Please note that you can register up until the day before each webinar.
Local officials frequently want or even need to observe private property. Such officials must be aware of and comply with New York State laws and the U.S. Constitution, whether it be a local code enforcement officer who is investigating a potential zoning violation or a ZBA or planning board that would like to visit a property that is the subject of an application before it. This webinar will provide an overview of the Constitution’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as the process for obtaining a search warrant. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the law governing public bodies such as ZBAs and planning boards conducting site visits.
While city councils and village boards of trustees adopt local zoning codes, the job of implementing those land use regulations falls to the local zoning enforcement officer and the planning board and ZBA. Unfortunately, no matter how well the local legislative body crafts the regulations, disputes invariably arise as to the meaning of vague or ambiguous terms in the local zoning ordinance. This webinar will highlight the process of obtaining interpretations regarding local zoning codes. In addition, the presenter will highlight some general rules that ZBAs can and should use when interpreting their local zoning codes.
Local governments normally have broad authority to regulate land uses. When a property is owned or used by a religious organization or an educational institution, however, the deference that courts normally afford such municipal regulations is greatly diminished. This webinar will provide an overview of both the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) as well as New York State’s own special protections for religious and educational properties. The webinar will highlight common pitfalls local officials fall into when dealing with religious and educational land uses.
The land use decision-making processes can be highly contentious, with costly projects at stake and peoples’ property rights in play. An issue that constantly arises in proceedings before ZBAs and planning boards are claims of ethical lapses and misconduct. Sometimes charges of a conflict of interest or bias are well-founded, and sometimes such charges are merely attempts to disqualify local officials. The very nature of being a local official, namely having to be a resident of the municipality and in many instances being a property or businesses owner, creates some degree of interest in the applications that come before them. This webinar will address the basics of ethics for ZBAs and planning boards, including prohibited conflicts of interest and bias, ex parte communications, and pre-judging applications. The webinar will also cover the steps officials can take to deal with such cases, including requesting ethics opinions from boards of ethics, recusal, having alternate board members, and disclosure.
Sign regulations are a special category of land use regulation that present unique challenges for land use practitioners because of the potential entanglements with the First Amendment. This webinar will start off with a primer on First Amendment jurisprudence before delving into an overview of legal and effective sign regulations. The session will conclude with a discussion of the importance of having well-crafted sign regulations that are administered and enforced by properly trained municipal officials.
