NYCL AGO 95-20.

• Case Date: April 05, 1995
• Court: New York

New York Attorney General Opinions 1995. AGO 95-20. April 5, 1995Informal Opinion No. 95-20Jerome A. Mirabito, Esq. City Attorney City of Fulton P. O. Box 477 Fulton, NY 13069-0477GENERAL CITY LAW §§ 81, 81-e.A city may provide by local law for a seven-member zoning board of appeals.Dear Mr. Mirabito: You have asked whether your city may maintain its seven-member zoning board of appeals, established by local law, under 1993 amendments to the General City Law, which authorize zoning boards of appeals to have either three or five members. We conclude that a local law establishing a board of appeals and defining its membership need not be consistent with General City Law § 81. In Informal Opinion No. 90-31, we concluded that a city could by local law establish a seven-member board with staggered terms even though at that time the General City Law provided that, except in cities having a population of more than 1,000,000 people, a city could choose a five-member board with three-year terms or a board of five or six members with staggered terms. In so concluding, we stated:

Local governments are authorized to enact local laws, consistent with the Constitution and general State laws, in relation to their property, affairs or government and other delineated subjects (Municipal Home Rule Law, § 10[1][i]). A 'general law' for purposes of this provision is '[a] state statute which in terms and in effect applies alike to all counties, all counties other than those wholly included within a city, all cities, all towns or all villages' (id., § 2[5]). In that cities with a population of over 1,000,000 are excluded from coverage, under the home rule definition sections 81 and 81-a of the General City Law are not general laws. Thus, a local law establishing a board of appeals and defining its membership need not be

...