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HERE PLAINTIFF’S PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF APARTMENTS WAS PROHIBITED BY A LOCAL LAW; PLAINTIFF ALLEGED THE BIAS OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PLANNING BOARD INFECTED THE PLANNING BOARD’S RECOMMENDATION TO THE TOWN BOARD (WHICH ENACTED THE LAW); THOSE ALLEGATIONS RAISED A QUESTION OF FACT PRECLUDING SUMMARY JUDGMENT FINDING THE LOCAL LAW VALID (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Garry, determined questions of fact precluded summary judgment in favor of the town in this dispute over the approval of the construction of apartments. Plaintiffs alleged that the chairperson of the planning board, who owned adjacent property, was biased against the proposed construction and his bias infected the planning board’s recommendation:

As Supreme Court correctly noted, the enactment that plaintiffs seek to invalidate in this action was a product of the Town Board, not the Planning Board … . We further note that it is expressly within the power of the Planning Board to submit advisory opinions to the Town Board for proposed amendment to the zoning law … . For these reasons, it is possible that the connection of the alleged bias to the action of the Town Board may ultimately be insufficiently direct. Supreme Court’s decision apparently rejected plaintiffs’ allegations on this ground. Nonetheless, accepting plaintiffs’ allegations as true, the extent to which the long-term Chairperson’s alleged bias infected the Planning Board’s recommendation to the Town Board that multifamily dwelling development be reconsidered, the Town’s subsequent investigation thereof, and the Town Board’s ultimate adoption of the challenged local law limiting same is not amenable to resolution as a matter of law at this procedural stage … . Thus, any declaration regarding the validity of Local Law No. 2022-08 was premature, and Supreme Court’s order must be reversed in full so that the action may proceed through the ordinary course. PF Dev. Group, LLC v Town of Brunswick, 2025 NY Slip Op 03671, Third Dept 6-18-25

Practice Point: Here allegations that the passage of a local law was influenced by bias on the part of the chairperson of the planning board raised a question of fact precluding summary judgment finding the local law valid.​

 

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