The Appellate Division, Second Department has upheld the dismissal of a neighbor’s challenge to a certificate of occupancy in Birch Tree Partners LLC v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Town of East Hampton, 2013 NY Slip Op. 03834. After an owner of a Further Lane property in the Town of East Hampton completed the reconstruction of a guest house, a neighbor appealed the issuance of the certificate of occupancy to the local zoning board, which upheld the certificate and denied the appeal.  In the ensuing “Article 78” proceeding, the lower court rejected the neighbor’s challenge of the zoning board’s decision.  On appeal, the Appellate Division upheld the lower court’s decision on the dual grounds that the neighbor’s delays prohibited the challenge and that the zoning board’s decision was properly issue

Esseks, Hefter & Angel, LLP has been named as one of under 150 firms on Martindale-Hubbell’s list of 2013 New York Area’s Top Ranked Law Firms. Martindale-Hubbell compiled its list based on its database of confidential opinions of lawyers and judges who provide “peer” reviews of those lawyers about whom they have professional knowledge.  In addition to the firm’s inclusion on both 2013 New York and United States lists of Top Ranked Law Firms, some of EHA’s attorneys have recieved individual inclusion as Martindale-Hubbell’s list of Top Rated Lawyers in Land Use and Zoning.

The Supreme Court, Suffolk County has dismissed a neighbor’s action claiming “adverse possession” over a strip of land in Birch Tree Partners LLC v. Windsor Digital Studio LLC, Index No. 09-25251. The action involved a portion of a large estate located on Further Lane in the Town of East Hampton, and the neighbor plaintiff had claimed that its alleged maintenance of the property, coupled with its predecessor’s maintenance of the property, entitled it to claim ownership of the land through adverse possession.  The Supreme Court granted the defendant summary judgment dismissing the action on the ground that the plaintiff had conceded its lack of ownership by previously offering to purchase the property.

The Supreme Court, Suffolk County has upheld a prospective tenant’s action for specific performance of a 49-year commercial lease in Flying Point, LLC v. Killybegs Realty Corp., Index No. 03-2521. The lease at issue involved a parcel of vacant land in Southampton, New York.  The owner of the property, after negotiating and then signing the lease documents, denied that the signatory had any authority to bind the owner as the landlord in the lease.  After conducting a trial, the court found the owners’ testimony to be not credible, upheld the prospective tenant’s action, and concluded that the lease was enforceable.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has vacated a District Court decision regarding the interpretation of restrictive covenants in Petrello v. White, 10-2744-cv. The case involved the meaning of a restrictive covenant that required two properties to be held by “a common owner of record.” The District Court had found that the covenant required 100% identical ownership for both properties, but the appellants argued that the covenant only required at least one common owner, but did not preclude additional non-common owners.  The Court of Appeals analyzed New York’s rules governing the interpretation of restrictive covenants, found the appellants’ proposed interpretation to be plausible, and remanded the case back to the District Court for further consideration in light of extrinsic evidence.

EHA Partner Carmela Di Talia has been recognized as the 2012 Director of the Year of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce.  Ms. Di Talia, who has served on the Board of Directors since 2011, received the award at the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Awards Dinner at the Vineyard Caterers in Aquebogue on December 6, 2012.

The Appellate Division, Second Department, has dismissed an owner’s claim in a construction dispute alleging a breach of warranty, in Snow v. Seff, 2012 NY Slip Op 6201.  The contractor successfully argued that the owner waived his claim for breach of warranty by failing to give the contractor proper notice of the alleged defect.

The Supreme Court, Suffolk County has dismissed a petition to invalidate East Hampton Airport’s Master Plan Update (MPU) and Airport Layout Plan (ALP), in Committee v. Wilkinson, Index No. 10-41928.
The Court rejected the petitioners’ claims that the Town of East Hampton violated the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), instead concluding that the Town performed a proper environmental review when it adopted the MPU and ALP in September of 2010

EHA Partner Carmela Di Talia has been installed as a Director of the Suffolk County Women’s Bar Association (SCWBA).  SCWBA is the local chapter of the New York State Women’s Bar Association, an organization comprised of over 3,800 members statewide, including prominent attorneys and judges.

The Appellate Division, Second Department has affirmed the grant of summary judgment to a landowner who sought to set aside a “tax deed” to property taken by the County of Suffolk due to unpaid taxes, in Bridgehampton Development Corp. v. County of Suffolk, 2012 N.Y.Slip Op. 04963.  The appeals court agreed with the trial court that the County violated the landowner’s constitutional right to due process of law by failing to provide notice, by mail, of the original tax lien sale.  As a result of the case, the original owner’s title to the property was restored.