Matters of Interest

City of Long Beach Board of Zoning Appeals Halts Construction of Major Mixed-Use Project after Determining the Building Permits and Variance Approvals Had Expired

Christian Browne, a Partner with the Firm, is co-counsel with a legal team that is representing a group of Long Beach residents who successfully argued before the Long Beach Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) that the permits and variance approvals for the large-scale mixed-use development, known as the Superblock project, had expired. Therefore, the City could not issue or extend any building permits for the project.

The proposed project called for two 15-story apartment buildings with 11,000 square feet of retail space and two levels of underground parking on a piece of property along the boardwalk, located between Riverside Boulevard and Long Beach Boulevard. On January 2014, the developer was granted the necessary permits, as well as a variance, allowing the developer to exceed the City’s height limit. The following year, the City issued a foundation permit, which the Building Commissioner extended twice and was set to expire on May 28, 2018.

The developer claimed that it had complied with the terms of its agreement with the City, began work on the project as required and had vested rights to the project. The developer further claimed that the building permits and variances were valid.

The citizens appealed the issuance of the permits to the BZA. On May 24, 2018, the BZA ruled that the developer did not comply and failed to begin construction in a timely fashion. As a consequence, the building permits and the variances have been revoked and construction on the project has ceased.

“We are extremely pleased with the BZA’s decision,” Mr. Browne said. “These permits were never supposed to be issued in the first place. The developer missed the deadline in obtaining the permits and never began construction on the project in a timely fashion. This is a victory for Long Beach residents.”

This was reported in Newsday.

Click here to read the article.

Main Office: 333 Earle Ovington Boulevard, Suite 601, Uniondale, New York 11553 • Telephone: (516) 228-1300 • Telecopier: (516) 228-0038
New York City Office: 405 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, New York 10174 • Telephone: (212) 829-4375
Suffolk County Office: 1300 Veterans Highway, Suite 100, Hauppauge, New York 11788 • Telephone: (631) 203-4900
Syosset Office: 116 Jackson Avenue, Syosset, New York 11791 • Telephone: (516) 921-1000

This is New York Attorney Advertising. This e-newsletter is designed for general information only. The information presented in this e-newsletter should not be construed to be formal legal advice, nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.