On December 31, 2016, U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp of the District of New Jersey authored a 57-page opinion granting partial summary judgment to plaintiffs, The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (“Islamic Society”) holding that defendants, the Township of Bernards (“Bernards”), violated Islamic Society’s rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”).
Steel Over the Ocean: LIPA Approves Offshore Wind Farm Southeast of Montauk
Last Wednesday, LIPA unanimously approved Deepwater Wind’s proposal to build the nation’s largest offshore wind farm approximately 30-35 miles off the coast of Montauk, New York. Construction will include fifteen turbines with a 90 megawatt capacity able to power 50,000 homes. The turbines will be built out of sight to address vehement public comments against
Update on Town of Huntington’s Proposal To Ban Short-Term Rentals
At its January 10, 2017 meeting, the Town Board of the Town of Huntington held a public hearing to discuss its proposed ban on short-term rentals. Several residents testified at the public hearing in opposition to the ban, explaining why short-term rentals are important to the Town. A few residents explained that these short-term rentals
Public Hearing On The Town Of Huntington’s Short-Term Rental Ban Set For Tomorrow, January 10, 2017
Last April, my colleague Anthony Guardino blogged about the Town of Southold’s local law banning “transient rental properties”, which Southold defined as dwellings that are rented out for less than fourteen nights at a time. Now the Town of Huntington, New York is considering enacting a similar local law.
Huntington’s Proposed Ban
The Town
Farrell Fritz Land Use Blog – 2016 Year in Review
Before we blog our way into 2017, we wanted to take a moment to review the topics that we blogged about in 2016 and to remind our readers that the land use practice group at Farrell Fritz is a diverse group of attorneys, which is why the topics that we blog about are quite diverse.
Failure to Seek Preliminary Injunctive Relief Supports Motion to Dismiss and Renders Appeal Academic
On December 21, 2016, the Appellate Division, Second Department, rendered yet another decision whereby an appeal was dismissed “as academic” on the grounds that during the pendency of the appeal, the land use development project that was the subject of the lawsuit/appeal was completed.
Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development Release Updated Fair Housing Act Guidance on State and Local Land Use Laws
Jointly responsible for enforcing the federal Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), the U.S. Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development (“the Departments”) have issued numerous guidance documents and policy statements to help the public and state and local governments fully understand the FHA. In November 2016, the Departments issued a new guidance document (“guidance
East Hampton Town Board Adopts One-Year Moratorium For Wainscott
At its November 17, 2016 meeting, the East Hampton Town Board (Town Board) unanimously adopted a local law that temporarily suspends the authority of the East Hampton Town Planning Board to grant certain site plan and subdivision approvals for properties located on or adjacent to Montauk Highway in Wainscott. The moratorium applies to non-residential Central
New York State Land Banks: Are they Really Helping in the Fight Against Blight and Zombie Houses?
Although the use of land banks has been in existence for many years in other states, it was not until after the New York real estate market collapsed in or around 2008 that the New York State Legislature enacted the 2011 New York State Land Bank Act (“Land Bank Act”).
The Land Bank Act authorizes
It’s Not Over Until It’s Over: Court’s Rescission Of A Negative Declaration Is Not Always a Final Decision
We recently came across an interesting decision from a federal appeals court involving a town’s rescission of a 25-year-old negative declaration issued under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). A “negative declaration” is a written determination by a lead agency that a proposed action will not result in significant adverse environmental impacts.