New York Zoning And Municipal Law Blog

The Appellate Division found that a site plan approval obtained in the early 1970’s did not create a vested right in the zoning that was subsequently amended, even though 204 of the 330 approved units were constructed and funds were expended on infrastructure that would have served the second phase of development. In the case of RC Enterprises v. Town of Patterson, the Appellate Division, Second Department found the petitioner, who had purchased the property in 1979 from the original developer of the first phase, had abandoned the plan to develop the second phase “as demonstrated by its failure to act over a period of decades.”

In concluding there were no vested rights, the Court restated the rule that in seeking to claim vested rights in a permit after zoning has changed there must be substantial expenditures and substantial construction under the original zoning. Therefore a landowner must demonstrate its actions were: “so substantial that the municipal action withdrawing the permit results in serious loss.” The Court found that although there was a contention that certain improvements for phase 1 of the development were built with extra capacity to serve phase 2, the improvements had been used for nearly 30 years to benefit phase 1 and in the case of a sewerage treatment plant there were additional improvements mandated after construction in order to just serve phase 1.

The rule in New York has long been that if enough work can be completed that may only be used under the proposed permit the rights in the existing zoning have vested. There is now a clear message that the project also has to be completed as vesting does not last forever.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a decision by the district court that found a property owner was not bound by a restriction contained in an old subdivision and that the Town had violated the property owners’ rights by refusing to issue a certificate of occupancy for a house on the property (O’Mara v Town of Wappinger). At the heart of the case is whether, under New York law, a notation on a subdivision map that was never recorded in the chain of title to the property binds subsequent purchasers of that property.

The O’Mara’s, as a result of a tax foreclosure, purchased vacant land for which they received a building permit for a house and temporary certificate of occupancy before the Town declared that the land was supposed to be retained as vacant open space and issued a stop work order. The lot in question was part of a 1963 subdivision which contained a notation that the lot was “open space”. Yet there was no other record in the county clerk’s office that would alert a purchaser of any restriction and the map was not recorded in land records in the manner of a deed so that it would appear in a search of the title.

The Circuit Court held that it could find no case law on the issue of whether such an open space restriction, noted solely on a subdivision map, is binding on subsequent purchasers. It therefore certified the question to the New York Court of Appeals. Having concluded there was no clear answer to that question, the Court also reversed the finding of the district court that the refusal by the Town to issue a certificate of occupancy was a violation of 42 U.S.C. section 1983. Instead the Court held that, as the meaning of the law was uncertain, the O’Mara’s had no “clear entitlement”. The Court held that even were the New York Court of Appeals to subsequently determine the 1963 open space restriction is not binding “the uncertainty that leads us to certify this issue means the O’Maras did not have a ‘clear entitlement’ to a certificate of occupancy and therefore no cognizable property interest that would support a violation of their right to substantive due process”.

The Appellate Division Second Department reversed the denial of an area variance where the Zoning Board previously granted a similar variance and gave no reason for a contrary result. In Matter of Aliperti v Trotta, the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Brookhaven denied an area variance for the size of a home after it had previously granted the same variance for the adjoining parcel several years earlier.

The Court found that the Board “articulated no rational basis for reaching a different result on essentially the same facts”. It therefore reversed the determination of the Zoning Board denying the area variance.

A Court held that a challenge to the imposition of fees for the services of engineers and attorneys retained by a town to review and assess the petitioner’s application for approval of a subdivision must be brought within four months of the date the Town unambiguously notified the petitioner that payment was required and the application would not proceed until the petitioner paid the fees.

In an action to recover some of the fees paid, the Appellate Division Third Department, in Properties of New York, Inc. v. Planning Board of the Town of Stuyvesant, noted the Court of Appeals has established a two-part test for when an administrative action is final and binding: “First, the agency must have reached a definitive position on the issue that inflicts actual, concrete injury and second, the injury inflicted may not be prevented or significantly ameliorated either by further administrative action or by steps available to the complaining party.”

The petitioner had argued that the charging of the fees was part of the subdivision approval process and would not be complete until the final plat was endorsed. The Court held the endorsement of the plat did not alter the petitioner’s obligation to pay and, therefore, the court found the petitioner suffered the concrete injury when the fees were imposed, rather than when the final approval of the plat was granted. There was no alternative or opportunity for amelioration because there was a definite obligation to pay the fees. Finally, the court held that the petitioner’s demand for an audit and return of fees paid was effectively a request for reconsideration and did not extend the statute of limitations.