NY Appellate Court Upholds Denial of Special Use Permit that had been Granted by City Planning Commission

The appellate court affirmed the City Council’s disapproval of a special use permit that had been granted by the City Planning Commission finding it had a rational basis and was not arbitrary and capricious.  The Court noted that pursuant to the  City Charter, the Council had reserved to itself the power to grant or deny special use permits, without enunciating standards for the exercise of its discretion.  The Court said that the City Council possessed broader review powers and that it may consider policy issues in making its determination. Therefore, the Court determined that, “The Council properly denied petitioners’ application upon consideration of matters related to the public welfare, including concerns about over-saturation of similar buildings in the area, the poor condition of petitioners’ building, and the precedent that approval of the permit would set for overbuilding first and requesting permission after the fact.”

Liska N.Y., Inc. v City Council of the City of New York, 2015 WL 8087198 (NYAD 1 Dept. 12/8/2015).