Land Use Regulations

Exam rule

The bundle of legal rights includes possession, control, enjoyment, exclusion and disposition. These rights are broad, but they are not unlimited. A deed restriction or restrictive covenant is a private promise about land use. It may bind later owners when it runs with the land. A public zoning approval does not cancel it. The holder of the covenant's benefit normally asks a court to enforce it. A long, harmful delay may support the doctrine of laches and block an equitable remedy. An easement gives a nonowner a limited right to use land. A right-of-way is an easement used for passage. Air rights concern the usable space above land. Abutting parcels touch at a boundary. A survey shows boundaries, dimensions and physical features. Buyers should review the deed, survey and title report as well as the zoning rules.

Exam rule

Land use planning looks ahead. Demography studies population. A census tract is a small area used for census data. Planners also study topography, roads, water, sewers and other infrastructure. A temporary moratorium can pause certain development while a lawful planning issue is studied. Government has four tested powers over land. Police power regulates for health, safety and welfare. Zoning and building codes rest on it. Eminent domain is the power to take property for public use. Condemnation is the legal process, and just compensation is required. A regulation can also become a regulatory taking if it goes too far. Taxation raises public revenue. Escheat transfers property to the state when an owner dies without a valid will or lawful heirs. New York Real Property Law Article 9-A covers certain offers of subdivided vacant land on an installment plan to New York residents. When it applies, the subdivider files a Filing Statement and Offering Statement with the Department of State. The federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act is a separate law. For many covered, nonexempt subdivisions, the buyer receives a property report before signing and may have a seven-day cancellation right. Building and fire codes set construction and safety rules. A building permit authorizes covered work. A certificate of occupancy, or CO, confirms approved occupancy. Outside New York City, the 2025 Uniform Code took effect on December 31, 2025. As of August 20, 2026, the state page says the fossil-fuel provisions named in its July 2 court update remain suspended and unenforceable.

Exam rule

SEQRA is New York's environmental review law. It applies when a state or local agency carries out, funds or approves an action. A private transfer that needs no agency decision is not an action. Some routine matters are Type II actions. They need no further review. For other actions, an environmental assessment form, or EAF, helps the lead agency study possible effects. The lead agency runs the review and decides if the effects may be significant. A negative declaration means no major harm was found, so no environmental impact statement is needed. A positive declaration means major harm may occur. It leads to an environmental impact statement, or EIS. The EIS studies impacts, mitigation and reasonable alternatives. It informs the final choice but does not guarantee approval or denial. Rules effective June 12, 2026 add another question. Could the action cause or increase a disproportionate pollution burden on a disadvantaged community? Historic and archaeological resources can also matter. OPRHP and the State Historic Preservation Office may take part when a state or federal historic review applies.

Exam rule

A comprehensive plan, also called a master plan, states a community's goals for growth, housing, services and protection. Zoning regulations must be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan. A zoning ordinance or local law divides land into districts and controls use, density, setbacks, height and lot size. Common classes include residential, commercial, industrial, vacant, agricultural, public open space, park land, recreational and institutional. An official map is different. It shows mapped public streets, parks and drainage systems. An as-of-right use is allowed by the zoning law without a use variance, but it still must meet all other rules and approvals. An accessory use is secondary and customary to the main use. An accessory apartment is a second dwelling unit controlled by local law. A home occupation is work carried on in a home within local limits. Incentive zoning trades a stated zoning benefit, such as added density, for an approved public amenity. Transfer of development rights, or TDR, shifts development potential from a sending area to a receiving area under a local program. Spot zoning gives a small parcel special treatment for a private benefit that conflicts with the plan. The local legislative body, not the ZBA, adopts or changes zoning policy.

