Landmark Development Group, LLC applied to the Town Board to have approximately 210 acres zoned for one-acre residential approved as a planned development district (PDD). The developer plans to build 170 lots on about 55 of the 210 acres, with the remaining land to be open space owned by a homeowner’s association. The Town’s zoning ordinance provided for the PDD as a floating zone, meaning that its boundaries are not fixed in the original ordinance, but are established by a later amendment to the zoning map. Following an environmental review with full opportunity for public input, the Town Board passed a resolution approving the PDD subject to various conditions. The petitioners sought to annul the resolution, arguing that it violated the doctrine of legislative equivalency and that the PDD can only be sited as a floating zone if the Board amends the legislation in the same manner in which the zoning ordinance was initially adopted.
The Court disagreed with the petitioners, explaining that the floating zone was already part of the existing zoning ordinance. The Court noted that the floating zone is a common and preferred method for creating a PDD and that the two-step legislative process includes the initial ordinance that outlines procedures for a PDD without setting boundaries, and then an amendment to the zoning map and/or ordinance to place the PDD once it is approved. The Court noted that in this case, the petitioners commenced the proceeding before the second step was completed by the Town. However, everything that the Town has done with respect to this application and the siting of the floating zone to date have been appropriate. The Court further commented that since the commencement of the proceeding, the Town did enact an ordinance (i.e., a legislatively equivalency act) amending the zoning map to reflect the placement of the PDD.
Brunswick Smart Growth, Inc. v. Town Bd. of Town of Brunswick, 2008 WL 1902089 (N.Y.A.D. 3 Dept. 5/1/2008).
The opinion can be accessed at: http://decisions.courts.state.ny.us/ad3/Decisions/2008/503677.pdf
