Charette v. Town of Oyster Bay

159 F.3d 749, 1998 WL 774119
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedOctober 29, 1998
DocketDocket No. 98-7140
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 159 F.3d 749 (Charette v. Town of Oyster Bay) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Charette v. Town of Oyster Bay, 159 F.3d 749, 1998 WL 774119 (2d Cir. 1998).

Opinion

KEARSE, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Dennis Charette appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Leonard D. Wexler, Judge, denying his motion for a preliminary injunction prohibiting defendants Town of Oyster Bay (“Oyster Bay” or the “Town”) et al. from enforcing a Town zoning requirement that he obtain a permit for the operation of a topless bar, allegedly in violation of his rights under the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court denied the motion on the ground that Charette had failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits and the imminence of irreparable injury if a preliminary injunction were not granted. On appeal, Charette contends (a) that he is likely to succeed on the merits because the Town ordinance lacks sufficiently objective standards for the issuance of permits and is unconstitutional on its face and as applied to him, and (b) that he showed irreparable injury by indicating his readiness to reopen the bar upon receipt of a certificate of occupancy, which the Town has withdrawn because he has no zoning permit, and that in any event irreparable injury should be presumed from a violation of First Amendment rights. For the reasons that follow, we remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

Certain core facts are undisputed. For some 22 years, the “Raven’s Nest” was operated in Oyster Bay as a bar with live nude or topless dancing. Charette at first owned the business and rented the premises; he later purchased the premises, sold the business to M.F.B. Lounge Corp. (“MFB”), and leased the premises to MFB. In 1997, criminal proceedings were commenced against MFB and Charette in state court for violation of the Town zoning ordinance; the Town revoked the certificate of occupancy for the building [751]*751in which the “Raven’s Nest” was operated, and the Raven’s Nest was closed. The present suit was brought to require the Town to allow Charette to reopen the Raven’s Nest.

A. The Oyster Bay Zoning Ordinance

The Town’s zoning ordinance, see Town of Oyster Bay, N.Y.Code ch. 246 (1989) (“Code”), to the extent pertinent here, creates three categories of business districts: “Neighborhood” business districts, which it calls “F Business Districts” (hereafter “F Zones”), see Code art. XX, § 246-239; “General” business districts, which it calls “G Business Districts” (hereafter “G Zones”); see id. art. XXI, § 246-250; and “Central” business districts, which it calls “G1 Business Districts” (hereafter “G1 Zones”), see id. art. XXII § 246-261. The Town also has light-industry districts, which it calls “H Industrial Districts,” or “H” zones. See id. art. XXIII §§ 246-271, 246-272. The Code limits by zone the operation of certain types of establishments such as restaurants, bars, taverns, and cabarets, all of which are defined terms.

The Code defines a restaurant as follows: “A public eating place which is primarily and regularly used for serving of meals and which has suitable kitchen facilities connected therewith. Dancing is permitted only as an accessory and incidental use.” Id. § 246-1. Bars and taverns are defined as “building[s] or any part thereof in which there is primarily served or offered for sale beer, wine and/or liquor for in-house consumption.” Id. “Cabaret” is defined as “[a]ny premises where, in conjunction with the sale or service of food and/or drink to the public, patrons are entertained by performers. The concept of dinner-theater is included within this definition.” Id. The term “theater” is not defined.

With respect to F Zones, the Code provides that no building or premises may be used except for uses listed in Code § 246-239(A). The uses allowed in F Zones include restaurants with a permitted occupancy of not more than 75 persons, id. § 246-239(A)(14)(a); “bars or taverns, when permitted by the Town Board, as a special exception, after a public hearing,” id. § 246-239(A)(14)(b); and “theaters, when permitted by the Town Board, as a special exception, after a public hearing,” id. § 246-239(A)(15). Cabarets are not expressly mentioned, but the Code also allows in F Zones

[ojther uses which, in the opinion of the Town Board, after a public hearing, meet the standards set forth in § 246-18 and are of the same general character as those listed as permitted uses in this district.

Code § 246-239(A)(23).

Cabarets are listed among the uses allowed in G and G1 Zones. They are allowed in G Zones “only when permitted by the Town Board, as a special exception, after a public hearing.” Code § 246-249(A)(18)(b). Similarly, in G1 Zones, the Code allows

cabarets and nightclubs, but only on the highest floor of the building in which they are located, and only when approved as a special exception by the Town Board, after a public hearing.

Id. § 246 — 261(B)(5)(d). Further, any use that is allowed in a business district is, upon approval by the Town Board, allowed in an “H” zone. See Code § 246-272(A)(6).

As indicated in § 246-239(A)(23), the standards governing the issuance of permits for “[ojther uses ... of the same general character as those listed as permitted uses in” F Zones are set forth in Code § 246-18. The latter section requires the Town Board (or “Board”), which is the Town’s governing body, to appoint a Board of Appeals to investigate and report on matters referred to it by the Town Board. Section 246-18 requires that, before a permit may be issued, the Board of Appeals must determine that the proposed use will not disturb the orderly and reasonable use of other property in the district and adjacent districts, that “the safety, the health, the welfare, the comfort, the convenience or the order” of the Town will not be adversely affected by the proposed use, and that the use is consistent with the general purposes and intent of the Town’s zoning laws. Code § 246-18(B)(l). The Board of Appeals is also to consider the effects of the proposed use on property values, traffic, parking, recreational facilities, and sanitation; whether the use will tend to create overcrowding, gases, odors, dust, noise, or [752]*752light; and whether the use will aggravate the risk of a fire, flood, or panic. See id. § 246-18(B)(2). In “authorizing such permissive uses,” the Board of Appeals is to “impose such conditions and safeguards as it may deem appropriate, necessary or desirable to preserve and protect the spirit and objectives of’ the Code. Id. § 246-18(C). The Board of Appeals also has the power to allow variances from the Code’s requirements “so that the spirit of the chapter shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done.” Id. § 246-18(A).

B. The Raven’s Nest and the Prior Criminal Proceedings

The Raven’s Nest is located in an F Zone. Opened by Charette in February 1975, it served soft drinks and provided live entertainment in the form of topless dancers. In April 1975, Charette obtained a liquor license and thereafter served alcoholic beverages. In 1982 or 1983, state criminal proceedings were brought against Charette and his wholly-owned corporation, which then owned the Raven’s Nest, for operating a “bar/cabaret” in an F Zone without a license.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
159 F.3d 749, 1998 WL 774119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/charette-v-town-of-oyster-bay-ca2-1998.