Anthony S. Guardino Quoted in NYLJ "Court Finds Town Board Departed from Zoning Laws"

October 16, 2008

State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Whelan set aside approval for Long Island’s first Wal-Mart Supercenter. He ruled that the Town of Riverhead had gone against its own law and zoning codes to grant the application to the developer by granting variances to set the store closer to the road and make the parking lot and stalls smaller than normally allowed in the town. This is the jurisdiction of the zoning board and only the zoning board may change the zoning requirements of the Zoning Code.

Anthony S. Guardino, a land use & zoning partner at Farrell Fritz in Uniondale, as well as a Law Journal columnist, who is not involved in the case, stated that the decision is significant because it “clearly states” that only zoning boards, not town boards, have the power to depart from lawfully enacted zoning requirements. He noted that “there are a number of towns and villages on Long Island that have granted some variance power to other boards.”

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