NY Appeals Court Rules that Lawsuit over Neighbor’s Parking Area was Untimely

This post was authored by Amy Lavine, Esq.

A lawsuit seeking to compel town officials to direct the removal of a paved parking area was dismissed as untimely in a recent appellate court decision from New York. The proceeding was commenced by residential property owners in the Town of Guilderland, who objected to the installation of a small parking lot on an adjoining parcel. The neighbors completed work on this parking lot in 2015, however, and the record showed that the petitioners became aware of the town’s approval in 2015 as well. Under Article 78, a four month statute of limitations applied to challenge the town’s determination, and the petitioners failed to set forth any basis for tolling the statute of limitations. Accordingly, the petitioners’ claims were time-barred in October 2018 when they finally commenced this litigation.

Matter of Duffy v Town of Guilderland, 2020 NY Slip Op 05108 (NY App Div 3d Dept September 24, 2020)