The Supreme Court, Suffolk County has struck down the “adjacent area” regulations in the Village of Sagaponack’s Coastal Erosion Hazard Area (CEHA) law in Petrello v. Board of Trustees of the Village of Sagaponack, Index No. 26159/2011.  The plaintiffs successfully argued that the Village’s adjacent area regulations, which were modeled after the Town of Southapton’s unique CEHA regulations, exceeded the Village’s power to impose CEHA regulations under State Law.

The Appellate Division, Second Department, upheld a trial judgment in favor of a homeowner for a contractor’s breach of the housing merchant implied warranty of General Business Law 777-a, in Link v. Sarcona, 2012 NY Slip Op 02642

EHA’s Managing Partner, Stephen Angel, served as a Visiting Professor with the Faculty of Law at the University of Miskolc, in Miskolc, Hungary.  Mr. Angel taught a two-week certificate course to the University’s students on United States Civil Procedural, from March 26th to April 6th.

The Supreme Court, Suffolk County, after a trial, resolved a boundary dispute between a landowner and the East Hampton Town Trustees by concluding that the landowner held title up to the “line of beach grass on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean,” in Macklowe v. Trustees of the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk Index No. 8740-08.  The court rejected the Trustees’ claim that the beach grass line should be considered a fixed boundary and instead agreed with the landowner that the boundary was ambulatory.

The Supreme Court, Suffolk County overturned a planning board’s denial of a site plan for a single family residence in 55 Wainscott Hollow, LLC v. Planning Board of Appeals of the Town of East Hampton, Index No. 09-49444

The Appellate Division, Second Department upheld the validity of a construction management contract with a school district in East Hampton Union Free School District v. Sandpebble Builders, Inc., 2011 NY Slip Op 9261

The Appellate Division, Second Department upheld the dismissal of neighbor’s attempt to challenge a homeowner’s variance authorizing construction of a tennis court in Birch Tree Partners, LLC v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Town of East Hampton, 2011 NY Slip Op 9121

The Appellate Division, Second Department upheld the rights of an owner benefitted by an easement and right of way over another property, from the street to the beach and waters of the Long Island Sound, in Zhang v Coritsidis, 2011 NY Slip Op 8934

The Commercial Division of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County found in favor of the plaintiff, after trial, on its claims against an attorney/escrow agent for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of an escrow agreement, in New Suffolk Marina, LLC v. New Suffolk Shipyard, L.P., Index No. 19558.

EHA Managing Partner, Stephen R. Angel, conducted a continuing legal and professional education seminar to lawyers, land surveyors, and engineers, entitled, “New York Land Boundaries and Access Rights.”  The topics of Mr. Angel’s presentation included rights of way and easements, boundary disputes, adverse possession, and riparian and water rights.