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 town-wide code amendment prohibiting apartments
Continue Reading Apartments Over Stores Are No More – In Oyster Bay
The backyard chicken movement that has been rapidly gaining momentum across the United States has firmly taken hold on Long Island. The desire for homeowners to raise chickens takes various forms and can be rewarding on many levels. For those who desire a diet of food that is GMO-free or are disturbed by media reports of inhumane conditions at commercial
Continue Reading Long Island’s Backyard Chicken Movement Tries Not to Run A-Fowl of Local Zoning Regulations
On July 3rd, Governor Cuomo announced that the state was giving the Town of Oyster Bay a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative award that will help underwrite four transformative projects in downtown Hicksville. These projects are aimed at increasing transportation access, improving walkability, and attracting new housing opportunities. Here’s what is planned with the Revitalization Initiative money.
Several Long Island municipalities have local laws that peg the issuance of certain building permits to a requirement that contractors and subcontractors be participants in a “qualified apprenticeship program” that is registered and approved by the New York State Department of Labor. While these provisions are often entitled “safe and code compliant construction” and may be perceived as fostering apprenticeship
Continue Reading Oyster Bay’s Code Provision Linking Building Permits To Qualified Apprenticeship Programs Enjoined
Today’s blog post concerns a property owner receiving substantially less than it wanted when its property was taken in an eminent domain proceeding because the “highest and best use” it claimed was applicable to the site required an area variance and a zoning change, rather than a special use permit. The awarded amount was about $1 million less than the
Continue Reading Special Use Permits Versus Area Variances: How The Difference Adversely Impacted A Property Owner In A Condemnation Proceeding