The zoning board’s denial of petitioner’s area variance application to enable her to maintain the premises as a two-family residence (a use to which the property had been put since 1967 when she purchased it) where the certificate of occupancy was for a one family residence and the structure did not meet the minimum requirements of the Town Code applicable to tow-family dwellings was upheld where the board addressed the five statutory factors set forth in State statute. The fact that the board made conclusory findings as to one of the five factors to be balanced did not outweigh the fact that the board appropriately considered the four other statutory factors. Lastly, the Court said that variances may not be limited to the term of the petitioner’s ownership of the premises since “any condition imposed when granting a variance must be directly related to the property involved and to the underlying purpose of the zoning code, without consideration of the particular person owning it.”
Fowlkes v. Board of Zoning Appeals of the town of North Hempstead, 2008 WL 2455825 (2nd Dept. 6/17/2008 )
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/calendar/webcal/decisions/2008/D19612.pdf
