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Appellate Court Holds Adjoining Municipalities May Sue Under SEQRA To Protect Community Character

By Steven Silverberg and Katherine Zalantis

In a comprehensive review of the capacity and standing of one municipality to sue another over local zoning, the Appellate Division, Second Department, in Matter of Village of Chestnut Ridge v. Town of Ramapo, held that villages have the capacity to sue a town over a local law enacting a zoning amendment. Yet the Court also found their standing is limited to SEQRA and General Municipal Law compliance rather than the local law?s consistency with a comprehensive plan. The Town had adopted a zoning amendment by local law which permitted adult student housing. The law applied to four parcels of land near or adjacent to the boundary of four Villages located in the Town. The four villages and two individuals commenced a combined Article 78/declaratory judgment action challenging the local law, and subsequent actions which incorporated the local law...continue to full post

Full post as published by New York Zoning and Municipal Law Blog on August 19, 2007 (boomark / email).