The Second Department determined the board of commissioners of a fire district (a municipal corporation) did not have standing to contest the negative declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) made by the town planning board regarding a residential development. Among other things, the fire district argued that the increased number of residents would burden the fire district with increased service calls. The Second Department noted that the increase burden was an economic concern, not an environmental concern:
“To establish standing under SEQRA, a petitioner must show (1) an environmental injury that is in some way different from that of the public at large, and (2) that the alleged injury falls within the zone of interests sought to be protected or promoted by SEQRA” … . To qualify for standing to raise a SEQRA challenge, a party must demonstrate that it will suffer an injury that is environmental and not solely economic in nature Although raising economic concerns does not foreclose standing to also raise environmental injury … , economic injury is not by itself within the zone of interests which SEQRA seeks to protect … . Here, the petitioner’s concerns that an increase in the number of residents in its district would result in an increase in the number of service calls made by it, which would result in a financial burden on it, were insufficient to establish its standing since such concerns are solely economic in nature … . Matter of Board of Fire Commr. of the Fairview Fire Dist. v Town of Poughkeepsie Planning Bd., 2017 NY Slip Op 08514, Second Dept 12-6-17
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT, STANDING, FIRE DISTRICT DID NOT HAVE STANDING TO CONTEST A SEQRA NEGATIVE DECLARATION FOR A RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, THE FIRE DISTRICT RAISED AN ECONOMIC CONCERN ABOUT INCREASED SERVICE CALLS, NOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN (SECOND DEPT)}/STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT (SEQRA) (STANDING, FIRE DISTRICT DID NOT HAVE STANDING TO CONTEST A SEQRA NEGATIVE DECLARATION FOR A RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, THE FIRE DISTRICT RAISED AN ECONOMIC CONCERN ABOUT INCREASED SERVICE CALLS, NOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN (SECOND DEPT)}/STANDING (ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT, FIRE DISTRICT DID NOT HAVE STANDING TO CONTEST A SEQRA NEGATIVE DECLARATION FOR A RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, THE FIRE DISTRICT RAISED AN ECONOMIC CONCERN ABOUT INCREASED SERVICE CALLS, NOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN (SECOND DEPT)}