Recently in BMG Monroe I, LLC v. Village of Monroe Zoning Board of Appeals, the Second Department reinforced strict compliance with all State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) visual impact findings and mitigation...more
The Housing Crisis Act of 2019, which enacted Government Code section 66300, generally precludes a city from reducing the intensity of land use on a parcel where housing is allowed below what was allowed on January 1, 2018. ...more
In it’s recent decision in United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles (2023) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, the Second District Court of Appeal affirmed a judgment voiding the City of Los Angeles’s reliance on the CEQA...more
On July 6, 2023, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed into law a provision to exempt certain affordable housing projects from the city’s Site Plan Review Process. The exemption was made as an amendment to Site Plan Review...more
Sullivan's Permitting & Land Use Practice Group and Litigation Department have released the second issue of their Zoning and Development Newsletter. The publication aims to provide our firm's clients and others interested...more
On April 20, 2023, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a legislative package aimed to spur economic development. Building off a record-breaking year for new capital investments, state leaders aim to expand and fortify Alabama's...more
On January 19, 2023, Representative Kevin Honan filed new legislation entitled “An Act to Safeguard Municipal Permitting” targeted at addressing special permit protections and timelines for previously approved projects. This...more
CASES OF NOTE - GRAVE MATTERS: THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTIES CONTAINING BURIAL SITES - Church of the Holy Spirit of Wayland v. Heinrich, 2022 WL 1419702, 101 Mass. App. Ct. 32 (2022)....more
On June 2, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued its much-anticipated decision in Tracer Lane II Realty, LLC v. City of Waltham, SJC-13195, interpreting for the first time the statutory protection for...more
CASES OF NOTE - SIMILAR PROJECTS, DIFFERENT DECISIONS - Brossi, et al. v. Town of Grafton Planning Board, et al., No. 19 MISC 000551 (MDV), 2021 WL 5833935 (Mass. Land Ct. Dec. 9, 2021) - The Massachusetts Land...more
In Matter of Marcus v. Planning Board of the Village of Wesley Hills, et al., the respondent, Rockland Tree Expert, Inc., d/b/a Ira Wickes, Arborist (“Wickes”), sought a special use permit and site plan approval to conduct...more
In Riedman Acquisitions, LLC v Town Bd. of Town of Mendon, 194 AD3d 1444, 2021 NY Slip Op 02952 [4th Dept 2021], the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, addressed several significant issues concerning land development...more
On June 28, 2021, the Ohio General Assembly passed Senate Bill (S.B.) 52, which places new requirements on renewable energy development in Ohio and changes to the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) process. The bill is specific...more
This month, in Gershow Recycling of Riverhead v Town of Riverhead, 2021 NY Slip Op 02156 [2d Dept 2021], the Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the motion court’s decision granting an Article 78 petition to annul...more
The California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District has struck down a state law that limited judicial review of California Energy Commission (CEC) thermal power plants siting approvals to the California Supreme...more
A declaratory order issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the Commission) on January 30 in Docket No. RP20-41-000 grants pipeline developers greater certainty in planning and siting construction. The order was...more
A second case has been decided by the Court of Appeal under the 2017 Electronic Communications Code (the “Code“). The Court upheld the decision of the Upper Tribunal that an approved operator under the Code has a right to...more
Today, we take a look at the land use case Jubilee Carolina, LLC v. Town of Carolina Beach, decided October 15, 2019. In April 2017, the Town approved a site plan and conditional use permit that provided interconnectivity...more
The clear evolution of infill real estate redevelopment in South Florida and Greater Miami is towards a true mixed-use environment that makes areas desirable places to work, live, and play. Coral Gables, with its vibrant...more
The Appellate Division, Second Department, recently issued a decision that appears to be a departure from prior precedent and is certain to create confusion with respect to when to commence an Article 78 claim challenging a...more
United Illuminating Company v. Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. v. Cherry Hill Construction Co., Inc., et al. v. GEI Consultants, Inc., et al., 3:18-cv-00327-WWE (D. Conn. 2019) - In 2010 The United Illuminating Company...more
A recent decision from the Supreme Court of Warren County, John Carr v. Village of Lake George Village Board, demonstrates how a simple omission on a site plan approval application can upend an approved project, even though...more
While the Town of Halfmoon (“Town”) in Saratoga County, New York, may be far from any given reader, the issues in Micklas v. Town of Halfmoon Planning Board, 170 A.D.3d 1483 (3d Dep’t 2019), are close to the heart: whether a...more
Builders, developers and property owners are often cited for zoning violations that become the subject of criminal enforcement proceedings in court (i.e. appearance tickets). Certainly, a party can have the court decide the...more
Local zoning ordinances throughout New York State incorporate the flexible “accessory use” component so as not to unnecessarily restrict one’s use of property. Accessory uses are incidental and customary to the principal use...more