City of New York v. Seguine Bay Estates LLC

56 Misc. 3d 1081, 56 N.Y.S.3d 796
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMay 7, 2017
StatusPublished

This text of 56 Misc. 3d 1081 (City of New York v. Seguine Bay Estates 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
City of New York v. Seguine Bay Estates LLC, 56 Misc. 3d 1081, 56 N.Y.S.3d 796 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Philip S. Straniere, J.

“Avram: He’s right and he’s right? They both can’t be right.
“Tevye: You know . . . you are also right.”1

Plaintiffs, City of New York and the Landmarks Preservation Commission, commenced this action to compel the defendants, Seguine Bay Estates LLC, Leo Tallo and the land and buildings thereon known as 509 Seguine Avenue, also known as block 6666, lot 1 in the County of Richmond, City and State of New York, to comply with the order of the Landmarks Commission issued pursuant to title 25, chapter 3 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York to maintain in good repair [1083]*1083the building known as 509 Seguine Avenue, Staten Island, New York, also known as the Manee-Seguine Homestead.

After a trial on the issues raised in plaintiffs’ complaint and defendants’ answer, the court rendered a written decision dated December 29, 2016 (54 Mise 3d 1204[A], 2016 NY Slip Op 51844[U] [Sup Ct, Richmond County 2016]) in which it determined that the Manee-Seguine Homestead is a structure of historical significance and should be preserved; defendants were each “a person in charge” as defined in Administrative Code of the City of New York § 25-302 (t) and they had failed to maintain the premises as required by the statute (Administrative Code § 25-311) and to comply with the order of Landmarks to do so. The court assessed a penalty of $5,000 a day, the maximum permitted by the statute (Administrative Code § 25-317.1). The total penalty assessed for the period of noncompliance, March 2, 2012 to December 2, 2016, was $8,550,000. To date defendants have not complied with the Landmarks order, nor have the plaintiffs taken any steps to place the premises in good repair. For the period December 2, 2016 to May 2, 2017, an additional $750,000 in penalties have accrued.

The court set a hearing on the issue of whether the statute (Administrative Code § 25-317.1) limited any penalty to the fair market value of the property with or without improvements or if the total fine assessed by the court in its decision is valid.

A hearing was held on March 7 and 8, 2017. Both sides produced expert testimony as to the fair market value of the property.

The statute in question provides:

“§ 25-317.1 Civil penalties.
“a. Any person who violates any provision of sections 25-305, 25-310 or 25-311 or subdivision c of section 25-317 of this chapter or any order ... by the chair with respect to such provisions shall be liable for a civil penalty which may be recovered by the corporation counsel in a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction. Such civil penalty shall be determined as follows:
“(1) The defendant shall be liable for a civil penalty of up to the fair market value of the improvement parcel, with or without the improvement, whichever is greater . . . .” (Administrative Code § 25-317.1.)

[1084]*1084The court asked each side to produce expert testimony as to the fair market value of the parcel with or without the improvement. As noted by the above quote from “Fiddler on the Roof,” when expert testimony is involved, you may wind up with a situation when both experts are right.

You would also presume that an assignment to opine on the fair market value of the parcel with or without the improvement would be a relatively easy task and although the conclusions may differ, what was being compared would be similar. If that’s what you think, “then you’ve got another think coming.”2

Regarding the fair market value of the property with the improvement, the experts compared apples to apples. One may have been using McIntosh and the other Granny Smiths but they were both in the apple family. However, their opinions on the unimproved parcel contained substantial differences between the experts. The court received a comparison between defendants’ apples and plaintiffs’ oranges.

Defendants’ appraisal expert opined as to the value of the parcel without improvements but with all of the existing governmental restrictions, including the landmark designation, still in place. Plaintiffs’ appraisal expert based his opinion on the value of the parcel with the landmark designation having been removed so that the entire 21,000-square-foot lot would be considered vacant land. So as noted by Tevye, perhaps, they both are right.

Both experts rejected the income approach of fixing fair market value as not being applicable. Both experts discounted the C-l commercial overlay as being a viable development option as the parcel is located in a residential area and both believed that the widening of Seguine Avenue to its mapped width had little or no effect on the property value. Both agreed that the landmark designation in this situation rather than enhance the market value of the property actually was a serious detriment. Neither expert took into account the purchase price of the property by defendants in September 2009 of $465,000 nor gave any relevancy to the fact that the Department of Taxation and Finance fixed the market value of the property at $445,000 for fiscal year 2016-2017 as required by Real Property Tax Law § 1200.

Because defendants were challenging the court’s finding and the assessment of the penalty, it was determined that their expert would testify first.

[1085]*1085I. Defendants’ Appraisal Expert

There is a traditional song contained in the Passover Hag-gadah known as “Dayenu.” The Hebrew word translates as “it would have been enough.” The best way to describe defendants’ expert’s testimony is to shout “dayenu”—“it would have been enough”—after each governmental restriction affecting this parcel is explained, leading to a conclusion that taken together the restrictions currently in place are “more than enough” to make the property valueless for appraisal purposes and amount to a taking under the law requiring just compensation to the defendants.

The parcel is now zoned R3X, a residential designation limited to detached one- and two-family houses. This designation is more restrictive than the zoning in place when the property was purchased by the defendants in 2009. An initial plan in 2004 by a prior owner and approved by Landmarks proposing the construction of four attached houses near the corner of Seguine Avenue and Purdy Place is no longer permissible under current zoning and revised flood and wetlands maps. It is irrelevant to any discussion of current development options.

Under R3X there are certain height restrictions for each building. The property also has a commercial overlay which would permit limited commercial development, but both experts rejected this as a potential use. To develop the parcel for residential purposes would require subdividing the property into buildable lots and dealing with the Department of Finance as well as the Department of Buildings. If the parcel was only subject to R3X zoning and compliance with all Department of Buildings requirements, Dayenu.

The parcel is part of the Special South Richmond Development District (SRD), which further restricts development regarding lot size, the number of trees, setbacks from the street, and side and rear yard distances.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 Misc. 3d 1081, 56 N.Y.S.3d 796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-new-york-v-seguine-bay-estates-llc-nysupct-2017.