Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Development
Developer’s Taking Claims Survive Motion to Dismiss
WC Woodmere LLC v. Incorporated Village of Woodsburgh2024 WL 4225562
U.S. Dist. Ct, E.D.N.Y.
(Ross, D.J.)
In landowner’s action against two Long Island villages alleging that rezoning violated federal and state law, the villages moved to dismiss the claims. The court granted the villages’ motions to dismiss equal protection, due process and some state law claims, but denied the motion to dismiss landowner’s taking claims.
In 2017, landowner purchased a former country club located on the border of three municipalities. The then-applicable zoning regulations would have permitted a development of 284 total single-family homes, 248 in Hempstead, 24 in Woodburgh, and 12 in Lawrence. Landowner filed an application for subdivision approval with the Nassau County Planning Commission, which served as the lead agency for the SEQRA process. Before landowner’s purchase, Hempstead had issued a temporary moratorium on development of golf course properties, a moratorium it extended six times. Later, in 2019 to 2020, the three municipalities entered into an agreement to rezone the property into a Coastal Conservation District, in which permissible development would be reduced from 248 lots to 41 in Hempstead, 24 to 18 in Woodsburgh, and 12 to zero in Lawrence. Landowner then challenged the rezoning on various grounds, but the court dismissed the action without prejudice as unripe. Landowner then applied to the villages of Lawrence and Woodsburgh for variances that would have permitted residential construction in areas where the challenged zoning would prohibit residential development. When the villages denied the applications, landowner appealed the denials. Both appeals were denied. Landowners then brought another action challenging the amendments.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.