Court Slaps Down ZBA over Approval of Massive Mismatched Garage

A Supreme Court ruling on Nov. 20 has determined that a town of Yorktown's Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) decision was "arbitrary, capricious and irrational." 

That decision was to once again allow a resident to build a car-garage twice the size of his home on a residential street.

"The ZBA completely failed to recognize that this determination will serve as a precedent to open the floodgates to permit homeowners throughout Yorktown to add unsightly, mismatched additions to their home," the court document states. 

The Supreme Court ruling orders the reversing, setting aside and annulling the ZBA's determination made on Dec. 6, 2012 which upheld the Yorktown Building Inspector's decision to grant Andrew Sabo a permit to build a more than 2,200 square foot addition to his 1920 Maple Court residence to serve a primarily "subordinate use." 

"[The ZBA] showed an utter lack of concern that the proposed approximately 2,200 square foot planned addition would be constructed in a style and of materials wholly distinct from the main residence," according to the court document. 

Sabo's neighbor Nicholas Witkowich, whose single-family home abuts Sabo's property, has been fighting the proposed structure for years.  

Witkowich reviously told Patch that the construction of the building – a large car garage – would have been 7 feet away from his property and the noise would have affected his quality of life. The problem, he said, was that Sabo wanted to build a business in a residential area.

According to the town's Zoning Ordinance, an accessory building shall not exceed 80 percent of the foot print of the main building. Sabo's residence has a footprint of 1,125 square feet, according to court documents. 

In 2011, the state's highest court overturned a 2-year-old Yorktown zoning decision which allowed Andrew Sabo to build that structure. 

The dispute goes back to 2008 when Sabo sought to build an unattached, two-story approximately 2,500 square foot garage/pole barn. When the ZBA found that the proposed multi-car detached garage "would not be in keeping with the character of the neighborhood," Sabo modified his construction plans, according to court documents. 

On Jan. 8, 2010, the Yorktown Building inspector granted him a permit allowing construction of the same two-story, detached garage with an approximately 2,500 square foot footprint, on a different portion of his property. 

On Jan. 17, 2010, Witkowich appealed the issuance of that permit to the ZBA.

According to court documents, ZBA members "discounted" Witkowich's claims that Sabo wanted to operate a business out of the new structure – involving the buying, restoring and selling of classic automobiles. Witkowich's challenge was dismissed and Sabo continued construction in 2010. 

On Jan. 25, 2012, the court issued a stay preventing Sabo from continuing construction pending the outcome of Witkowich's then pending appeal. On March 18, 2012, months after the Town Board enacted a Zoning Ordinance – which  imposed a size limitation of accessory structures in relation to the footprint of a residence on the same lot – Sabo applied to the town of Yorktown for a building permit. 

According to the submitted plans, the two-story garage bears a slightly less than 2,088 square footprint and is to be built in pole style construction with four, side-by-side, 10-foot overhead doors. On June 14, 2012, the building inspector issued a permit. 

Witkowich appealed the ZBA's decision and following a public hearing, upon a unanimous vote of its members, the ZBA rendered a determination in favor of Sabo on Dec. 6, 2012. 

As a result, Witkowich challenged the decision with Article 78 – a proceeding is a "mechanism by which an aggrieved party may challenge a determination made by a municipal entity as being in violation of lawful procedure, affected by error of law, being arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion."

According to court documents, the proposed construction project mirrors that which the Appellate Division, Second Department struck down in 2011.

In its ruling, the Supreme court found the ZBA's determination "to be arbitrary, capricious and irrational." It annulled the ZBA's determination in December 2012 to allow Sabo to construct a 2,200 square foot attached building addition on his lot.

The court's ruling was made in favor of Witkowich and against the Yorktown Zoning Board of Appeals, the town of Yorktown and resident Andrew Sabo.