420 Tenants Corp. v. EBM Long Beach, LLC

14 Misc. 3d 224
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 24, 2006
StatusPublished

This text of 14 Misc. 3d 224 (420 Tenants Corp. v. EBM Long Beach, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
420 Tenants Corp. v. EBM Long Beach, LLC, 14 Misc. 3d 224 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2006).

Opinion

[225]*225OPINION OF THE COURT

Thomas P. Phelan, J.

Application by petitioner 420 Tenants Corp. to vacate the decision of the Building Commissioner of the City of Long Beach granting building permit No. 00A38444 to Aqua Construction Corp. or, in the alternative, to compel the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Long Beach to provide the materials necessary to file an appeal of the decision and for injunctive relief is granted to the limited extent set forth herein and is in all other respects denied.

Respective cross motions by respondents EBM Long Beach, LLC, Aqua and Brighton Associates and by respondent Zoning Board to dismiss the petition pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7) are determined as hereinafter provided.

Petitioner seeks, inter alia, to revoke building permit No. 00A38444 issued to respondent Aqua on or about July 20, 2006 authorizing construction of an eight-story, 36-unit residential apartment complex to be located at 403 East Boardwalk, Long Beach, New York (residence L district) immediately adjacent to 75 residential units situated at 420 Shore Road, on the grounds that the permit was issued without the requisite site plan approval mandated by Code of Ordinances of the City of Long Beach § 7-40.

According to respondent EBM, the contract vendee or present owner of the subject premises, the property was previously encumbered by an adult home which housed 130 indigent residents, many of whom were developmentally disabled. As further represented by EBM, the New York State Department of Health approved a closure plan submitted by respondent Brighton Associates, the contract vendor of the premises, which thereafter emptied said premises. Demolition of the home was nearly complete when petitioner commenced this proceeding.

Petitioner contends that had the project been presented to the planning board, the site plan would not have been approved as it fails to comply with the Code of Ordinances applicable to construction projects within a residence L district. In this regard, petitioner argues that the area variance, issued in connection with the proposed construction, improperly relieves EBM from complying with height, lot area, building area, front, side and rear yard zoning code requirements.

Petitioner further contends that it was prevented from challenging the Building Commissioner’s decision to issue the build[226]*226ing permit because respondent Zoning Board denied its request for a zoning package and radius map advising, by letter dated August 8, 2006, that “there is no basis for . . . submission of an application to the Zoning Board of Appeals” and that “[a]ll matters relating to the referenced property have been decided, or await decision, by the appropriate courts of law.” Thereupon, petitioner commenced the instant proceeding seeking, inter alia, to annul the challenged building permit. The proceeding, however, is only the latest in a rather lengthy series of legal maneuvers designed, according to respondents EBM and Aqua, to derail the $40,000,000 construction project.

The litigation history includes a prior CPLR article 78 proceeding, brought by 43 of Tenants’ shareholders and/or residents, among others, against EBM and the Zoning Board challenging the area variance granted in connection with the project. That proceeding was dismissed by order dated September 28, 2005 (O’Connell, J.). A subsequent request to enjoin the Building Commissioner of the City of Long Beach from issuing any building permits, and to enjoin EBM from performing any destruction/construction activities at the premises, pending the determination of the appeal of Justice O’Connell’s order, was denied by order of the Appellate Division, Second Department, dated May 18, 2006.

Further litigation ensued after the Zoning Board, on March 2, 2006, granted EBM a six-month extension of time in which to commence construction. More specifically, on May 17, 2006 Tenants commenced a declaratory judgment action challenging issuance of the extension and seeking a permanent injunction preventing EBM from taking any action authorized by the purported variance. By order dated June 8, 2006 (Cozzens, J.), the complaint was dismissed as untimely and the request for declaratory and preliminary injunctive relief was denied. The court adhered to its original decision dismissing the complaint and denying injunctive relief by short form order dated July 24, 2006 (Cozzens, J.) following Tenants’ motion to reargue. By order of the Appellate Division, Second Department, dated August 3, 2006, petitioner’s motion to enjoin EBM from, inter alia, commencing construction of the subject premises, pending determination of the appeals of the two orders dated June 8, 2006 and July 24, 2006, was denied.

Pursuant to section 7-28 of the Code of Ordinances, among the powers of the Building Commissioner is that of issuing permits for the erection of new buildings and alteration of exist[227]*227ing buildings within the City of Long Beach. There is no basis, therefore, to argue, as petitioner purports to do, that by issuing the challenged building permit, the Building Commissioner exceeded his jurisdiction. Nor is there any validity to petitioner’s contention that the building permit at issue herein was granted in violation of Code § 7-40.

The record establishes that on January 5, 1960 the City Council of the City of Long Beach established a planning board by Resolution No. 12. Pursuant to Ordinance No. 1193/73 (Dec. 18, 1973), the Municipal Code of the City of Long Beach was amended by adding section 10-203.5, later renumbered section 10-203.6 and now known as Code § 7-40. This section provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

“In all cases where the owner files an application for a building permit with the building department for the construction or alteration of new buildings containing twelve (12) or more dwelling units in any multiple residence district, he shall simultaneously therewith file a copy of said site plan and copy of pertinent plans with the planning board. No building permit for same shall be issued by the commissioner of the building department until the planning board shall first approve the site plan of the proposed building as hereinafter set forth” (Code of Ordinances § 7-40).

On June 17, 1975, the Department of City Planning and Development was created by local law adopted by the City Council of the City of Long Beach. On that same date, by Resolution No. 143/75 the City Council abolished the planning board since “such Planning Board will no longer be required as a result of the adoption of [the] Local Law [creating the Department of City Planning and Development].” The planning advisory board was similarly abolished at the same time (Resolution No. 142/75).

Here, the court is confronted with a situation in which the passage of City Council Resolution Nos. 142/75 and 143/75, abolishing the planning advisory board and the planning board, made it impossible for an applicant to gain site plan approval from a nonexistent planning board as would otherwise be required by Code § 7-40. Code § 7-40 is, therefore, incompatible with, and repugnant to, the subsequent City Council resolutions.

There is nothing offered by petitioner to refute the statement by the current City Manager of the City of Long Beach, who [228]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Matter of Beckmann v. Talbot
15 N.E.2d 556 (New York Court of Appeals, 1938)
Albano v. Kirby
330 N.E.2d 615 (New York Court of Appeals, 1975)
Alweis v. Evans
505 N.E.2d 605 (New York Court of Appeals, 1987)
New York Public Interest Research Group v. Dinkins
632 N.E.2d 1255 (New York Court of Appeals, 1994)
Milbrandt & Co. v. Griffin
1 A.D.3d 327 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2003)
District Council 37 v. City of New York
22 A.D.3d 279 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2005)
Thorsen v. Nassau County Civil Service Commission
32 A.D.3d 1037 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2006)
Tommy v. Department of Consumer Affairs
95 A.D.2d 724 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1983)
Gandolfo v. White
224 A.D.2d 526 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
Skaggs-Walsh, Inc. v. Chmiel
224 A.D.2d 680 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
Koultukis v. Phillips
285 A.D.2d 433 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2001)
Neos v. Lacey
291 A.D.2d 434 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
14 Misc. 3d 224, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/420-tenants-corp-v-ebm-long-beach-llc-nysupct-2006.