THE CONDEMNATION OF PROPERTY WAS NOT SUPPORTED BY A DEMONSTRATION OF URBAN BLIGHT OR ANY OTHER PUBLIC PURPOSE; THE SEQRA NEGATIVE DECLARATION WAS NOT SUPPORTED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, annulling the determination of the City of White Plains Urban Renewal Agency, held that the agency did not demonstrate the condemnation of the petitioners’ proper served a public purpose. The condemnation was founded on a 25-year-old study which found the area was affected by “urban blight.” The court noted that the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) negative declaration by the agency did not identify the areas of environmental concern and the agency did not take a hard look at them:
… [T]he remediation of substandard or insanitary conditions (i.e., urban blight) is a proper basis for the exercise of the power of eminent domain … . Here, however, the agency relies only on conclusory assertions of blight based upon a 25-year-old urban renewal plan which itself lacks detail or documentation. …
Where a condemning authority does not demonstrate that property is substandard for the purpose of urban renewal, the authority must identify some public purpose other than the purported remediation of blight … . While a condemning authority may select virtually any project which “contributes to the health, safety, general welfare, convenience, or prosperity of the community” … , this broad discretion does not relieve the authority from selecting a particular project and, where demanded by the property owner, submitting that project to judicial scrutiny. Matter of Gabe Realty Corp. v City of White Plains Urban Renewal Agency, 2021 NY Slip Op 04134, Second Dept 6-30-21
