Opinion
2004-05949.
December 5, 2005.
In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review a determination of the Board of Appeals of the Town of Southold dated December 17, 2003, which, after a hearing, denied the petitioner's application for a waiver of a lot merger, the petitioner appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Emerson, J.), dated June 10, 2004, which denied the petition and dismissed the proceeding.
Before: Schmidt, J.P., Santucci, Luciano and Lifson, JJ., concur.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
Local zoning boards have broad discretion, and a determination of a zoning board should be sustained on judicial review if it has a rational basis and is not arbitrary and capricious ( see Matter of Pecoraro v. Board of Appeals of Town of Hempstead, 2 NY3d 608, 613). "Courts may set aside a zoning board determination only where the record reveals that the board acted illegally or arbitrarily, or abused its discretion, or that it merely succumbed to generalized community pressure" ( id.).
Here, the denial of the petitioner's application for a waiver of a lot merger had a rational basis and was not arbitrary and capricious ( id.; see Matter of Ifrah v. Utschig, 98 NY2d 304, 308; Matter of Sasso v. Osgood, 86 NY2d 374, 384 n. 2 [1995]). The petitioner failed to establish that he would suffer economic hardship as required to obtain a waiver of a lot merger pursuant to section 100-26 of the Southold Town Code. Thus, the Supreme Court properly declined to disturb the determination of the Board of Appeals of the Town of Southold to deny the application ( see Matter of Pecoraro v. Board of Appeals of Town of Hempstead, supra).