New York Zoning and Municipal Law Blog

Recent Posts from New York Zoning and Municipal Law Blog

• New York Court of Appeals Expands Criteria for Standing to Bring a SEQRA Challenge

  The New York Court of Appeals has held that a person who can demonstrate greater enjoyment of a natural resource than the general public has standing under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) to…

• Failure to Exhaust Adminstrative Remedies Bars Claim for Certificate of Occupancy

  In an action to compel issuance of a certificate of occupancy, the Appellate Division upheld the action of a building inspector on the grounds that the property owner had failed to appeal to the zoning…

• Deceitful Conduct May be a Basis for Denial of an Area Variance

  The Appellate Division held that under certain circumstances a zoning board may consider deceitful conduct by an applicant in reaching a determination to deny an area variance. In Matter of Caspian Realty, Inc. v Zoning…

• Court Allows Some Causes of Action Under 42 USC 1983 to Stand Against the Village of Suffern

  The Appellate Division Second Department decided a complex appeal involving cross motions on whether a property owner had sufficiently stated causes of action sounding in violations of constitutional rights under 42 USC 1983 and related…

• Summer 2009 Zoning and Municipal Law Round Up

  The following is a summary of New York zoning and municipal law cases decided since June that we have not yet covered. The summary has been prepared by Bernis Shapiro of our office. In the…

• Property Owner Entitled to Repairs When Pre-Acquisition Emergency Access Is Granted During EDPL Process

  An appellate court has ruled that EDPL section 402 [B] [6], which authorizes a court to permit pre-condemnation access to property, also authorizes a court to require a condemnor to correct an unsafe or dangerous…

• Town May Prohibit Use of Land Solely for Access to Abutting Parcel

  The Appellate Division held that a town could prohibit a proposed road over property zoned for commercial and single family use when the road was intended solely to serve a multi-family use on an abutting…

• Rochester Curfew Law Unconstitutional

  The New York Court of Appeals declared a law adopted by the City of Rochester fixing a curfew on minors unconstitutional. In Jiovon Anonymous v. City of Rochester the Court held "we conclude that the…

• Courts Continue to Defer to Zoning Boards

  In another in a long line of cases, last week the Appellate Division again deferred to the decision of a zoning board which had denied an area variance. In DiPaolo v Zoning Board of Appeals…

• Appellate Court Discounts Procedural Missteps by Planning Board in Granting Site Plan Approval

  In a case involving a challenge to site plan approval for a Wal-Mart, the Appellate Division Fourth Department found a number of challenges to procedural/technical oversights by the planning board to be insufficient to cause…