New York Zoning And Municipal Law Blog

The Appellate Division upheld the denial of area variances to permit the legalization of an addition to an accessory structure. In the Matter of Sacher v. Village of Old Brookville, the Court and the Zoning Board appear to have been influenced by the fact that the applicant had constructed the addition without benefit of a permit.

After stating the general rule that judicial review of the decisions of a zoning board are limited to “whether the action taken by the board was illegal, arbitrary, or an abuse of discretion,” the Court then reviewed the balancing test the zoning board must consider.

” A zoning board must also consider “(1) whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance; (2) whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method, feasible for the applicant to pursue, other than an area variance; (3) whether the requested area variance is substantial; (4) whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district; and (5) whether the alleged difficulty was self-created, which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the board of appeals, but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance” (Village Law § 7-712-b[3][b]).”

The Appellate Division had to once again remind a Zoning Board of Appeals that practical difficulty is no longer the test for an area variance. In Matter of Mimassi v. Town of Whitestown Zoning Board of Appeals, the Appellate Division reversed, in part, the lower court’s dismissal of the petition to review the Zoning Board’s denial of an area variance.

There were two parts to the Petitioner’s claims. The first was that the Zoning Board failed to follow precedent. The Court denied that portion of the claim. “Petitioner failed to establish that respondent’s determination on another application was based on essentially the same facts as petitioner’s present application (see Matter of 194 Main, Inc. v Board of Zoning Appeals for Town of N. Hempstead, 71 AD3d 1028, 1030; see generally Matter of Tall Trees Constr. Corp. v Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Town of Huntington, 97 NY2d 86, 93; Knight v Amelkin, 68 NY2d 975, 977).”

However, the Court reversed the lower court on the second prong of the Petition and remitted the matter for further findings, noting that the Zoning Board had failed to apply the appropriate balancing test to the area variance application.

This week the New York Court of Appeals clarified that a parking variance is an area variance, except when it is not. In Matter of Colin Realty Co. v. Town of North Hempstead, the Court concluded that, in most instances, a parking variance is an area variance. However, at the very end of the decision, the Court inserted a line that appears to open the door for further interpretation and possible confusion.

The case involves a commercial use in an older building that does not have adequate off-street parking under the more modern requirements of the amended zoning ordinance. The local zoning board granted an area variance. A neighboring property owner challenged the decision arguing, in part, that it should be a use variance. The Petitioner relied on language in Matter of Offshore Rest. Corp. v. Linden, 30 NY2d 160 (1972).

In Offshore the Court stated:

The Appellate Division, in a somewhat rare instance, upheld the denial of a special permit to expand an existing day care center. In Matter of Smyles v. Board of Trustees of Incorporated Village of Mineola, the Court found there was sufficient expert evidence that the expansion of the facility would have an adverse impact on traffic, parking and available emergency services.

“A denial of a special use permit must be supported by evidence in the record and may not be based solely upon community objection (see Matter of Green 2009, Inc. v Weiss, 114 AD3d 788; Matter of White Castle Sys., Inc. v Board of Zoning Appeals of Town of Hempstead, 93 AD3d 731). However, where evidence supporting the denial exists, deference must be given to the discretion of the authorized board, and a court may not substitute its own judgment for that of the authorized board, even if a contrary determination is supported by the record…

Here, evidence in the record, including testimony by experts in traffic and real estate and by neighboring property owners, supports the findings of the Board of Trustees of the Incorporated Village of Mineola (hereinafter the Board) that the proposed expansion of the subject day care facility into vacant retail space would result in a dangerous traffic situation, an over-intensification of land use with respect to available parking, and a hazard with respect to the provision of emergency services. Contrary to the petitioners’ contention, the Board was entitled to base its decision upon, among other things, its members’ personal knowledge and familiarity with the community (see Matter of Russia House at Kings Point, Inc. v Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Vil. of Kings Point, 67 AD3d 1019; Matter of Thirty W. Park Corp. v Zoning Bd. of Appeals of City of Long Beach, 43 AD3d 1068). Accordingly, the Board’s determination to deny a special use permit on the ground that it would not be in the best interests of the health, safety, and welfare of the community was supported by the record, and was not arbitrary and capricious.”

The Appellate Division restated the limited nature of judicial review of the decisions of a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). In Matter of Slonim v. Town of E. Hampton Zoning Bd. of Appeals, the Court noted that the ZBA properly upheld the determination of the building inspector finding that a particular retail use was pre-exisiting.

