Nager v. Incorporated Village of Saddle Rock

140 Misc. 2d 644, 530 N.Y.S.2d 966, 1988 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 423
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJune 14, 1988
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 140 Misc. 2d 644 (Nager v. Incorporated Village of Saddle Rock) 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
Nager v. Incorporated Village of Saddle Rock, 140 Misc. 2d 644, 530 N.Y.S.2d 966, 1988 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 423 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

John S. Lockman, J.

Motion by plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction and partial summary judgment declaring defendant Village of Saddle Rock’s (the Village) approval of drawings or plans to construct Bayport Lane North, a paper road on a 1951 filed subdivision map, void for want of jurisdiction, on the grounds that the approval is violative of section 334-a of the Real Property Law, the Nassau County Charter and Village Law, is denied.

Cross motions by the Village and defendants Jack Cohen and Frank Tumminello for summary judgment are granted, the complaint and cross claims dismissed as against them, and the action severed against the remaining defendants.

Cross motion by defendant Rant Construction Corp. (Rant) to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action, and cross motion by defendant Surrey Development Corp. (Surrey) for summary judgment are denied.

Plaintiffs are owners of improved lots abutting a paper road entitled "Bayport Lane” created upon the filing of a subdivision map in 1951. By mesne conveyances, defendants Cohen and Tumminello took title to several unimproved lots also abutting Bayport Lane but across the road from plaintiffs. The Cohen and Tumminello lots were originally owned by Surrey. Plaintiffs’ lots (with one exception not relevant here) have a [646]*646view of Little Neck Bay, while those of Cohen and Tumminello are directly on the Bay. Given the plaintiffs’ location, if they are successful in preventing the construction of Bayport Lane North, they will become de facto bayfront lot owners, as Cohen and Tumminello will be unable to build in the absence of road frontage (Village Law § 7-736 [2]; Town Law § 280-a).

Plaintiffs’ allegation, that the Village’s approval of Surrey’s plans to build was unlawful, is unpersuasive. Initially it is noted and uncontested that plaintiffs are barred from commencing a CPLR article 78 proceeding to review the Village’s 1983 approval of construction plans for Bayport Lane (CPLR 217). Thus, plaintiffs are relegated to a claim that the Village was without power or jurisdiction, as a jurisdictional defect renders the approval void and tolls the Statute of Limitations (Matter of Foy v Schechter, 1 NY2d 604).

The substance of plaintiffs’ claims are as follows. The 1951 subdivision map shows Bayport Lane as an uninterrupted and continuous roadway beginning and ending at T intersections with Greenleaf Hill and Berger Drive (now Grist Mill Lane), respectively. The most northerly portion of Bay-port Lane is improved. The remainder is not. Sometime between 1978 and 1980 approval was given to Surrey to build in the bed of the paper roadway at about its midpoint, thus effectively splitting Bayport Lane into Bayport Lane North and South. Plaintiffs apparently did not protest or seek review by article 78, as required by Village Law § 7-734. Accordingly, plaintiffs are prevented by laches from protesting now. Indeed, it is clear that plaintiffs are not aggrieved by the creation of cul de sacs and building in Bayport Lane at its midpoint. Such a layout could only benefit all abutting landowners, for a dead-end street will discourage the traffic that a through street running along Little Neck Bay might draw.

Plaintiffs allege that the above alteration of Bayport Lane constituted an abandonment of the northern end of Bayport Lane as mapped, and that the subsequent approval in 1983 constituted an amendment to the filed map, as Bayport Lane is no longer a through thoroughfare. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants now plan a new road called Bayport Lane North, with a rearranged location, dimension and elevation. Thus, plaintiffs’ claims of lack of jurisdiction rest upon theories of abandonment and amendment. Both are rejected.

As noted earlier, plaintiffs must show a jurisdictional defect in order to avoid the bar of the Statute of Limitations. The [647]*647difference between acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner and acting in excess of jurisdiction has been explained as follows: "The terms 'arbitrary’ and 'capricious’ mean willful and unreasoning action without consideration of or in disregard of the facts * * * or without determining principle * * *. An arbitrary determination is not, however, ipso facto one made in excess of jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of an administrative board or agency consists of the powers granted it by statute and a determination is void where it is made either without statutory power or in excess thereof * * * [emphasis supplied]. In such a case there is nothing to be reviewed, the determination being a nullity * * *. It is illegal for an administrative agency to reach a conclusion not permitted by the statute but it is arbitrary and capricious if it merely fails to give due weight to the evidence * * *. Both the 'arbitrary and capricious’ standard and the 'substantial evidence’ rule * * * relate to justification rather than to power * * *. In the instant case the board had the power to refuse approval to petitioner’s plat for the reasons stated in the record since basic or quasi-jurisdictional facts are shown * * *. The failure to make supportive findings available to petitioner renders the determination merely arbitrary but not void for lack of jurisdiction.” (Matter of Elwood Investors Co. v Behme, 79 Misc 2d 910, 913.) Here, the "power and authority of the village to regulate the improvement of public streets within the village as a prerequisite to the granting of building permits for structures abutting on public streets is not open to question” (Village of Baxter Estates v G. N. M. Constr. Co., 49 Misc 2d 333, 334; Village Law § 7-724). Accordingly, if "basic or quasi-jurisdictional facts” are shown, the approval is not void for lack of jurisdiction.

Turning to plaintiffs’ twin theories of abandonment and amendment, and the Village’s claim that neither exists, it is first noted with regard to abandonment that no authority has been presented to support such a theory. When an offer of dedication by the filing of a subdivision map is made, and the purchase of lots from the dedicator with reference to the filed map ensues, individual abutting owners may not revoke the dedication, and the Village "may accept the dedication offer at any time prior to a valid revocation by all interested parties” (Hubbard v City of White Plains, 18 AD2d 674, 675). Here there has been no revocation by all abutting landowners, and thus the Village has the power to accept a dedication of Bayport Lane. Plaintiffs’ reliance on Matter of Fox St. (54 App [648]*648Div 479) is misplaced, for there the offer of dedication expired by statute. Laws of 1861 (ch 311) required a street to be opened within six years of mapping (see, Matter of Fox St., supra). No such statute is operative here. Indeed, case law indicates that the Village may be without "power” to "restrain” the opening of a paper street shown on a filed map, thereby preventing access to building plots (see, Village of Baxter Estates v G. N. M. Constr. Co., 49 Misc 2d 333, 334, supra).

Insofar as plaintiffs’ claim of amendment rests upon a claim of abandonment, it fails.

The Village, moving for summary judgment, claims that the subsequently filed maps complained of by plaintiffs provide detail of the proposed construction of Bayport Lane, and are in accordance with the boundaries set forth in the 1951 map. Thus, the Village argues, there was no amendment and no need to comply with the requirements of Real Property Law § 334-a.

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Bluebook (online)
140 Misc. 2d 644, 530 N.Y.S.2d 966, 1988 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 423, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nager-v-incorporated-village-of-saddle-rock-nysupct-1988.