What does a land use practitioner do when faced with an invalidly issued building permit? There are occasions when a local building inspector will make an honest mistake, issue a building permit that is contrary to, or in violation of, a local building code. The developer, in reliance on the permit, proceeds with construction only to be served with a stop work order. The stop work order will be sustained due to the fact that municipal estoppel—a doctrine which states that rights may not be conferred upon a municipality which acts in contravention of zoning laws—does not apply in the absence of governmental fraud, misrepresentation, deception or other misconduct on the part of the municipality. Town of Copake v. 13 Lackawana Props. LLC., 99 A.D.2d 1061, 942 N.Y.S.2d 780 (3d Dept. 2012); lv. denied 20 N.Y.2d 857 (2013).
In a previous article in the Law Journal, the fundamental principles of municipal estoppel were set forth. (“When a Municipality Makes a Mistake,” New York Law Journal, Sept. 28, 2016, page 6, Anthony S. Guardino).
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
