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, the New York Supreme Court, Suffolk County, denied an application for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the completion, maintenance and operation of two sixty-foot tall electronic billboard-monuments (“Project”) on opposite sides of State Route 27 a.k.a. Sunrise Highway, which Project is owned by the Shinnecock Indian Nation (“Nation”).

A.  The Project and the State’s Action

In or
Continue Reading Court Denies Preliminary Injunction to Enjoin Shinnecock Nation’s Project along Sunrise Highway

Residents of the Village of East Williston have prevailed (for now) over the East Williston Union Free School District’s plan to install a six-foot tall perimeter fence at the North Side School in the Village of East Williston, Nassau County. On October 4, 2019, Judge Sharon M.J. Gianelli handed down a Decision and Order (‘Decision”) enjoining the School District from
Continue Reading Supreme Court Reminds: Schools are Special, but Not Exempt When It Comes to Local Zoning

The generally accepted practice in towns and villages throughout New York is that public and private schools need not comply with the zoning rules applicable to other property owners.  However, the Appellate Division, Third Department, recently issued a decision, in Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District v Town of Bethlehem, that clarified that zoning laws do apply to schools, except in
Continue Reading Appellate Court Concludes that Schools are not Exempt from Local Zoning Regulations