Following a rezoning to allow for the development of a senior retirement community, the developers submitted a site plan review application that took into account State DOT restrictions regarding the placement of access roads. The Town approved the site plan over the objection of a neighbor, the owner of another senior residential community, who claimed that the planned access road would be too close to it’s own driveway, and it rejected the suggestion that the two communities share an access road.
In affirming the trial court’s finding that the planning board’s action was not arbitrary and capricious and that or had a rational basis, the appellate court noted that the Board considered the need to mitigate dangerous traffic conditions posed by the nearby highway exit ramp, the limited access point options in light of the covenants and restrictions imposed by the Town Board and the State DOT, as well as the expert opinion of the Town Planning Director.
Fairway Manor v Bertinelli, 2011 WL 562529 (N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept. 2/15/2011).
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/calendar/webcal/decisions/2011/D30049.pdf
