PUBLISHED ARTICLES
Nassau Lawyer
April 2009Michael Sahn, Jason Horowitz and John Christopher published an article on Current Issues in Land Use and Zoning Law. The article discusses three major issues - the interpretation of zoning ordinances, the impact of the volume of business at a property with an established pre-existing non-conforming use, and the need for a supplemental environmental impact statement under SEQRA. Click here for a pdf of the article.
Long Island Business News
April 24-30, 2009Michael Sahn presents suggestions of how the real estate community of Long Island could become a major force behind a local recovery. His ideas include streamlining building permit and zoning processes to get projects moving ahead quickly, and providing tax rebates for owners who have projects constructed during calendar year 2009. Click here to read the article.
Nassau Lawyer – Nassau Bar Association
April 2007The use of temporary zoning moratoriums throughout New York State to control growth and development was the subject of an article authored by Michael Sahn and John Christopher, a legal intern in the firm and a third year law student at Touro. The article examined cases in New York State and before the United States Supreme Court as well as current state legislation. Click here to see a copy of the article.
Nassau Lawyer – Nassau County Bar Association
December 2004Jon Ward examined the increasing challenges facing property owners as a result of a handful of New York Court of Appeals cases. In each case, the Court admonished the lower courts to be deferential to land use determinations issued by local governments and not to substitute their judgments for those of the local governments simply because they would have reached a different conclusion based on the facts of the case. Advocating for property owners has never been easy, Ward notes, but the bar has now been set higher than previously. Click here to read the full article.
Nassau Women’s Bar Association
October 2004Michael Sahn published an article on the problem of determining applicable time periods on decisions or actions by governmental agencies with regard to statutes of limitation. The challenge facing counsel rests in the ability to determine when a governmental decision maker has taken a definitive position that inflicts injury. The issue has come up recently in the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division, Second Department and the New York State legislature recently enacted an amendment to town zoning board decisions with a critical time element feature.
Real Estate Weekly
April, 2003An article written by Jon Ward examined the issues faced by the owners of commercial property whose tenants wish to assign their leases or sublet space to third parties. Many lawsuits result from owners objecting to either proposed assignees, sub-tenants or usage of space. Assignment and subleasing rights are complex and litigation can be costly. Property owners must carefully draft leases to protect their rights and interests in the event that a tenant decides to assign its lease or sublet the space.
Nassau Lawyer – Nassau County Bar Association
April, 2003Jon A. Ward and Michael Sahn co-authored an article updating colleagues on judicial review of administrative decisions, focusing on land-use determinations made by local zoning authorities. The article examines how several recent appellate court decisions send a stern message to applicants, making thorough preparation of zoning variance and permit applications even more critical than in the past.
