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Settlement of Zoning Disputes

By Stewart E. Sterk
January 28, 2008

What power does a municipality's counsel have to settle a zoning dispute on terms that would ordinarily require the exercise of discretionary authority by a zoning board of appeals (ZBA) or by a planning board? In Matter of Commco, Inc. v. Amelkin, 62 NY2d 260, which was decided more than 20 years ago, the Court of Appeals indicated that counsel had no such settlement power, even if counsel acted with the approval of the municipality's elected governing body. The court's recent decision in Matter of Haberman v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 9 NY3d 269 (infra, page 4), imposes modest limits on the scope of Commco and provides an occasion for reconsideration of the issue.

Commco

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