Exam rule

A planning board is an administrative body created under local law. It commonly reviews subdivisions and site plans. A subdivision divides land into lots. The plat is the map submitted for approval. Subdivision regulations may address lot layout, density, topography, streets, traffic, access, water, sewers, drainage and other infrastructure. A cul-de-sac is a street closed at one end with a turning area. A right-of-way can provide legal passage for a street or utility. The board may require improvements or lawful financial security for development costs. It may also advise on the comprehensive plan, zoning actions and capital budgeting for public projects. Site plan review studies the arrangement, layout and design of one proposed use. It does not divide title into new lots. A planned unit development, or PUD, uses one coordinated plan and can mix uses under a local PUD district. Cluster development groups buildings on part of a site while preserving open space or other resources, without raising the total permitted unit count unless another law allows it. Local plat or site approval is not FHA loan approval. FHA-insured financing has separate federal property and lender rules.

Exam rule

A zoning board of appeals, or ZBA, is administrative and quasi-judicial. It applies the zoning law, hears appeals from enforcement officers and interprets unclear provisions. It does not write zoning policy or rezone land. Under Town Law, an administrative appeal is generally filed within sixty days after the officer files the challenged order, requirement, decision or interpretation. The ZBA holds a hearing and generally decides within sixty-two days after the hearing closes. Its decision is filed with the town clerk within five business days. The Open Meetings Law also matters. The public may attend, listen and observe the board's work. The law does not create an unlimited right to speak at every meeting. A board may enter executive session only through the required public motion and vote and for a ground allowed by law. It cannot use executive session as a general label for private discussion.

Exam rule

A use variance allows a use that the zoning district does not permit. The applicant must prove unnecessary hardship with competent financial evidence. All four parts are required. The property cannot earn a reasonable return from each permitted use. The hardship is unique and does not affect a substantial part of the district. The proposed use will not alter the neighborhood's essential character. The hardship was not self-created. An area variance gives relief from a dimensional rule, such as a setback, frontage, lot area or height limit. The ZBA balances the benefit to the applicant against harm to the neighborhood or community. It weighs five factors: an undesirable neighborhood change or harm to nearby property, a feasible alternative, whether the variance is substantial, harm to physical or environmental conditions, and whether the difficulty is self-created. A self-created difficulty matters, but it does not by itself bar an area variance. The board must grant only the minimum variance needed while protecting the neighborhood. The phrase practical difficulty is often used to describe an area problem, but New York's statute tests it through the five-factor balance.

Exam rule

A lawful use may no longer match a later zoning rule. If it was legal when it began, it is a lawful nonconforming use. Local rules may let it continue. Rules on abandonment, expansion, change or rebuilding after damage can still limit it. A special use is different. It is already allowed by the zoning law when stated conditions are met. The owner seeks a special use permit, not a use variance. The board applies the written standards. It may add reasonable conditions tied to those standards. Local family definitions, group homes, accessory apartments and home occupations must follow state and federal housing law. A local label cannot excuse unlawful discrimination. Land use enforcement can involve the building department, building inspector or code enforcement officer. Engineers, planners and environmental professionals may review technical issues. A board of health handles assigned health matters. Local courts can enforce violations and remedies. The code officer may act under local authority. The officer may issue or deny permits, inspect work, issue notices and check occupancy. A building permit does not replace zoning approval. A certificate of occupancy does not settle a private title dispute.

Exam rule

An Article 78 proceeding asks New York Supreme Court to review government action. In a land use case, the challenger usually must wait for a final determination and use the available administrative route first. The court does not hold a new zoning hearing or decide which project it prefers. It reviews the agency's record and asks the legal questions allowed by CPLR 7803. Those include whether the body acted without lawful authority, used an unlawful procedure, made an error of law or acted arbitrarily and capriciously. When a substantial-evidence issue from a required evidentiary hearing is raised, transfer rules may apply. Town Law gives a special deadline for ZBA review. The proceeding must generally begin within thirty days after the ZBA decision is filed in the town clerk's office. Article 78 deadlines can differ in other settings, so use the rule tied to the facts. The remedy may include annulment, confirmation or an order sending the matter back to the local body.