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
Slings and Arrows At The Court Of Appeals
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:
Single and Separate and the Doctrine of Merger
Generally, many property owners assume that where a lot is held in single and separate ownership they are entitled to an area variance “as of right.” That is not entirely true. An exception to the single and separate doctrine is the doctrine of merger. Undersized lots that share a common boundary and are owned by
Right-Of-Way Width – Not Set In Stone
Determining the width of a right-of-way may be more difficult than you think, even when the dimensions are specifically defined. New York courts take the approach that elevates the right of passage over full use an easement described by deed.
Recently, in Grosbard v Willow Lane, LLC 192 AD3d 773 [2d Dept. 2021], the Second
New York’s General Municipal Law §239-m “An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth A Pound of Cure”
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” -Benjamin Franklin. This pithy logic from Benjamin Franklin to prevent fires in colonial Philadelphia should serve as a reminder to municipal boards of the strict compliance required by New York’s General Municipal Law (GML) §239-m mandated by the courts. In New York, the failure to
Apartments Over Stores Are No More – In Oyster Bay
Surprise! During the summer of Covid-19, the Town Board of Oyster Bay passed Local Law 4 of 2020, amending Chapter 246, the Town’s zoning code, to eliminate apartments over stores or offices as a permitted principal use in the Nonresidence District designated as Neighborhood Business (“NB”), Central Business (“CB”), and General Business (“GB”).
This
Truck Beach – Drawing Lines In The Sands of East Hampton
The tide seems to have turned against the Town and the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of East Hampton (Trustees) in a recent decision by the Second Department. In Seaview at Amagansett v, Trustees, the Appellate Division reversed much of a trial court’s 2016 decision and seemed to erode the
Second Department Scraps North Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals’ Denial for Lack of Evidence
In D.P.R Scrap Metal. Inc., v Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of North Hempstead, __AD3d__, [2d Dept 2020], the Appellate Division affirmed the grant of the Article 78 Petition of D.P.R. Scrap Metal Inc. (DPR) annulling the Zoning Board Appeals (ZBA) determination as arbitrary and capricious and not supported by evidence.
In
Oyster Bay Emergency Homeless Shelter Loses State Preemption Argument
On September 21, 2020, the Supreme Court, Nassau County in Town of Oyster Bay v. 120 Westend LLC, Supreme Court, Suffolk County, Index No. 608065/2020 granted a preliminary injunction to the Town of Oyster Bay (“Town”) halting the use of an existing hotel as an emergency homeless shelter stating that there is no pre-emption by
New York State Environmental Conservation Law Preempts Local Municipality Hunting Restrictions in New York
This week, a not-for-profit hunters advocacy group, Hunters For Deer, Inc. (HFD), won a decisive victory in the Second Department based on New York’s preemption doctrine. In Hunters for Deer, Inc. v Town of Smithtown, ____AD3d (August 18, 2020) the Appellate Division settled a conflict preemption argument between State and local government regulations upholding