State can appeal Trump's Jones Beach plans

On the heels of one legal rebuff for developer Donald Trump, a court on Friday gave the state permission to appeal his victories in another lawsuit involving his Jones Beach catering hall-restaurant.

The state Appellate Division gave the state permission to appeal to the Court of Appeals lower-court rulings that the state erred when it denied Trump a variance to build a basement at his proposed Trump on the Ocean, sited in a flood zone.

The court denied Trump's bid to have an injunction lifted, so he is still prevented from building until the issue is resolved.

In any case, Trump has said he won't build anything at the vacant site until a separate damages case is resolved.

In a split decision in September, an appellate court affirmed a ruling that a Department of State review board should have granted Trump and partner Steve Carl a variance to build the basement in a flood zone. The court majority said the state board "misapprehended or disregarded the facts and was overly speculative," and ordered it to issue the variance "subject to any reasonable condition it deems appropriate."

The state asked the Appellate Division to allow an appeal to the Court of Appeals. That permission came Friday. The attorney general's office expects to file the papers by early February.

Ronald J. Rosenberg, a Garden City attorney fighting the project, said: "I am overwhelmingly confident that the state Court of Appeals will correct the decision of the Appellate Division and uphold the determination of the state board of review in denying the variance."

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Trump attorney Steven R. Schlesinger of Garden City, said "it's a very good thing for us" because he expects the Court of Appeals to merge the variance and damage cases and rule in Trump's favor on both issues.

Trump learned Thursday that he had lost the latest round of his battle to force the state to pay as much as $500 million in damages for delays in starting the project. Schlesinger said that ruling by the Appellate Division would be appealed.