New York municipalities can no longer require developers to pay a park fee without customizing the amount for each project.
A judge overturned the $2.8 million park fee levied on the Jericho-based Beechwood Organization for a Southampton development, the Long Island Business News reported. The decision reversed a previous ruling pertaining to the Hamptons project.
The Village of Southampton sought to collect a fee from the developer for its 19-unit condo project, The Latch Southampton, which replaced the Village Latch Inn. New York State permits a park fee to be levied against a developer that failed to provide parkland if the municipality makes requisite findings showing the fee is warranted.
Michael Dubb’s Beechwood argued the village didn’t make the necessary findings to warrant the fee. The firm argued the village exceeded its authority because its statutes made a park fee mandatory, when state law permits the fee on a discretionary basis.
The judge agreed that the municipality failed to submit evidence to support its fee. The judge also found that the fee was disproportionate to the development project.
“Simply indicating that a park fee be imposed or is appropriate, without indicating the process, if any, or the methodology utilized, leaves this court with no other choice but to deem the village’s actions were automatic and not individualized to the specific project,” the judge said.
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The village is appealing the ruling. An attorney representing the village said in a statement that the developer was aware of the fee and how it would be calculated early in the process but only challenged the fee after the village sought the payment.
Beechwood is one of the most prominent developers on Long Island, with projects across the region. In the Hamptons, Beechwood filed plans to build 26 single-family homes in Westhampton Beach last year, a majority of which would be part of a single development near the local Long Island Railroad station.
— Holden Walter-Warner