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Judge Rules in Favor of Developers Seeking to Subdivide Parcel in Rockville Centre
Moratorium Unjustly Targeted Applicants

Christian Browne, a Partner with the Firm, successfully represented two developers against the Village of Rockville Centre, which imposed a building moratorium on a construction project on a 1.75-acre parcel of land owned by the Firm’s clients. A Nassau County Supreme Court judge struck down the moratorium, claiming it was unjustly applied.

Following building permit applications seeking approval to subdivide the site, the Village Board of Trustees voted to impose a six-month moratorium against building permit applications that proposed the construction of new “private roads.” Mr. Browne’s clients seek to divide their existing property into four new building lots. Two of the lots would be accessed by a new street. The Village deemed the proposed new street a “private road” and imposed the moratorium to stop the usual process for the review of subdivision applications.

Mr. Browne’s clients, however, had designed the new street for dedication as a public roadway. Mr. Browne therefore argued that the moratorium should not apply to the application, and further argued that the moratorium was an improper use of the Village’s legal powers, as it was enacted solely in response to community opposition to the development project.

On October 10, 2017, Nassau County Supreme Court Justice John Galasso held that the language used in the moratorium “mirrors each of the plaintiffs’ proposed application to subdivide the subject property” and with “sufficient evidence of strong community opposition to plaintiffs’ subdivision application,” holding that the moratorium itself is “an invalid measure to halt development.” The judge struck it down accordingly.

Firm Partners Jon Ward, John Farrell, and Joseph Bjarnson defended the City in the lawsuits.

“We are gratified with the decision,” Mr. Browne said. “We hope the Village will now allow the application to move forward, according to the process set forth in the law for the review of an application for subdivision approval.”

This was reported by Long Island Business News.

Click here to read the article.

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