NY Appellate Court Affirms Decision to Grant Area Variances Due To Lack Of Standing and The ZBA’s Proper Consideration of Facts and Alternatives

This post was authored by Tyler Doan, Esq.

Petitioner owns property on one side of a road. Respondent owns roughly 6.8 acres across the road from Petitioner that contains a two-story 97 room hotel. Both properties are located within a Highway Commercial zoning district which exists “to encourage a full range of commercial activity along major highways.” The two properties are surrounded by other commercial properties.

In 2015 Respondent applied to the ZBA for an area variance to construct two new hotels on its property. In a determination dated January 28, 2016, the ZBA granted the variances. In a CPLR

New York Appellate Court Determines That Maintaining Status Quo Is Essential to Combat Mootness in Challenging ZBA Variance Actions

This post was authored by Tyler Doan, Esq.

Petitioner owns real property on a short dead end roadway in the City of Ithaca abutting Summit Avenue. An adjacent property, that Summit Ave is on, has been owned by various entities during the relevant period. In 2017, after the then owner of the subject property blocked a portion of Summit Ave on the property in preparation for constructing an apartment complex there, the Petitioner commenced and an action contending, among other things, that it had a right of unobstructed access to Summit Ave because the roadway was either a public street

Ken Paxton won’t testify at impeachment trial before the Texas Senate

Ken Paxton won’t testify at impeachment trial before the Texas Senate

Suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will not testify at a September impeachment trial in the Senate that could end with his permanent removal as the state’s top attorney, his own attorney said in a statement Tuesday, adding that he will not “dignify” the process.

Paxton has denounced a Texas House investigation that led to 20 articles of impeachment against him, with his attorney saying in the statement that Paxton was not afforded the opportunity to defend himself and that House prosecutors now “want to ambush him on the floor of the Senate .”

“They had every opportunity to have

GA Appeals Court Affirms that Board of Commissioners Acted in a Legislative Capacity When Placing Condition on a Rezoning and not in a Quasi-Judicial Capacity

This post was authored by Tyler Doan, Esq.

Cook Communities (Cook) bought roughly 32.6 acres of land in Hall County to build approximately 200 attached townhomes. At the time of purchase, the land was zoned for agricultural housing. Cook sought to have the zoning map changed and the property rezoned as planned residential development. Cook argued that a denial of its request would be “an unconstitutional restriction on the use of the property” and “abolish or damage [its] property rights” without fair and just compensation in violation of both state and federal constitutions. In January of 2022 the local planning

Second Circuit Court of Appeals Denies Intervention in TCA Case, Citing Adequate Representation and Avoidance of Delay

This post was authored by Amy Lavine, Esq.

in Extenet Systems, LLC v. Village of Kings Pointthe Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of eight residents’ motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by ExteNet against the village for violations of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The court rejected the residents’ claims that intervention was necessary to protect their properties from the alleged aesthetic and economic impacts that would be caused by the installation of wireless cellular equipment on nearby properties. As the court explained, it was reasonable for the district court to conclude that the residents’

US attorney leading Hunter Biden probe breaks silence on claims investigation was ‘influenced by politics’

The US attorney in charge of the Hunter Biden investigation broke his silence Friday following explosive whistleblower allegations that his probe was “influenced by politics” and that he was “hamstrung” when making prosecutorial decisions, while denying Congress the records it requested for its oversight efforts .

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan last month requested US Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss turned over materials related to those allegations.

Weiss responded in a letter Friday evening, saying he is “not at liberty to provide the materials you seek.”

HOUSE GOP DEMAND TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS FROM HUNTER BIDEN PROSECUTOR, DOJ,

GA Appeals Court Finds No Vested Rights and that a Valid Moratorium Existed

This post was authored by Sebastian Perez, JD

The question before the Court of Appeals of Georgia (the “Court”) was at what point a landowner had vested rights in real property where Plaintiff purchased the subject property (the “Property”) to develop 9,000 square foot lots when the county’s zoning code (the “Code”) allowed for such density at the time but was later amended to require larger sizes. After the county, where the Property was located, passed, and extended a moratorium on processing land disturbance permits, the Plaintiff’s application to develop the Property was returned due to the moratorium. Plaintiff sought

NY Appellate Court Dismisses SEQRA and Consistency with LWRP and Zoning Ordinance Claims Finding the Matter Moot

Posted by: Patricia Salkin | June 30, 2023

NY Appellate Court Dismisses SEQRA and Consistency with LWRP and Zoning Ordinance Claims Finding the Matter Moot

Petitioners brought an Article 78 proceeding to annul the determination of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation issuing a negative declaration pursuant to SEQRA with respect to a construction project and to annual the determination of the City of Buffalo that the project was consistent with the City’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and the City’s zoning ordinance. However, the petitioner did not move for preliminary injunctive relief to enjoin the construction from continuing pending the