Photo of John C. Armentano

Recently in BMG Monroe I, LLC v. Village of Monroe Zoning Board of Appeals, the Second Department reinforced strict compliance with all State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) visual impact findings and mitigation conditions.

BMG Monroe I, LLC, (“BMG”) is a developer that owns at 78.93-acre tract of undeveloped land located in both the Town of Monroe and the Village of Monroe. BMG sought to develop 181 residential units on the property.

In 2001, a developer (not BMG) submitted an application to the Town and Village to develop the Property for residential use: the Smith Farm Project. The Smith Farm Project included 181 homes and on-site recreational amenities, including a community green, a recreation/activity center, an outdoor swimming pool, and a network of walking trails.Continue Reading Exact Compliance with SEQRA Architectural Conditions Are Enforceable

Last month, in Cuffaro v Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village of Bellport (Index # 620453/2021), the Suffolk Supreme Court reinforced the existing and binding case law that a municipality’s issuance of a building permit to a similarly situated lot effectively sanctions the subdivision of that property by deed without the requisite subdivision approval.  In a strongly worded decision, the Court held that a municipality cannot rely on a supposed illegal subdivision as a basis for denying an application where it has otherwise sanctioned the subdivision by granting certificates of occupancy to its sister lot. Continue Reading “Grandfathering” By Issuance of Building Permits

Last month, the State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, upheld the Appellate Division’s decision annulling the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issuance of permits to Sand Land Corporation (“Sandland”) for renewal and expansion of sand mining operations at a 50-acre site in Southampton, New York and remanded the matter back to the DEC. The site, owned by Sandland, is a pre-existing sand mining site.Continue Reading NYSDEC Mining Law Appears Further Undermined by the Court of Appeals

Recently, the Suffolk County Supreme Court affirmed the Southampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) denial of a special permit to subdivide the subject property into two residential lots in the Village’s Office District. In 99 Sanford Place LLC, v Zoning Board of Appeals of the Incorporated Village of Southampton, (Sup. Ct. Suffolk County. Sept. 20, 2022) Justice Linda

Continue Reading Is Prior Precedent Dead in the Village of Southampton? Depends on Who You Ask.

Typically, zoning variances “run with the land”, and absent a specific time limitation, they continue until properly revoked. See, St. Onge v. Donovan, 71 NY2d 507, [1988]. As a result, variances cannot be made to apply only to the current owner. But under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), reasonable accommodations can be made that are essentially personal variances

Continue Reading Zoning – Reasonable Accommodations Under the Fair Housing Act

Zoning codes are constantly evolving in response to perceived or real threats of overdevelopment.  Generally, a municipality may in the reasonable exercise of its police power, amend its zoning code to be more restrictive in the bulk area requirements required for development of a parcel.  Known as a “merger provision” when a landowner purchases an adjacent substandard parcel of land,
Continue Reading Single and Separate Exemptions For Substandard Lots

Last week, in The Seaview at Amagansett, Ltd. v. Town of East Hampton Justice Paul J. Baisely, Jr. found the Town of East Hampton and several of its officials in civil and criminal contempt of the Appellate Division, Second Department’s 2021 decision that restricted access to a 4,000-foot long area of oceanfront property commonly known as “Truck Beach”  in Napeague,
Continue Reading Town Of East Hampton Runs Aground At Truck Beach

The “Special Use Permit” is a zoning term and process used by a municipality to encourage, but still regulate, land use in a zoning district by making it subject to a special review and criteria detailed in the zoning ordinance.  See, Town Law Section 274-b, Village Law Section 7-725-b and City Law Section 27-b.

The “Special Use Permit” also
Continue Reading What’s So Special About Special Use Permits?

In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeals upheld the Second Department’s decision in Hunters For Deer v Town of Smithtown that the Town may not regulate discharge setbacks for bow and arrow in a manner inconsistent with State law.  In that decision, the Second Department held that long bows could not be defined as firearms and that the
Continue Reading Court of Appeals Affirms Appellate Division Decision Invalidating Town’s Discharge Ordinance

On January 4, 2022, the New York Court of Appeals heard oral argument in the case of Hunters For Deer, Inc. v Town of Smithtown, where conflicting provisions of a Town of Smithtown firearm ordinance and the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) both vie for authority.

This appeal presents questions of preemption and statutory interpretation: whether the State Legislature, in
Continue Reading Slings and Arrows At The Court Of Appeals