Greens at Half Hollow, LLC v. Town of Huntington

15 Misc. 3d 415
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 18, 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 15 Misc. 3d 415 (Greens at Half Hollow, LLC v. Town of Huntington) 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
Greens at Half Hollow, LLC v. Town of Huntington, 15 Misc. 3d 415 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Peter Fox Cohalan, J.

This proceeding was brought by the plaintiff, Greens at Half Hollow, LLC, by way of a summons and verified complaint, and subsequently joined in by the plaintiffs-intervenors, Jonathan Lippman, in his capacity as Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts, and the New York State Unified Court System (hereinafter UCS), seeking a declaratory judgment declaring Local Law No. 26-2002 of the Town of Huntington as codified in Town Code of the Town of Huntington § 198-125 (B) unconstitutional as enacted by the Town Board of the Town of Huntington, Long Island, New York. The basis of the challenge by the plaintiffs is that the enactment of this local law purports to authorize the Town of Huntington to operate an administrative tribunal called the Zoning Violations Bureau (hereinafter ZVB) to hear and adjudicate all town land use codes, i.e., zoning and land use violations.

Greens at Half Hollow, LLC originally instituted this action on June 23, 2005 seeking a declaratory judgment invalidating and declaring as unconstitutional Town Code § 198-125 which authorized and created the ZVB and for permanent injunctive relief preventing prosecution under the provisions of the ZVB law. Plaintiff-intervenor UCS sought intervention as the ZVB is an unconstitutional usurpation of the judicial function which rests exclusively with the New York State Unified Court System.

The motions presently before the court seek, inter alia, preliminary injunctive relief (sequence No. 001) restraining the ZVB from conducting any proceedings against the Greens for alleged violations of the Town zoning law; a motion to dismiss [417]*417by the Town (sequence No. 002) on preliminary grounds which has since been withdrawn; a motion by the UCS for summary judgment on the pleadings (sequence No. 003) declaring Town Code § 198-125 unconstitutional; a cross motion by the Greens for summary judgment on its complaint pursuant to CPLR 3212 (sequence No. 004) declaring the Town Code setting forth the ZVB unconstitutional; and a cross motion by the Town seeking to dismiss the action pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (3) on the grounds that the plaintiffs UCS and Greens do not have standing or the legal capacity to sue or, in the alternative, summary judgment dismissing the complaints.

Addressing the issue raised by the Town on the standing of the parties to object, i.e., the cross motion by the Town (sequence No. 005) for dismissal on the grounds that the parties lack standing or the legal capacity to sue, the Town argues that, since there are no pending matters presently before the ZVB against the Greens and the ZVB has no impact nor does it “affect” the jurisdiction of the Suffolk County District Court, the plaintiffs have no standing to petition this court for redress or to seek relief from the Town Code. This argument is without merit. The plaintiff Greens clearly is subject to the constraints of the Town Code which brought into existence the ZVB and it is in jeopardy of further prosecutions and adjudications through the ZVB to seek the relief requested. The UCS clearly has standing and an interest in insuring that a local law does not usurp the exclusive authority to hear and determine cases or impede the power of the courts as a coequal branch of government or constitutionally deprive the court of its powers. As enunciated in Matter of Morgenthau v Cooke (56 NY2d 24 [1982], citing Matter of Dairylea Coop. v Walkley, 38 NY2d 6 [1975]), the plaintiffs UCS and Greens are within the zone of interest to test the constitutionality of Town Code § 198-125 providing for an alternative adjudication bureau to hear and determine zoning violations within the Town and whether such ZVB intrudes upon UCS’ and Greens’ constitutional rights. Accordingly, the Town’s motion to dismiss (sequence No. 005) the actions on the grounds of standing is denied in its entirety.

As to the substantive claims involving the constitutionality of Town Code § 198-125 as enacted providing for the establishment of a Zoning Violations Bureau to handle zoning violations outside the jurisdiction of the District Court, the plaintiffs Greens and UCS move for a declaration that such Town local law is void, illegal, unenforceable and unconstitu[418]*418tional under articles VI and IX of the New York State Constitution, Town Law § 135 and Municipal Home Rule Law § 11 (1) (e). Plaintiffs argue that the Town with the enactment of this local law purports to establish an adjudicatory body, controlled by the Town, in derogation of the courts’ jurisdiction which was duly authorized by the State Legislature and the State Constitution. They further argue that the ZVB usurps the judicial function of the courts and moves the prosecution of town zoning violations and the attendant penalties attached to a “town established court” that fails to provide “due process” and lacks the jurisdiction to hear such cases. In support of the petition to find Town Code § 198-125 unconstitutional, the plaintiffs argue that the establishment of this ZVB by the Town usurps the judicial power of the State and renders meaningless the separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial functions enunciated in Marbury v Madison (1 Cranch [5 US] 137 [1803]).

The court is ever mindful of the doctrine of separation of powers as first presented by the French aristocrat Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Bréde et de Montesquieu, who propounded the tripartite form of government with its built-in checks and balances on the power given to the executive, legislative and judicial functions. In his treatise Of the Laws which Establish Political Liberty with Regard to the Constitution, Montesquieu stated “that men’s minds can not be at rest if two or three kinds of governmental power are held within the same hands.” Montesquieu’s vision of a tripartite government clearly sets forth a basis of the separation of functions, i.e., legislative, executive and judicial, a doctrine adopted by and expanded by Sir William Blackstone and James Madison.

Plaintiffs present four arguments in support of the unconstitutional usurpation of the court’s authority in this area. First, the Town law setting up the ZVB violates New York State Constitution, article VI, § 30 which establishes the court’s jurisdiction and reserves to the State Legislature the power to regulate jurisdiction and procedures. Plaintiffs further argue that article IX of the New York State Constitution expressly bans any local law that would restrict or interfere with the New York State Legislature’s power with regard to the courts except where expressly authorized. Second, the plaintiffs point to Uniform District Court Act § 203 (a) (2) in which the State Legislature expressly authorized and conferred on the District Court civil jurisdiction on all matters not exceeding $15,000, including actions involving real property, applicable local housing, building [419]*419and health codes imposing civil penalties and criminal matters of petty offenses, i.e., misdemeanors. Third, Town Law § 135 specifically confers jurisdiction upon the courts and judicial officers over violations of town building code or zoning ordinances as they are referred to as unspecified misdemeanors except where otherwise provided; and fourth, plaintiffs contend that the establishment of the ZVB exceeds the Town’s powers under State Constitution article IX and runs afoul of Municipal Home Rule Law § 11 (1) (e) because the Town seeks to supersede the State Legislature’s grant of jurisdiction to the District Court and by Town Code § 198-125 confer such jurisdiction on the ZVB.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
15 Misc. 3d 415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greens-at-half-hollow-llc-v-town-of-huntington-nysupct-2006.