Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/05/2018

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Zoning Bulletin February 25, 2018 I Volume 12 I Issue 4 Jurisdiction/School District —Town says school district's electronic sign violates town zoning ordinances School district contends that it is immune from town's zoning ordinances Citation: Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District v. Town of Bethlehem, 156 A.D.3d 179, 66N.Y.S.3d 534 (3d Dep't 2017) NEW YORK (11/30/17)—This case addressed the issue of whether a school district was immune from a town's zoning ordinances. The Background/Facts: In January 2015, the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District (the "School District") asked the Town of Bethlehem (the "Town") whether any local law would prohibit the School District from replacing an existing traditional sign at one of its elementary school located in the Town with an electronic message board sign. The Town informed the School District that the Town's zoning laws expressly prohibited electronic signs in the Town. The School District then applied to the Town for a variance in order to install the electronic sign (which had already been donated to the school). The Town denied the School District's variance application. However, the School District, nevertheless, installed the electronic sign. Consequently, the Town informed the School District that it was in violation of various pro- visions of the Town's zoning laws, and ordered the School District to remove the sign. The School District responded that, as a public school, it was not subject to local zoning requirements. Still, "[a]s a precaution," the School District appealed the Town's variance denial to the Town's Zoning Board of Appeals (the "ZBA"). The ZBA also denied the variance request, citing, among other things, traffic safety concerns. Following the ZBA's denial of its requested variance, the School District filed an action for declaratory judgment with the county Supreme Court. The School District asked the court to declare that, as a public school, the School District was immune and exempt from compliance with the Town's zoning laws as they apply to the use of real property for school purposes. The Town and the ZBA counterclaimed. They asked the court for an order directing the School District to remove the sign. The Supreme Court rejected the School District's immunity argument, dismissed the School District's action, and directed that the School District to remove the electronic sign. The School District appealed. DECISION: Judgment of Supreme Court affirmed as modified. The Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York, held that the School District was not immune from the Town's zoning ordinances. © 2018 Thomson Reuters 9