BECAUSE THERE IS SUPPORT IN THE RECORD FOR THE LOWER COURTS’ FINDING THAT THE PROPERTY PURCHASED BY A CHURCH WAS NOT BEING USED AS A RETREAT IN VIOLATION OF THE ZONING LAWS AND THEREFORE IS TAX EXEMPT, THE COURT OF APPEALS IS CONSTRAINED TO AFFIRM; THERE WAS A THREE-JUDGE DISSENT (CT APP).
The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Wilson, over a three-judge dissent, determined Supreme Court and the Appellate Division properly ruled that the property in Sullivan County purchased by a church in Queens was not being used in violation of the zoning laws and was tax-exempt. The factual question was whether the property was being used as a retreat for church members, which would violate the zoning laws, or whether the property was being used to grow vegetables, which would not violate the zoning law. The majority held it was constrained to affirm because there was support in the record for the factual findings made by Supreme Court:
These proceedings under the Real Property Tax Law present a factual dispute about how a church based in Flushing, Queens, actually used a property it purchased in the Town of Callicoon. Because the lower courts committed no legal error, and because we may not reweigh facts or redetermine issues of credibility, we affirm. * * *
Our role is not to substitute our judgment for that of the hearing court but rather to determine whether there is record support for the decision it reached. Here, the trial record supports Supreme Court’s finding, affirmed by the Appellate Division, that although petitioner may have purchased the property with the intention of using it as a “retreat,”[FN4] its actual use of the property was to clear approximately one acre of the parcel and, on that cleared area, grow vegetables for charitable distribution to low-income Queens residents. The only other trial evidence about actual use of the property was that the Town Supervisor, who lived across the street from the subject property, regularly harvested hay from the property and never saw any overnight use of the property for “retreat” purposes. Matter of First United Methodist Church in Flushing v Assessor, Town of Callicoon, 2025 NY Slip Op 06526. CtApp 11-24-25
Practice Point: The Court of Appeals is constrained to accept the lower courts’ factual findings if there is support for them in the record.