Muttontown sued over block on subdivisions

A Muttontown family has sued the village, contending two consecutive moratoriums on subdividing large properties have illegally blocked plans to build 23 homes on its 103-acre estate.

The village board said it enacted the moratoriums to provide time to review and update its master plan and zoning. The board on Oct. 28 approved the law that created the second moratorium to fix a technical problem in the extension of the first moratorium in July.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court last month by Michael W. Hall and his family, owners of the Easton estate on the north side of Muttontown Road since 1952. The family sold 18 acres abutting the preserve to Nassau County four years ago.

The Halls want to subdivide the remaining property, which includes a mansion and several outbuildings, into 3-acre lots -- the minimum allowed by the zoning. They have been thwarted by the two moratoriums, the first of which was passed in May 2010. Each stopped subdivisions, with some exceptions, for as much as 15 months.

The lawsuit filed by Cold Spring Harbor attorney Stephen Conlon claims the village "has done nothing for the past 17 months since the adoption of the first moratorium" to address the master plan and zoning.

But village attorney Steven Leventhal said "we are actively reviewing the master plan" after hiring planning consultant Sidney B. Bowne & Son of Mineola.

The lawsuit also alleges that the village proposed the first moratorium in March 2010, because the board was interested in acquiring the Woodcrest Country Club at a May 2010 auction and knew "the moratorium would have the impact of lowering the value of the very parcel it was attempting to acquire." The village was outbid in the auction.

"It's clear that the intention of the continuation of the moratorium is to upzone the Hall property from 3 acres to 5 acres," Conlon said in an interview, which would further reduce the property value because fewer homes could be built. Leventhal said the village has no plans to change the Easton estate zoning.

The lawsuit notes the village revised its master plan and zoning regulations in 1989 and then updated them in 2003. "So the only reason for the moratorium is that they don't want owners to develop their property, and that's illegal," Conlon said.

The village attorney said the board re-enacted the second moratorium resolution because it had not been submitted, as required, to the Nassau County Planning Commission.