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

When requesting deviation from setback minimums or minimum lot size requirements, a developer must request an area variance. Even if the lots are zoned residential and the developer only wants to build a single-family residence, there is no guarantee that a Zoning Board of Appeals will allow deviations and grant an area variance, as in Matter of Stelling v. Gaudioso
Continue Reading How Small is Too Small of a Lot? Limits on Area Variances for Subdivisions

In April 2019, this blog discussed Committee for Environmentally Sound Development v. Amsterdam Avenue Development Associates, LLC, 2019 WL 1206357, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 30621(U) (Sup. Ct. New York Co., March 14, 2019), a case in which the New York County Supreme Court granted an Article 78 petition to annul a 2018 resolution by the New York City Board
Continue Reading Appellate Division Reverses Prior Decision Requiring Developer to Remove Upper Stories of Residential Skyscraper