“In March 2011, respondent Monticello Hills Wind, LLC (hereinafter the applicant) applied to respondent Town of Richfield Planning Board for a special use permit in connection with a project involving the proposed construction of six wind turbines and associated facilities (hereinafter the project) on 1,190 acres of land located in the Town of Richfield, Otsego County. The Board designated itself as the lead agency for purposes of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (see ECL art 8 [hereinafter SEQRA]), retained an outside consulting firm, held a public hearing on September 12, 2011, conducted multiple meetings and considered public comments both in support of, and in opposition to, the project. At a November 22, 2011 [*2]meeting, the Board reviewed the full environmental assessment form (hereinafter EAF), issued a negative declaration of significance under SEQRA and granted the applicant a special use permit. However, the approval of the special use permit was contingent upon the applicant entering into a host community agreement with the Town, the purpose of which was to address the applicant’s ongoing obligations and responsibilities with respect to the project.
As a result of the Board’s actions, petitioners—a group of local citizens and property owners in the Town—commenced this combined CPLR article 78 proceeding and action for declaratory judgment seeking, among other things, to annul the Board’s determinations, and asserted claims that the Board failed to comply with SEQRA, the Open Meetings Law (see Public Officers Law art 7), the Town Law and the Town’s special use permit ordinance. Petitioner Lawrence J. Frigault also sought certain relief pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law (see Public Officers Law art 6 [hereinafter FOIL]).[FN1] Ultimately, Supreme Court rejected petitioners’ challenge to the Board’s SEQRA review, but found that the Board violated the Open Meetings Law in the manner in which it conducted the November 22, 2011 meeting and violated Town Law § 274-b with respect to the September 12, 2011 hearing. As a result of these violations, the court annulled the negative declaration and special use permit, prompting these appeals by respondents[FN2] and cross appeal by petitioners.”
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Appellate Division, Third Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, July 31, 2013