## Facts

- Property owners held an approximately 5.5-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Old Country Road and Old New York Avenue in the Town of Huntington.
- The parcel was zoned for low-density residential use requiring one-acre plots.
- Two parcels immediately to the west along Old Country Road were zoned for commercial office buildings and were developed consistently with that zoning.
- Properties across the adjacent roads were zoned one-acre residential but were used as a farm and for municipal water district purposes.
- A parkway bordered the area to the north; land north of the parkway was a town park, also zoned one-acre residential.
- The town had adopted a master plan in 1965, amended in 1966, designating the relevant block (including plaintiffs’ parcel) for commercial development.
- Plaintiffs challenged the residential zoning as inconsistent with the comprehensive plan and as unequal treatment compared to nearby commercial zoning.
- After a nonjury trial, the trial court declared the one-acre residential zoning valid; plaintiffs appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the one-acre residential zoning of plaintiffs’ parcel was invalid under Town Law § 263 because it was not made in accordance with the town’s comprehensive plan.

## Decision

- The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment on the law.
- The court declared the one-acre residential zoning classification of plaintiffs’ property invalid because it did not comply with a comprehensive plan.
- The court relied on the comprehensive-plan defect and did not base the disposition on equal protection.
- No costs or disbursements were awarded.

## Legal Principles

- Under Town Law § 263, zoning ordinances must be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan.
- A “comprehensive plan” consists of municipal land-use policies reflected in ordinances, resolutions, and policy statements, including master plan materials.
- Zoning that materially departs from established planning policies, without an articulated planning rationale, may be invalid as inconsistent with the comprehensive plan requirement and as ad hoc zoning.
- Unrebutted expert evidence and planning-board recommendations may support a finding that a zoning classification conflicts with the municipality’s planning policies.

## Conclusion

The court invalidated one-acre residential zoning for the owners’ parcel because the town’s planning materials designated the area for commercial development and the town offered no planning-based justification for treating the parcel differently from surrounding properties zoned and developed in line with that plan.


Osiecki v. Town of Huntington, 170 A.D.2d 490, 565 N.Y.S.2d 564 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep’t 1991)