The Appellate Division granted a petition challenging condemnation of property on the grounds that the Town segmented the review of the project in violation of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). In Matter of J. Owens Building Co., Inc. V. Town of Clarkstown the Court held the proposed condemnation of a parcel, to be used in order to aid drainage for a larger project, improperly failed to consider the environmental impacts of the entire project before making environmental findings.
Noting that the overall project was not hypothetical or speculative the Court stated:
“The respondents sought to acquire the petitioners’ property for the purpose of, among other things, drainage and storm water management improvements (hereinafter the drainage plan) in connection with a larger project known as the West Nyack Downtown Revitalization Project. The record reflects that the drainage plan ‘is a key component to the overall revitalization plans for the Hamlet’ of West Nyack. Even though the drainage plan was part of the larger revitalization project, the Town Board, acting as the lead agency, studied only the potential impact of the drainage plan during its SEQRA review. However, under SEQRA, the Town Board was obligated to consider the environmental concerns raised by the entire project…”.
The Court remitted the matter for the Town to either review the entire project or to make findings pursuant to 6 NYCRR 617.3(g)(1) that such a review is not necessary to be fully protective of the environment.