NY Appellate Court Upholds Rezoning Finding Compliance with Environmental Review and No Spot Zoning

The appellate court found that even assuming that the petition was timely, the court below properly rejected petitioners’ arguments on the merits as the City respondents took the requisite “hard look” at the relevant areas of environmental concern, including any effects on neighborhood character, and provided a “reasoned elaboration” of the basis for their approval of the project.  Further, the Court determined that the zoning map amendments do not constitute illegal spot zoning enacted solely for the benefit of the lot in question to the detriment of other owners since the record established that the rezoning is part of a well-considered and comprehensive plan designed to serve the community.

Preserve Our Brooklyn Neighborhoods v City of New York, – 2020 WL 6600151 (NYAD 1 Dept. 11/12/2020)