NEW YORK SITE FIGHT: SUFFOLK COUNTY SUPREME COURT DENIES WAL-MART
Topics: | New York | legislation | | | |
Wal-Mart Riverhead opening barred [Newsday (N.Y.)]
A Suffolk County Supreme Court judge has overturned the Riverhead Town Board’s approval of plans to construct a 169,547-square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter with a car repair shop and a food center near the Tanger Outlets on Route 58.
Judge Thomas F. Whelan ruled that Wal-Mart’s site plan violated the town’s zoning codes for that area and the town’s comprehensive plan. Whelan also concluded in his decision, issued Monday, that the town board did not have the authority to grant Wal-Mart variances of zoning restrictions.
The supercenter, which the retailer has in other states and which also includes a supermarket and garden center, would have been Long Island’s first.
“The Town Board, in its role as site plan administrator, cannot approve site plan applications that run counter to the Town Law, its Comprehensive Plan, and its own zoning code,” Whelan wrote. “One of the most cherished principles of our democracy is the respect and deference accorded our governing laws by our citizenry. Town Boards are not exempt from that fundamental ideal.”
Also see: Riverhead, NY. Court Nixes Town Approval of Wal-Mart [Battle-Mart Blog]
The judge’s ruling addressed two lawsuits filed against the town and Wal-Mart after town board members approved the site plan in June 2007. The lawsuits, which made similar arguments opposing the site plan approval, were brought by the owner of a shopping center on Route 58 and Riverhead residents who are also members of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500.
“It’s a rational, sound, well-written decision,” said James Gaughran, a Huntington attorney who represented the Riverhead residents. “I think it will be difficult for them to overturn on appeal.”
Town board members weren’t immediately available yesterday for comment. The company issued a statement on the ruling.
“We are obviously disappointed in the decision,” the company said. “Our customers in the area were very much looking forward to shopping in the upgraded Wal-Mart store that was planned for Riverhead. In addition, the project would have created about 100 construction jobs during that phase of the project, as well as about 100 additional permanent jobs at the store, when construction was complete.”
At the time the town board approved the site plans, it gave Wal-Mart variances for zoning laws requiring certain landscaping, parking and building standards. In addition, the board gave the green light for a site plan that ran contrary to the permitted uses for that zoning district, which does not allow for single, freestanding stores, automotive shops or food courts.
“He [Judge Whelan] rejected the town board’s attempt to take jurisdiction from its zoning board and transfer it to itself,” said Joseph F. Buzzell, a partner at Rivkin, Radler Llp in Uniondale. “This case stands as a guide post to other towns and villages looking to take power from their zoning boards.”
Posted by Luke West on Friday, October 10, 2008
