The plaintiffs in this declaratory judgment action attack the validity of the Zoning Ordinance of the Town of New Castle in its entirety on the ground that the ordinance excludes multifamily residential housing from the list of permitted uses.
The Town of New Castle is a relatively quiet and undeveloped suburban community nestled in the hills of northern Wеstchester County. The town is but 35 miles north of New York City, and this close proximity to a major metropolitan center has placed it directly in the path of the post-World War II rush to suburbia. Since 1950, New Castle has experienced a three-fold increase in population, growing from 5,312 inhabitants to over 17,000. The town fathers, anxious to preserve as much of the rustic township as they could, took steps to prevent the construction of both apartment houses and small one-family homes in the town. Ever since the first zoning ordinance was adopted by New Castle, the town has refused to authorize or permit the develоpment of any multiple-family dwellings within the boundaries of the town. A few older apartment buildings were built prior to the enactment of the ordinance and exist as nonconforming uses.
The present zoning ordinance, which was enacted in 1971 to replace a 1945 version, provides for 12 types of districts. Four districts are restricted to residential use based on minimum lot size. Districts R-2A and R-1A mandate two-acre and one-acre minimum lot sizes respectively, while the other two residential classes call for one-half and one-quarter acre lot development. Six districts are set aside for business development and another two are earmarked for industrial uses. However, in terms of surface area, most of the town is restricted to one- and two-acre residential development. In
The plaintiffs, either individually or through corporations, had controlled or owned since 1955 a parcel of 50 acres situated on the southern end of New Castle. Their land fronts on Bedford Road to the west and Old Farm Road to the southwest and is zoned for one-acre residences. Indeed, the plaintiffs originally owned more land in the same parcel but subdivided it and сonstructed one-family houses, in conformity with existing zoning requirements. The properties adjoining the plaintiffs parcel on the west and east are zoned for one-half acre development. The property on the northern boundary is set aside for one-quarter acre lots. Just beyond the one-half acre zone to the west of the plaintiffs’ property lies a relatively large retail, commercial and industrial zone.
In early 1972, the plaintiffs planned the construction of a large condominium development on their remaining property. The proposed improvements would include publiс water and sanitary sewers, a five-acre lake, and a recreational area (including swimming pools and tennis courts) of seven or eight acres. The condominium’s community would be "age-oriented” and, with respect to married couples, either the husband or the wife would have to be at least 50 yеars of age. Mitchell Berenson, one of the plaintiffs, was informed by town officials that the requested zoning changes would not be made. Thereupon, this action was brought to declare the town’s zoning ordinance unconstitutional. In denying cross motions for summary judgment, Special Term found that triable issues of faсt existed—the principal question being whether the need for multiple-family housing in New Castle "is so compelling as to amount to a deprivation of the constitutional rights of those people, who are presently, or would if economically feasible, become residents of the Town.” On cross aрpeals to the Appellate Division, that court stated its agreement with Special Term’s delineation of factual issues and affirmed the order denying summary judgment. The Appellate Division granted leave to appeal to our court upon a certified question as to the correctness of its order of affirmance. We agree that factual issues remain to be resolved upon a plenary trial and that the motions for summary judgment were properly denied. Accordingly, we would affirm the order of the Appellate Division and answer the certified question in the affirmative. However, we disagrеe with the formulation of the issues by the lower
In determining under what circumstances, if at all, a zoning board may adopt a regulation that would prohibit entirely the construction of any new multiple residential housing within its borders, a review of the legislative and judicial history of zoning would be instructive.
The Legislature has authorized town zoning boards, "[f]or the purpose of promoting the health, safety, morаls, or the general welfare of the community,” to adopt zoning ordinances regulating and restricting, among other things* "the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures,” the size of building lots, and the over-all population density. (Town Law, § 261.) Zoning ordinances are susceptible to constitutional challenge only if "clearly arbitrary and unreasonable, -having no substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare.” (Euclid v Ambler Co.,
In 1931, our court struck down a village ordinance which, with the exception of a small plot of land at the end of the village, placed the entire village into one "use” district. (Dowsey v Village of Kensington,
In 1959, we sustained the validity of a village minimum lot requirement. (Levitt v Incorporated Vil. of Sands Point,
More recently, we ruled that a town may permissibly adopt a program providing for phased growth. (Matter of Golden v Planning Bd. of Town of Ramapo,
New York is not the only urban State to confront the issue presented here. As in our own State, however, the results have been mixed. The Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey have struck down exclusionary zoning ordinances. (Appeal of Girsh, 437 Pa 237; Southern Burlington County NAACP v Township of Mount Laurel, 67 NJ 151, app dsmd
In determining the validity of an ordinance excluding multifamily housing as a permitted use, we must consider the general purposes which the concept of zoning seeks to serve. The primary goal of a zoning ordinance must be to provide for the development of a balanced, cоhesive community which will make efficient use of the town’s available land. (Cf. Matter of Golden v Planning Bd. of Town of Ramapo,
Similarly, the town is free to set up various types of use zones. There is no requirement that each zone must contain some sort of housing balance. Our concern is not whether the zones, in themselves, are balanced communities, but whether the town itself, as provided for by its zoning ordinances, will be a balanced and integrated community. Thus, as in the Scarsdale case, if a district is set aside for multiple-dwelling development, there is no requirement that other portions оf a
While it may be impermissible in an undeveloped community to prevent entirely the construction of multiple-family residences anywhere in the locality "(see Dowsey v Village of Kensington,
The first branch of the test, then, is simply whether the boаrd has provided a properly balanced and well ordered plan for the community. (See Udell v Haas,
Secondly, in enacting a zoning ordinance, considеration must be given to regional needs and requirements. It may be true, for example, that New Castle already has a sufficient number of multiple-dwelling units to satisfy both its present and future populations. However, residents of Westchester County, as well as the larger New York City metropolitan region, may be searching for multiple-family housing in the area to be near their employment or for a variety of other social and economic reasons. There must be a balancing of the local desire to maintain the status quo within the community and the greater public interest that regional needs be met. Although we are aware of the traditional view that zoning acts only upon the property lying within the zoning board’s territorial limits, it must be recognized that zoning often has a substantial impact beyond the boundaries of the municipality.
Zoning, as we have previously noted, is essentially а legislative act. Thus, it is quite anomalous that a court should be required to perform the tasks of a regional planner. To that end, we look to the Legislature to make appropriate changes in order to foster the development of programs designed to achieve sound regionаl planning. While the people of New Castle may fervently desire to be left alone by the forces of change, the ultimate determination is not solely theirs. Whether New Castle should be permitted to exclude high density residential development depends on the facts and circumstances presеnt in the town and the community at large. Until the day comes when regional, rather than local, governmental units can make such determinations, the courts must assess the reasonableness of what the locality has done. That is what remains to be considered upon the trial in this case.
The order appеaled from should be affirmed, with costs, and the certified question answered in the affirmative.
Chief Judge Breitel and Judges Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Cooke concur.
Notes
. We note, in passing, that, despite the arguments of the town to the contrary, the plaintiffs have a sufficient stake in the outcome to рermit them to maintain this action. (Matter of Golden v Planning Bd. of Town of Ramapo,
. In a recent case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a small village could permissibly restrict its entire land to use as one-family dwellings. (Village of Belle Terre v Boraas,