Following the denial of applications for several area variances to enable the petitioner to maintain a hot tub enclosure, a hot tub, a fenced enclosure underneath a raised deck and a pool deck, the petitioner appealed and the trial court upheld the denial. On further appeal, the appellate court noted that zoning boards have broad discretion in considering applications for variances, and that here, the board properly applied the five factor balancing test set forth in Town Law 267-b[3][b]. Specifically, the court noted that the zoning board rationally concluded that due to the significant nature of the requested variances, granting them would produce an undesirable change in the character of the neighborhood.
Wallach v Wright, 2012 WL 234033 (N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept. 1/24/2012).
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/calendar/webcal/decisions/2012/D33716.pdf