“In a CPLR article 78 proceeding to review a determination of a Zoning Board of Appeals (hereinafter the Zoning Board), which was made after a quasi-administrative proceeding, judicial review is limited to considering only whether the Zoning Board’s discretionary determination was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or irrational… Thus, the Zoning Board determination at issue in this proceeding may be set aside only if the Zoning Board acted illegally, arbitrarily, abused its discretion, or succumbed to generalized community opposition, and must be sustained if the determination has a rational basis… To the extent the phrase “substantial evidence” arises in cases involving challenges to Zoning Board determinations made after a quasi-administrative proceeding, in this context that standard is limited to examining ‘whether the record contains sufficient evidence to support the rationality of the determination’ ….”

-Steven Silverberg

A divided New York Court of Appeals validated local zoning laws of two towns that banned hydrofracking in that Town. In Matter of Wallach v. Town of Dryden, the Court held that state law did not preempt the right of local municipalities to ban certain mining activities.

The Court noted that as “… a fundamental precept, the Legislature has recognized that the local regulation of land use is ‘[a]mong the most significant powers and duties granted . . . to a town government’ (Town Law § 272-a [1] [b]).” Nonetheless, municipalities may not adopt laws that are inconsistent with State laws of general applicability. Therefore, the Court stated “… we do not lightly presume preemption where the preeminent power of a locality to regulate land use is at stake. Rather, we will invalidate a zoning law only where there is a ‘clear expression of legislative intent to preempt local control over land use’…”.

The parties challenging the local laws relied upon specific provisions in State law that provide “‘… provisions of this article [i.e., the OGSML] shall supersede all local laws or ordinances relating to the regulation of the oil, gas and solution mining industries; but shall not supersede local government jurisdiction over local roads or the rights of local governments under the real property tax law’ (ECL 23-0303 [2] [emphasis added]).”

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held there was a claim that was ripe for adjudication, in view of the ten years of delay in processing the Plaintiffs application, even though there was no final determination on Plaintiff’s subdivision application. In Sherman v. Town of Chester, the Court’s summary of the background, drawing an analogy to the novel “Catch 22,” is worth reading verbatim:

“Hungry Joe packed up his bags and wrote happy letters home. He had flown the 25 missions required to complete a tour of duty. But things were not so simple on Catch‐22’s Pianosa island. He soon discovered that Colonel Cathcart had just raised the number of missions to 30, forcing Hungry Joe to unpack his bags and rewrite his happy letters. At the time, Yossarian had flown 23 missions.The Colonel later increased the number to 35. When Yossarian was just three away from that mark, the number was increased to 40, and then to 45. When Yossarian had 44 missions under his belt, the Colonel made the number 50. And later 55. When Yossarian reached 51 missions, he knew it was no cause to celebrate: ‘He’ll raise them,’ Yossarian understood. He appealed to squadron commander Major Major to be exempted from flying his four remaining missions. ‘Every time I get close he raises them,’ Yossarian complained. Major Major responded, ‘Perhaps he won’t this time.’ But of course Yossarian was right. Colonel Cathcart raised the number to 60, then 65, then 70, then 80, with no end in sight.

Plaintiff Steven M. Sherman must have felt a lot like Yossarian in his decade of dealing with defendant Town of Chester. In 2000, Sherman applied for subdivision approval while he was in the process of buying a nearly 400 acre piece of land for $2.7 million. That application marked the beginning of his journey through the Town’s ever‐changing labyrinth of red tape. In 2003, the Town enacted a new zoning ordinance, requiring Sherman to redraft his proposed development plan. When he created a revised proposal in 2004, the Town again enacted new zoning regulations. When he created another revised plan in 2005, the Town changed its zoning laws once more. And again in 2006. And again in 2007.

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..”

-Steven Silverberg

In a case where the claim is the Not For Profit Corporation Law Article 15 (cemetery law) preempts local zoning, the Appellate Division held a local prohibition on crematories was not invalid. In Matter of Oakwood Cemetery v. Village/Town of Mt Kisco, the local cemetery claimed that a new zoning provision that prohibited a crematory could not be enforced as it was inconsistent with provisions of the Not for Profit Corporation Law that include crematories within the definition of cemetery.

In dismissing the claim, the Court found:

“although Not-for-Profit Corporation Law article 15 governs the operation of corporations which own and manage cemeteries, it does not expressly preempt zoning ordinances relating to land use by cemeteries. Further, there is no declaration of State policy in either Not-for-Profit Corporation Law article 15 or the rules and regulations promulgated under it that evinces any such intent…The Supreme Court properly determined that Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 1502(d) does not invalidate the Village’s more restrictive definition of “cemetery” under the doctrine of conflict preemption. The Not-for-Profit Corporation Law is addressed to the management of cemetery corporations, and the definition contained in the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law addresses the scope of that law. By contrast, the Village Code’s definition of “cemetery,” which excludes crematories, is addressed to land use, which is another matter entirely. Since the differing definitions of “cemetery” are addressed to differing purposes, they are not in direct conflict…”