PETITIONER FAILED TO EXHAUST AVAILABLE ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES AFTER THE APPLICATION FOR A BUILIDING PERMIT WAS DENIED BY APPEALING TO THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS; THE FAILURE WAS NOT EXCUSED ON THE GROUND THAT A CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE WAS AT STAKE (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined petitioner did not exhaust the available administrative remedies before bringing an Article 78 proceeding. Petitioner’s application for a building permit, apparently for a gas station, was denied by the village building inspector. Supreme Court, pursuant to the Article 78, granted the petition. The Second Department held that petitioner’s failure to appeal the building inspector’s ruling to the zoning board of appeals rendered the petition abandoned. Petitioner’s argument that the failure to exhaust administrative remedies should be excused because a constitutional issue was at stake was rejected:
“The exhaustion rule … is not an inflexible one. It is subject to important qualifications. It need not be followed, for example, when an agency’s action is challenged as either unconstitutional or wholly beyond its grant of power, or when resort to an administrative remedy would be futile or when its pursuit would cause irreparable injury” … . …
“‘A constitutional claim that hinges upon factual issues reviewable at the administrative level must first be addressed to the agency so that a necessary factual record can be established'” … . “Further, the mere assertion that a constitutional right is involved will not excuse the failure to pursue established administrative remedies that can provide the required relief” … . Matter of 5055 N. Blvd., LLC v Incorporated Vil. of Old Brookville, 2022 NY Slip Op 00424, Second Dept 1-26-22