ORGANIZATION HAD STANDING TO CONTEST HARDSHIP WAIVER GRANTED TO MINE IN CORE PRESERVATION AREA.

The Second Department found that petitioner Richard Amper, director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Inc., had standing, in his individual and representative capacities, to contest a hardship waiver granted to respondent, Westhampton, which operated a sand and gravel mine within a “core preservation area.” The Second Department found that the waiver was properly granted, but further found the petition should not have been denied on the standing issue. With respect to standing, the court explained:

An association or organization has standing when “one or more of its members would have standing to sue,” “the interests it asserts are germane to its purposes,” and “neither the asserted claim nor the appropriate relief requires the participation of the individual members” … . Here, the petitioners established that Amper, in both his individual and professional capacities, uses and enjoys the Pine Barrens to a greater degree than most other members of the public. Further, the petitioners established that the threatened injury to Amper caused by development within the core preservation area of the Central Pine Barrens falls within the zone of interests sought to be protected by the Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act of 1993 … . Thus, Amper has standing to sue individually, and his standing satisfied the first prong of the test for the Society's organizational standing. The Society meets the second and third prongs of the organizational standing test, namely, that its interests in the instant proceeding are germane to its purposes, and that neither the asserted claim nor the appropriate relief requires the participation of the individual members … . Therefore, the Society also has standing to challenge the Commission's determination … . Matter of Long Is. Pine Barrens Socy., Inc. v Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning & Policy Commn., 2016 NY Slip Op 02997, 4-20-16