Mulvey, J.
Petitioner is the owner of property in the Town of Hoosick, Rensselaer County on which she operates a dog training and handling business. In April 2015, following a noise complaint from a neighbor, the Code Enforcement Officer of respondent Town of Hoosick determined that petitioner's use of her property was in violation of the Town's Land Use Law and that a special use permit and site plan approval were required. Petitioner was similarly advised by the Town's Zoning Board of
Initially, we note that when petitioner appeared before the ZBA, she did not raise her contention that the ZBA violated its own rules when it failed to refer her applications to the Town's Planning Board for a recommendation (see Land Use Law of Town of Hoosick § 7.6.1). Accordingly, that issue may not now be raised in this proceeding (see Matter of Mary T. Probst Family Trust v Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Town of Horicon, 79 A.D.3d 1427, 1427-1428 [2010], lv denied 16 N.Y.3d 708 [2011]; Matter of Showers v Town of Poestenkill Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 56 A.D.3d 1108, 1109 [2008]).
Petitioner claims that Supreme Court erred when it determined that she was required to obtain both a special use permit and site plan approval. First, she bases her claim that no special use permit is required on the theory that her business consists of the operation of a boarding kennel and breeding kennel, which uses are permitted by right.
Next, petitioner asserts that site plan review is not required since the business use of the property began in 2006, well before the 2009 enactment of the Land Use Law and the enactment of the 2014 version of a site plan review local law. We find petitioner's argument that she is allowed to continue her business as a lawful nonconforming use without site plan approval to be without merit (see Land Use Law of Town of Hoosick § 5.1). In 2001, the Town enacted a local law which provided, as is relevant here, that all changes in use required site plan approval by the Planning Board (see Site Plan Review Law of Town of Hoosick, part II, § 2 [C]). When petitioner began her business in 2006, this constituted a change in use of her residential property and, accordingly, site plan approval was required at that time. To have a protected interest at the time of enactment of the Land Use Law in 2009, petitioner had to have received site plan approval pursuant to the 2001 Site Plan Review Law. Since petitioner never applied for or received site plan approval for her business use, such use was not a lawful nonconforming use at the time of the enactment of the Land Use Law in 2009 (see Glacial Aggregates LLC v Town of Yorkshire, 14 N.Y.3d 127, 136 [2010]; Matter of Martinos v Board of Zoning Appeals of Town of Brookhaven, 138 A.D.3d 859, 860 [2016]). Further, petitioner's proposal, as reflected in her applications and the petition, is to enlarge and expand such use by employing trainers, handlers and groomers and by increasing
When a zoning law enumerates a use as allowed by special use permit, it "`is tantamount to a legislative finding that the permitted use is in harmony with the general zoning plan and will not adversely affect the neighborhood'" (Matter of Retail Prop. Trust v Board of Zoning Appeals of Town of Hempstead, 98 N.Y.2d 190, 195 [2002], quoting Matter of North Shore Steak House v Board of Appeals of Inc. Vil. of Thomaston, 30 N.Y.2d 238, 243 [1972]; accord Matter of Frigault v Town of Richfield Planning Bd., 128 A.D.3d 1232, 1233 [2015], lv denied 26 N.Y.3d 911 [2015]). An applicant is required to demonstrate "compliance with the conditions legislatively imposed upon the permitted use" (Matter of PDH Props. v Planning Bd. of Town of Milton, 298 A.D.2d 684, 685 [2002]), and a special use permit may be denied only if substantial evidence in the record corroborates such decision and it is not based on generalized community objections (see Matter of Retail Prop. Trust v Board of Zoning Appeals of Town of Hempstead, 98 NY2d at 196).
Land Use Law of Town of Hoosick § 3.1 provides that "[a]ny use not listed in the schedule may be allowed by [s]pecial [p]ermit pursuant to [c]hapter 7, only if it can meet all applicable standards." Chapter 7 delegates to the ZBA the authority "to review and act upon all special permit uses in accordance with standards and procedures set forth in ... [c]hapter [7]" (Land Use Law of Town of Hoosick § 7.1). Upon determining that an application is complete, the ZBA "shall review the application, taking into consideration the standards for [s]pecial [p]ermit review outlined in [s]ection 7.2 ..., and any other special requirements for a particular use contained in this [l]ocal [l]aw" (Land Use Law of Town of Hoosick § 7.4.3).
The record shows that the ZBA advised petitioner that the noise from her property should not exceed 80 decibels.
In its determination, the ZBA did not identify any specific shortcomings in petitioner's mitigation measures, but summarily determined that petitioner had not offered measures that would sufficiently mitigate the dog noise impact from her business. We view this determination of the ZBA to be without sufficient support in the record. Petitioner offered scientific measurement of the noise level and there was no other objective measure of the noise offered at the public hearing. The neighbor's recording of the noise is subject to an unreliable interpretation of its level based upon the ability to control the volume of the recording, and reliance on the recording would
Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, without costs, petition granted, determination annulled and matter remitted to the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Hoosick to grant a special use permit and site plan approval to petitioner upon consideration of appropriate conditions and safeguards consistent with the requirements of the local laws of respondent Town of Hoosick.