City Attorney May Extend Time to Act Under Variance Without Zoning Board Action

The New York Court of Appeals held today in Haberman v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Long Beach that the attorney representing the zoning board may extend the time to commence construction under the terms of a variance without action by the zoning board. The Court held, absent proof that the attorney had acted in violation of instructions from the zoning board there is no statutory prohibition against the attorney extending the time to begin building.

While action by a zoning board is required to grant a variance, the Court found there was no statutory requirement for a new hearing to extend the time to commence construction permitted by the variance. Therefore, where the variance required that construction commence within a specified time period, the attorney representing the board could grant an extension of time.