A Village issued a building permit in error. The property owner cuased construction work to be performed in reliance on the erroneously issued permit. After discovery of the error, the Village revoled the permit, issued a "stop-work" order, and sought to have the construction work demolished. The Village brought a declaratory judgment action against the homeowner, seeking a declaration that construction work was performed in violation of the zoning code, and seeking an order to demolish the work done. The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed a lower court denial of the Village's motion for summary judgment. While affirming the principal that a municipality can always correct it own error and revoke a building permit issued in error, the remedy of demolition of the work done was held to be inappropriate where the property owner relied on the permit, expended funds based on that reliance, and did not continue working after the "stop-work" order was issued.
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