On appeal challenging the granting of area variances, the appellate court reminded that local zoning boards have a wide discretion in considering applications for area variances, and that judicial review is limited to determining whether the action taken by the board was illegal, arbitrary and capricious, or an abuse of discretion. Relying on Town Law § 267-b(3)(b) and Matter of Sasso v. Osgood, which put forth and explained the criteria a zoning board must balance when determining whether or not an area variance should be granted, the Court concluded that the zoning board properly engaged in the required balancing test, and that its determination to grant the variances had a rational basis and was not arbitrary and capricious.
Celentano v. Board of Zoning Appeals of the Town of Brookhaven, 2009 WL 1885915 (N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept. 6/30/2009).
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/calendar/webcal/decisions/2009/D23786.pdf
