43 A.D.2d 727 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1973
In a proceeding pursuant to article 78 of the CPLR inter alla to compel respondents to issue all necessary building approvals and permits regarding petitioner’s construction of a proprietary home for adults, petitioner appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County, dated May 10, 1973, which dismissed the petition. Judgment reversed, on the law, without costs, and respondents are directed to issue the approvals and permits in question. Respondents revoked a previously granted approval of petitioner’s plans to construct a nursing home in an area zoned to permit such an enterprise, on the ground that the sewers in the area were totally inadequate. Statistics showed a consistent increase in the number of complaints about sewer-backups resulting in -overflow of sewage into the streets since 1969. Complaints of backups for 1972 on the street in question were more than double the number received in 1971. Respondents had initially approved petitioner’s application for the appropriate building approvals on September 25, 1972. Before petitioner applied for the necessary permits pursuant to that approval, a suit was brought by an area resident to enjoin respondents from issuing the permits. Respondents moved to dismiss that action on the ground that, since petitioners in the instant action had met all building and zoning requirements, respondents had the right and the duty to issue the necessary permits. Respondents’ motion was granted. Shortly thereafter, however, respondents notified petitioner that the prior approval was being revoked on the basis of a report prepared by respondents which indicated that the sewer system in the area, built before 1889, was “ grossly inadequate ” for current neighborhood needs and that addition of even one-family residences to the area would