Cohen v. Incorporated Village of Valley Stream

23 Misc. 2d 1017, 189 N.Y.S.2d 110, 1959 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3562
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJune 3, 1959
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 23 Misc. 2d 1017 (Cohen v. Incorporated Village of Valley Stream) 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
Cohen v. Incorporated Village of Valley Stream, 23 Misc. 2d 1017, 189 N.Y.S.2d 110, 1959 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3562 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1959).

Opinion

Edward Robinson, Jr., J.

This is an action seeking to declare certain amendments to the Building Zone Ordinance of the Incorporated Village of Valley Stream ineffective, unconstitutional and void as to the use of the plaintiffs’ property and adjudging that the plaintiffs are entitled to a permit for the erection, maintenance and operation of a gasoline service station.

The grounds upon which the plaintiffs claim the amendments are invalid are as follows: (1) That the defendants-failed to give proper notice of the public hearing on the adoption of the amendment of June 9, 1958; (2) That the defendants failed to personally serve the plaintiffs with certified copies of the amendment of June 9, 1958; (3) That the amendment of August 10, 1954, authorizing the granting of a special permit for a gasoline [1019]*1019service station was unconstitutional in that no standards or safeguards were provided for therein; (4) That the amendment of June 9, 1958 is unconstitutional in that its enactment was solely for the purpose of eliminating gasoline service stations on the two arterial highways of the village; (5) That both amendments of August, 1954 and June, 1958 are unconstitutional in that they are not part of any comprehensive plan in connection with the zoning uses of the village.

From the evidence adduced, it appears that the Village of Valley Stream enacted its Building Zone Ordinance on November 10, 1952, and as a result the village was divided into various use districts. At that time the property owned by the plaintiffs other than the plaintiff Sun Oil Company, was placed in the C-2 district which was designated as “ General Commercial District ”. The “ Schedule of Regulations ” of the said Building Zone Ordinance permitted gasoline service stations in the C-2 district, together with any use designated in a C-l district, which by virtue of said ordinances, was designated as a more restricted district.

Thereafter on the 10th day of May, 1954 the Board of Trustees amended the Building Zone Ordinance by adding a new section 12-A, which provided as follows: “Whenever the Board of Trustees proposes to change the use district classification of any particular parcel of land, the Board of Trustees shall give notice of the proposed change of use district together with a notice of hearing thereon, by mailing postal card notices thereof at least ten days before the date of the said hearing, to the owners of all land lying within a distance of 300 feet from the exterior boundaries of the land involved in such proposed change of use district as the names of said owners appear on the last completed assessment roll of the Village.”

On August 10, 1954 the board amended the ordinance to provide that a gasoline station permit must be obtained from the Board of Trustees as a special use in a C-l district. By virtue of the operation of the provisions of the ordinance, this amendment also applied to the C-2 district.

The plaintiff Sun Oil Company entered into a lease of the premises conditioned upon the obtaining of the special use permit. The application for same was made on May 2, 1958. A hearing was held on May 26, 1958 and the board reserved decision.

On the 9th day of June, 1958 the defendant board further amended the Building Zone Ordinance by repealing and eliminating in a C-l district (and consequently in a C-2 district) the granting of a special permit by the Board of Trustees for gaso[1020]*1020line service stations and by adding to permitted uses in an industrial district, the use of gasoline service stations. At the same meeting wherein the above amendment was adopted, the board denied the application of the plaintiff Sun Oil Company made the 2nd day of May, 1958. By virtue of the last amendment gasoline service stations were limited to industrial districts.

The property which is the subject of this proceeding is located on the southwest corner of Sunrise Highway and Franklin Avenue, being 150 feet on Sunrise Highway and approximately 195 feet on Franklin Avenue. Plaintiff’s application for a special permit included only the front 110 feet of the premises. Sunrise Highway is one of the main arterial roads running east and west and is heavily travelled. Located on the premises is a diner which serves about 500 people daily, and a parking field for such patrons.

Further from the evidence adduced, the court finds that there are presently only four vacant parcels of property in the ‘ ‘ Industrial District ’ ’ on the west side of the village and one parcel of vacant land in the Industrial District ” located near the railroad branch.

The existing uses of the property in the area of plaintiffs’ premises are gasoline service stations, new car agencies, a lumber yard used in connection with a business of building wooden fences, a car wash establishment and businesses of like nature.

The first ground of invalidity set forth above, that is, the claim that the failure to serve notice of the proposed amendment of June 9, 1958 on plaintiffs renders such amendment invalid and of no force or effect, is not tenable. Section 12-a required no notice to plaintiffs. The section requires that notice be given to all owners of property ‘1 lying within a distance of 300 feet from the exterior boundaries of the land involved.” The language of the section, by its wording, excludes the owners of property lying within the area of proposed change. There has been no proof that the plaintiffs are the owners of any property except that which is the subject of this proceeding which, of course, is situate within the area of change. Moreover, section 12-a refers to a proposed change of “ the use district classification of any particular parcel of land ”. The court holds that this requirement does not apply to a change of the uses allowed in any given district.

The second ground of invalidity is likewise without merit. The fact that the defendants had not caused a certified copy of the amendment of June 9, 1958 to be served personally upon the plaintiffs did not render the said amendment invalid. [1021]*1021Section 95 of the Village Law does not require personal service of the amendment to validate the same. This section provides that promulgation is complied with by publishing and posting pursuant to the first sentence contained therein. Ten days thereafter the amendment becomes effective. The last sentence merely accelerates the effective date to the day of personal service on any individual.

The third contention that the failure of the amendment adopted August 10, 1954 authorizing a gasoline service station use only upon the granting of a special permit therefor, to provide for standards or safeguards on which to base the granting or denial of the application, renders it unconstitutional, cannot be sustained. (Matter of Green Point Sav. Bank v. Board of Zoning Appeals, 281 N. Y. 534, 538.)

In their final contentions, the plaintiffs urge that the action of the Village Board was unreasonable and therefore void; and that both the amendments of August 10, 1954 and June 9, 1958 are unconstitutional in that they are not part of a comprehensive plan in connection with the zoning uses of the village. In support of these contentions they allege that the Village Board deliberately held up its decision upon their application for a special exception until the amendment of June 9, 1958 could be accomplished.

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

Related

Ben Lomond, Inc. v. City of Idaho Falls
448 P.2d 209 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1968)
Schneider v. Lazarov
390 S.W.2d 197 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 Misc. 2d 1017, 189 N.Y.S.2d 110, 1959 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3562, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cohen-v-incorporated-village-of-valley-stream-nysupct-1959.