Matter of Shelter Island Association v Zoning Board of Appeals of Town of Shelter Island

This Article 78 appeal was brought about to challenge the decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Shelter Island granting respondent John Meister’s application for an accessory apartment variance. Supreme Court denied petitioners’ motion for leave to amend the petition to add additional petitions and granted respondents’ motion to dismiss the proceeding. Petitioners then commenced this appeal.

The originally named petitioners include three individuals and a homeowner association. The Court feels that they lack standing to commence an instant proceeding because they were unable to establish that any of the individual petitioners or members of the association would suffer any environmental injury different from what would affect the public at large. The petitioners made a cross-motion to amend the petition and add petitioners who met the criteria for standing but the Court found that even with the added petitioners their allegations of increased traffic and the effect on the water table from additional tenants would be insufficient to establish such standing.

Accordingly, the Court affirmed the judgment, with costs.

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