Due to delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other factors, many municipalities across Long Island are experiencing significant backlogs of processing building permit applications.  In some towns and villages, applicants are waiting several months to obtain a building permit.  Currently, building permits can only be issued by local municipalities and their officials tasked with such duties.  However,
Continue Reading New York State Legislature Considering Bill That Would Allow Licensed Architects or Engineers to Issue Building Permits

In Matter of HV Donuts, LLC v. Town of LaGrange Zoning Board of Appeals, the Second Department recently held that a property owner’s nonconforming use rights continue despite a temporary business interruption caused by a fuel truck accident and gasoline spill.

The property owner, Leemilt’s Petroleum, Inc. (the “Owner”), leased the subject property (the “Premises”) to a tenant who
Continue Reading Remediation of Petroleum Spills Amount to Continuation of Nonconforming Use

On October 17, 2018, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department (“Second Department”) issued two (2) companion decisions arising out of three different attempts by Petitioners, Kleinknechts (“Petitioners”)  to construct a dock at their waterfront property.  Each of the attempts resulted in a Supreme Court litigation.  As we blog about these cases today, no dock has been constructed despite a
Continue Reading Second Department Reverses Mandamus Requiring Building Inspector to Issue a Permit to Construct a Dock

In the Village of Bayville, New York (“Village”), a landowner wished to enclose and protect private property (“Lot 18”) , including the roadway thereon, against trespassers and traffic.  The landowner sought to erect crash gates on both sides of its property and across the roadway to prevent public access.  The road upon Lot 18 forms a 
Continue Reading Village’s Denial of a Permit to Fence-Off Private Road Subject to Claim for Inverse Condemnation