The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the village comprehensive plan and zoning amendments should not have been annulled on the ground the board of trustees failed to strictly comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA):
“SEQRA mandates literal compliance with its procedural requirements and substantial compliance is insufficient to discharge the responsibility of the agency under the act” … . As relevant here, 6 NYCRR 617.6(a)(4) permits an agency to waive the requirement for an environmental assessment form (hereinafter EAF) if a draft environmental impact statement is prepared or submitted. In this case, such a draft environmental impact statement was prepared. Thus, the failure to prepare an EAF did not amount to a failure to literally comply with SEQRA's procedural requirements. * * *
… [T]he Board of Trustees satisfied SEQRA's substantive requirements. In particular, the Board of Trustees adequately analyzed a reasonable range of alternatives … . Accordingly, the Supreme Court should have denied so much of the petition/complaint as sought to annul the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Amendments on the ground that the Board of Trustees failed to strictly comply with the substantive requirements of SEQRA … . Matter of Village of Kiryas Joel, N.Y. v Village of Woodbury, N.Y., 2016 NY Slip Op 03005, 2nd Dept 4-20-16