Agenda - Planning Commission - 01/04/2018

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December 10, 2017 1 Volume 11 I Issue 23 Zoning Bulletin Variance/Conditions—Village grants restaurant owner's requested parking variance, with conditions dictating hours of operation and requiring valet parking Restaurant seeks to annul conditions, arguing they are unreasonable Citation: Bonefish Grill, LLC v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Village of Rockville Centre, 153 A.D.3d 1394, 61 N. Y.S.3d 623 (2d Dep't 2017) NEW YORK (09/27/17)—This case addressed the issue of whether condi- tions imposed on a parking variance were reasonable. The Background/Facts: Bonefish Grill, LLC ("Bonefish Grill") leased property (the "Property") in the Village of Rockville Centre (the "Village"). In 2013, Bonefish Grill sought to demolish the existing structure on the Property and to build a 5,400 square foot restaurant. Based on the square footage of the proposed structure, the Village's Zoning Code required Bonefish Grill to have 54 off-street parking spaces. The Property did not have any off-street parking spaces. Bonefish Grill applied for a parking variance. The parking variance ap- plication relied on a license agreement, which Bonefish Grill had with the adjacent property, allowing Bonefish Grill access to that adjacent property's 40 exclusive parking spaces between 4:00 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. on Mondays through Fridays. The Village's Zoning Board of Appeals (the "ZBA") granted the parking variance with specific conditions, including that the restaurant's operating hours be restricted to 4:00 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. on Mondays through Fridays, and that valet parking be mandatory. The ZBA also granted Bonefish Grill's application for a substantial occupancy permit, imposing the same conditions. Bonefish Grill challenged the conditions imposed, asking the court to annul them. The court annulled the conditions that restricted the restaurant's operat- ing house and required valet parking. The ZBA appealed. DECISION: Judgment of Supreme Court reversed in relevant part. The Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York, held that the conditions imposed on Bonefish Grill's parking variance were reasonable. The appellate court explained that a zoning board "may, where appropriate, impose reasonable conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental to the proposed use of the property, and aimed at minimizing the adverse impact to an area that might result from the grant of a variance or 10 © 2017 Thomson Reuters