Finding that the Village violated equal protection rights of day laborers seeking employment on the streets of the Village of Mamaroneck, the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York directed the parties to submit briefs on the issue of appropriate remedies for the day laborers. The…
A court recently reversed a zoning board determination and held that sections of a city zoning ordinance which excluded schools from commercial districts was unconstitutional, because educational institutions enjoy special treatment regardless of what zoning district they seek to build in. In Albany Preparatory Charter School v. City of Albany,…
Effective January 1, 2007 (Chapter 662 of the laws of 2006) the New York State Legislature has amended the General Municipal Law, Town Law, General City Law and Village Law to require four hours per year of training for each member of a local Planning Board and Zoning Board of…
The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court restored a previously revoked building permit issued to construct a garage, which had been completed prior to revocation of the permit. In Matter of Veece v. Town of Babylon the Court held the combined Article 78 proceeding and declaratory judgment action was…
In an Article 78 proceeding, the Appellate Division Second Department denied an applicant’s petition to compel the Department of Planning of the Town of Brookhaven to place an application for preliminary approval of a subdivision plat on the Planning Board calendar. In denying the petition, the Court in Matter of…
The Planning Board of the Town of Southeast was required to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) pursuant to SEQRA, despite the board’s belief that a SEIS was not necessary, according to a recent Appellate Division Second Department decision. The question presented in Riverkeeper v. Planning Board of Town…
Effective August 14, 2006 (Chapter 182 of the laws of 2006) the Public Officers Law, which governs FOIL requests, has been amended at section 89 (3) by adding (b) “All entities shall, provided such entity has reasonable means available, accept requests for records submitted in the form of electronic mail…
In a July 5, 2006 decision the New York Court of Appeals held that an Article 78 challenge to a rezoning was properly brought within four months of the rezoning, despite the fact that the challenge alleging SEQRA violations was brought more than four months after the SEQRA findings were…
A petition to establish a water district may be approved even when it contains technical defects if the petition substantially complies with applicable requirements. In Angelis v. Town of New Baltimore, the validity of a petition to establish a new water district was challenged. Opponents based the challenge on technical…
A court held that a four month statute of limitations period applies to an action challenging the validity of a local law on the ground that due notice of the law’s consideration was not given. In P & N Tiffany Props., v. Village of Tuckahoe, the Appellate Division Second Department…