After six years and vigorous public comment, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has adopted substantive amendments to the implementing regulations of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The new regulations take effect on January 1, 2019 and will apply to all pending and future actions for which a determination of significance has not been made
Continue Reading Long-Awaited SEQRA Amendments Are Finally Here: So What Are They, and What Do They Mean?

In 2012, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) proposed sweeping changes to its State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) regulations. These proposed changes were not adopted. Rather, five years later, in February 2017, the NYSDEC issued proposed amendments to the SEQRA regulations and a draft generic environmental impact statement, (GEIS), in which it set forth its rationale
Continue Reading The Continuing Saga Of NYSDEC’s Proposed Amendments To Its SEQRA Regulations

On December 12, 2017, the New York State Court of Appeals issued a joint decision on the appeal of two Article 78 proceedings challenging the same proposed development. The two appeals, Friends of P.S. 163 v Jewish Home Lifecare and New York State Department of Health and Wright v New York State Department of Health, sought to annul a decision
Continue Reading SEQRA Remains a Hot Topic for the NY Court of Appeals in Friends of P.S.163 v Jewish Home Lifecare and New York State Dept of Health

A recent decision by the Appellate Division decided that a village zoning code was inapplicable to a water district. As a result, the water district was able to proceed with replacement of one of its massive elevated water storage tanks and the village was powerless to use its zoning powers to either stop the construction or impose restrictions on the
Continue Reading When Governmental Entities Collide – Local Zoning Codes May Be The Loser

After Hurricane Sandy devastated Long Beach and its boardwalk in 2012, officials sought to reconstruct the city’s iconic esplanade. As part of the rebuild, the Long Beach City Council determined to award contracts for the construction of comfort stations along the wooden promenade, including a comfort station at Lincoln Boulevard which would be installed as a “bump-out,” extending northwardly approximately
Continue Reading Comfort Stations May Be Permitted Uses of Public Streets

Petitioners, residents and nearby occupants (“Petitioners”), commenced a hybrid Article 78 proceeding and declaratory judgment action against the Planning Board of the Village of Tuckahoe (“Board”) and others in Murphy v. Planning Board of Tuckahoe (Sup. Ct. Westchester County 2017), to annul a negative declaration issued by the Board. The Board initially issued a conditional
Continue Reading SEQRA Permits Lead Agency To Remove Conditions from Conditional Declarations

seqraThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“NYSDEC”) proposed significant changes to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) regulations almost 5 years ago. The NYSDEC recently indicated that these proposed regulations finally will be enacted this year. The proposed regulations will streamline the SEQRA process. This post discusses changes to Type II actions under the proposed regulations.

Type


Continue Reading Type II Actions Will Be Expanded Under NYSDEC’S Proposed Changes To SEQRA Regulations

Canoe Place Inn, Hampton Bays
Canoe Place Inn, Hampton Bays, photo credit: www.27east.com

The Town of Southampton re-zoned three properties located in Hampton Bays adjacent or close to the Shinnecock Canal by amending the Town’s Zoning Code to add section 330-248(V), creating the Canoe Place Inn, Canal and Eastern District Maritime Planned Development District. This local law, adopted on January 13,
Continue Reading Citizens Group Has Standing to Challenge Town of Southampton’s Canoe Place Inn Planned Development District

In July 2012, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“NYSDEC”)  proposed significant amendments to the regulations that implement the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”).[1]  The proposed changes will mandate certain steps that are currently optional, will lower threshold triggers for SEQRA review and will reclassify certain actions to change the level of SEQRA review.

Scoping, a

Continue Reading Revisions to SEQRA Regulations