In a significant litigation win by Michael Caruso and Kempshall McAndrew, Cuddy & Feder obtained a judgment from the Putnam County Supreme Court striking down a local law that would have halted our client’s proposal to develop a multimillion-dollar, 750,000-square-foot logistics and distribution center.
As a result of political pressure related to our client’s project, the Town of Kent passed a so-called “Excavation Law” in 2023, which would have required almost every developer or property owner to obtain an open-ended, discretionary permit from the Town Board for even routine excavation or site-preparation work. The law effectively empowered the Town Board to assert virtually unchecked control over the site plan and environmental review processes and vested it with an unprecedented gatekeeping role over development and land use activity. The law would not only have wrapped our client’s project in red tape but also would have created enormous risk and uncertainty for development throughout the Town.
In response to our Article 78 petition challenging the legality of the law on several grounds, the Court held that the law was invalid because the Town failed to comply with the mandatory planning referral requirements of General Municipal Law § 239-m. The result was a major win not just for our client but for responsible development in Kent and Putnam County, as well as the continued growth of jobs and tax revenue in the community.