Janas v. Town Board

51 A.D.2d 473, 382 N.Y.S.2d 394, 1976 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11106
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedApril 15, 1976
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 51 A.D.2d 473 (Janas v. Town Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Janas v. Town Board, 51 A.D.2d 473, 382 N.Y.S.2d 394, 1976 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11106 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

Moule, J. P.

This is an original declaratory judgment action submitted to this court upon an agreed statement of facts pursuant to CPLR 3222. The issues raised herein concern the constitutionality of that section of the Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Fleming which regulates the location and use of mobile homes.

On June 7, 1973 plaintiff, a resident landowner of the Town of Fleming, Cayuga County, purchased an eight-acre tract of land situated within the town. Later that month and pursuant to article V, section 2, part E, of the town’s zoning ordinance,1 he filed an application with the Town Clerk for a special permit to construct a mobile home park on this tract which admittedly was within the designated area of permitted use as specified in part E.

Thereafter, on July 2, 1973, at a regular meeting of the defendant town board, plaintiff requested a hearing on his application. In response to this request the town board noticed a public hearing on July 24, 1973 concerning the adoption of a proposed amendment to article V of the ordinance, entitled "Section 4. Mobile Home Parks.” Although this amendment purported to regulate all mobile home parks which might be started within the town, by its very language it only applied [476]*476to plaintiffs eight-acre parcel. It provided, inter alia, density limitations, area requirements for the park, and minimum footage requirements for individual lots as well as requiring common recreation areas, tree-lined buffer zones and fireproof skirting around each mobile home. It further provided that applicants for mobile home park permits must submit park specifications to the town planning board for approval.

The public hearing was duly held on July 24, 1973 and, although the notice of this hearing merely stated that it would concern the proposed amendment, plaintiff’s application for a special permit was also discussed. No action, however, was taken by the town board on either issue.

Thereafter, a second public hearing was noticed and held on August 27, 1973. The sole issue discussed at this time was the proposed amendment to the ordinance and again no decision was reached as to its adoption.

This amendment was finally rejected by the town board at its regular monthly meeting on October 1, 1973. At the same time, plaintiff again requested defendant town board to act on his application for a special permit. The Town Attorney suggested that plaintiff submit another application containing the exact location and description of the proposed park as well as a statement of conformity with the latest specifications for such a park as recommended by the board of planning. A public hearing on this matter was scheduled for October 16, 1973.

At that hearing opponents of the application urged that the proposed location of the park was undesirable and that it would result in excessive traffic, creating a possible danger to children and disturbing a now quiet community. A petition of protest, signed by eight adjacent landowners, was also submitted in opposition to the permit.

Thereafter, on November 8, 1973 the town board denied plaintiff’s application without comment, pursuant to the Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Fleming.

In this case plaintiff presents a bifurcated argument in that he attacks the constitutionality of the ordinance both on its face and as it was applied to his particular application. Thus, before discussing the specific contentions, we must decide whether plaintiff is the proper party to challenge the ordinance on these two grounds.

Plaintiff can undoubtedly challenge the constitutionality of [477]*477the ordinance on its face. In fact, defendants do not contest his standing in this regard. Although the ordinance was specifically designed to regulate the location and use of individual mobile homes and not mobile home parks, its terms are broad enough to include installation of such facilities. As such it applies and presents an obstacle to plaintiff’s proposed use of his land. This immediate and genuine economic interest gives plaintiff standing to challenge the ordinance on its face (see Berenson v Town of New Castle, 38 NY2d 102; Matter of Concordia Coll. Inst, v Miller, 301 NY 189).

Plaintiff cannot, however, attack the validity of the ordinance as applied to him since the facts do not establish that he has exhausted his administrative remedies (CPLR 3001; see Old Farm Road, Inc. v Town of New Castle, 26 NY2d 462). Although the ordinance specifically provides that applications for mobile home permits may only be granted by the board of zoning appeals, plaintiff never applied to that administrative body. Instead, plaintiff submitted his application to the town board, whose jurisdiction in this matter had been statutorily delegated. Thus, to determine the constitutionality of the ordinance as applied to the denial of this permit would be premature, because the appropriate administrative body has not rendered its determination (Old Farm Road, Inc. v Town of New Castle, supra; Incorporated Vil. of Upper Brookville v Faraco, 282 App Div 943, 944, affd 307 NY 642).

With this restriction in mind, we turn then to plaintiff’s first argument in which he asserts that the ordinance is unconstitutional and in violation of section 261 of the Town Law insofar as it requires that a "[r]equest for [a special] permit must be accompanied by written approval of a majority of adjoining property owners (including property owners across the road)”.

It is well established that the zoning power is inherently legislative and as such it properly resides in the State (Matter of Green Point Sav. Bank v Board of Zoning Appeals of Town of Hempstead, 281 NY 534). This power may, however, be delegated to individual town boards by statutory enactment and the resulting town ordinances carry a presumption of constitutionality (Rodgers v Village of Tarrytown, 302 NY 115, 121).

Pursuant to this delegation, section 261 of the Town Law empowers the town board to regulate and restrict by ordinance the construction and use of buildings and lands within [478]*478its jurisdiction. It further authorizes the town board to "provide that a board of appeals may determine and vary [the application of local zoning regulations] in harmony with their general purpose and intent, and in accordance with general or specific rules therein contained.”

Thus, by specific statutory enactment, any subsequent delegation of a town board’s zoning authority must be exercised in light of either general or specific guidelines imposed by the board itself.

In the instant case, the ordinance does provide such guidelines at least insofar as the town board’s authority to grant special permits for mobile homes is delegated to the board of appeals. Article V, section 2, part E, specifically sets forth five criteria upon which any action of the board of appeals must be based. These standards include, inter alia, a determination of whether the proposed permit will be injurious to the neighborhood as well as prior approval of the County Health Department.

However, article V, section 2, part E (3) preconditions any grant of a special permit by the board of appeals on the submission of a request for such a permit along with the written approval of the adjoining property owners.

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Bluebook (online)
51 A.D.2d 473, 382 N.Y.S.2d 394, 1976 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/janas-v-town-board-nyappdiv-1976.