Law of the Land

Recent Posts from Law of the Land

• Site Plan Review and Environmental Impact Determination Upheld

  Reiterating that planning boards are not authorized to interpret provisions of local zoning laws, an appeals Court found that nothing in the board’s resolution approving a site plan purported to evaluate the proposed use in…

• Federal District Court Dismisses Substantive Due Process and Equal Protection Claims

  The Rustons own 27 acres of property in the Town of Skaneateles which they have been trying to subdivide and develop since. In ongoing litigation, the Rustons filed an amended complaint asserting a substantive due…

• Parking, Zoning, Easement Disagreement Between Adjacent Houses of Worship

  Best described as a property dispute between two houses of worship, with the plaintiff congregation alleging claims of trespass by the defendant congregation and the defendant congregation alleging the plaintiff was violating applicable zoning.  The…

• RLUIPA Case Not Ripe as Church Failed to Pursue Final Governmental Determination

  Shenkel United Methodist Church desired to participate in a program to provide monthly shelter to homeless individuals during the winter months. This decision was made at the request of a group called Ministries for Main…

• 7th Circuit Holds Locality Seeking to Create a Commercial Area Can Exclude Non-Commercial Uses Without Violating RLUIPA

  The River of Life Kingdom Ministries sought to relocate its 67-member congregation from a crowded warehouse that it shared with two other churches to a “fixer-upper” blighted property it purchased in the Village.  The Church…

• NY Court of Appeals Opens Door to Standing for Environmental Review Challenges

  In a victory for those who have long believed that the New York Court of Appeals needed to open the courthouse door wider for advocates seeking standing in environmental disputes, a decision last week by…

• Adult Oriented Business Moratorium and Subsequent Regulations Upheld

  In 2005, the County began the process of revising its comprehensive plan and among the issues examined were adult-oriented businesses (AOBs). In March 2005, appellant entered into a contract to purchase the property and applied…

• DOJ Argues that City’s Old Town District Cannot Exclude Religious Organizations

  The following summary appears in the Religious Freedom in Focus Newsletter (Fall 2009, vol. 40) prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civil Rights Division: The United States, in a brief filed August 7, 2009…

• Planning director lacks authority to modify zoning map to conform to legal description

  About 20 acres of the company’s 63-acre tract were zoned for general business use in 1974 when the zoning map was based on 1955 aerial photos.  The balance was zoned for residential-agricultural use.  In 1988,…

• Due Process Required When Imposing Civil Penalties for Alleged Violations

  Post, was the owner of numerous rental properties in Tacoma, twenty-four of which were found to be in violation of city ordinances because they were substandard or in some cases derelict. The City imposed penalties…