The Appellate Division overturned a determination by the Albany Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) that found an event at which the audience stands is not a permitted use of an auditorium. In Matter of Albany Basketball & Sports Corp. v. City of Albany, the Court held, since the issue was one of “pure legal interpretation”, the determination of the BZA was not entitled to deference.
“The BZA correctly noted that certain dictionaries define an ‘auditorium’ as ‘the area of a concert hall, theatre, school, etc, in which the audience sits’ (Harper Collins Online Dictionary, http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ auditorium [accessed Feb. 28, 2014] [British English Dictionary]) or as ‘the part of a public building where an audience sits’ (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/auditorium [accessed Feb. 28, 2014]). Based on these definitions, the BZA determined that petitioner’s use of the Armory for a ‘Rave’ party, nightclub, dance club, or other similar event’ was inconsistent with the permitted use of an auditorium, because such events did not provide for ‘actual fixed seating.’… However, the BZA ignored alternative definitions of an auditorium – set forth in the same dictionaries it used – as ‘a building for public gatherings or meetings’ (http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american/auditorium [accessed Feb. 28, 2014]) or ‘a large room or building where people gather to watch a performance, hear a speech, etc.’ (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/auditorium [accessed Feb. 28, 2014]), which make no reference to an audience sitting …. Even if petitioner’s proposed uses of the Armory are inconsistent with the definitions relied on by the BZA, they are entirely consistent with the commonly used alternative definitions. Resolving, as we must, any ambiguity in favor of petitioner, we conclude that the BZA’s determination that the proposed use was impermissible – based solely upon its limited interpretation of the definition of auditorium as requiring fixed seating, to the exclusion of other commonly accepted definitions – was irrational and unreasonable … and must be annulled..”