School in the Village of East Williston, Nassau County. On October 4, 2019, Judge Sharon M.J. Gianelli handed down a Decision and Order (‘Decision”) enjoining the School District from completing construction of the fence until it receives a determination from the “local zoning body.”…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Nonconforming Uses – Don’t Abandon Them

By John C. Armentano

October 21, 2019

Legal pre-existing nonconforming uses (aka grandfathered uses) have a tenuous existence in New York. Although protected by vested property rights in the Constitution, many local zoning ordinances seek to eliminate these vestigial uses with regulations that hinge on continual use. The allowance of nonconforming uses by the courts has been grudgingly tolerated, with the ultimate goal of the zoning code to have these now prohibited uses eventually eliminated. Recently, the Town of Smithtown Board of Zoning Appeals denial of a legal nonconforming…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Village Of North Haven Planning Board’s Denial of Rock Revetment Upheld

By Elizabeth Vail

October 14, 2019

The Village of North Haven is a peninsula of land located on Noyac Bay in the Town of Southampton near Sag Harbor. Pursuant to Village Code §163-48(A), site plan review shall be required for “any proposed construction of a single family residence or accessory structure which is on land with a waterfront…” In November of 2012, Jeffrey Friedman submitted an application for site plan review to construct a rock revetment to alleviate erosion on…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Dog Training Business is Not a “Customary Home Occupation” According to Upstate NY Town

By Kyle Gruder

October 7, 2019

A recent Fourth Department decision upheld a determination by the Town of Westmoreland Zoning Board of Appeals (the “Westmoreland ZBA” or the “Board”) finding that a dog training business is not a “customary home occupation” within the meaning of the local zoning code. Matter of McFadden v Town of Westmoreland Zoning Bd. presents a strikingly similar issue to that in a case from the Town of East Hampton, discussed earlier this year by Long Island Land Use and…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Court Decision Creates Conflicting Case Law with Respect to When to Challenge a SEQRA Final Determination

By Anthony S. Guardino

September 30, 2019

The Appellate Division, Second Department, recently issued a decision that appears to be a departure from prior precedent and is certain to create confusion with respect to when to commence an Article 78 claim challenging a final State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) determination. In Stengel v Town of Poughkeepsie Planning Board, 167 AD3d 752 (2nd Dept. 2018), the court held that a challenge to a Negative Declaration under SEQRA issued by a planning…

Long Island Land Use and Zoning

Blog Authors

Parking Ticket Fix Earns Counsel Two Years’ Suspension

Unique Procedural Rule Requires Transfer of Article 78 Proceeding to Appellate Division

Standoff Between National Grid and New York State Over Gas Pipeline is Impacting Homeowners and Businesses

SEQRA Challenge Rejected by Appellate Court Because of Lack of Standing and Untimeliness of the Challenge

Lack of Standing Prevents a Challenge to a Local Law that Requires Massage Therapists to be Licensed by the Municipality

Supreme Court Reminds: Schools are Special, but Not Exempt When It Comes to Local Zoning

Nonconforming Uses – Don’t Abandon Them

Village Of North Haven Planning Board’s Denial of Rock Revetment Upheld

Dog Training Business is Not a “Customary Home Occupation” According to Upstate NY Town

Court Decision Creates Conflicting Case Law with Respect to When to Challenge a SEQRA Final Determination

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