Terrence Robinson, Petitioner:
“The lawsuit, an Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR), seeks a Writ of Mandamus – an Order of the Court to compel NYSDOTNYSDOT New York State Department of Transportation to adhere to N.Y. State Environmental Quality Review ActSEQR SEQR requires all local, regional, and state government agencies to equally examine the environmental impacts along with the social and economic considerations for a certain project, or action, during their discretionary review. Agencies must follow the multi-step SEQR Decision Process, which requires them to assess the environmental significance of all actions they have the power to approve, fund, or directly assume. If an action consists of multiple phases, sets of activities, or if separate agencies are involved, SEQR requires agencies jointly consider these cumulative impacts during their review. Segmentation of an action into smaller components for an individual review contradicts the intent of the law and may result in legal action. (SEQRASEQR SEQR requires all local, regional, and state government agencies to equally examine the environmental impacts along with the social and economic considerations for a certain project, or action, during their discretionary review. Agencies must follow the multi-step SEQR Decision Process, which requires them to assess the environmental significance of all actions they have the power to approve, fund, or directly assume. If an action consists of multiple phases, sets of activities, or if separate agencies are involved, SEQR requires agencies jointly consider these cumulative impacts during their review. Segmentation of an action into smaller components for an individual review contradicts the intent of the law and may result in legal action.) because the action is a Type 1 under SEQRSEQR SEQR requires all local, regional, and state government agencies to equally examine the environmental impacts along with the social and economic considerations for a certain project, or action, during their discretionary review. Agencies must follow the multi-step SEQR Decision Process, which requires them to assess the environmental significance of all actions they have the power to approve, fund, or directly assume. If an action consists of multiple phases, sets of activities, or if separate agencies are involved, SEQR requires agencies jointly consider these cumulative impacts during their review. Segmentation of an action into smaller components for an individual review contradicts the intent of the law and may result in legal action. and DOTNYSDOT New York State Department of Transportation evades non-discretionary procedural steps. We’re asking the court to compel NYSDOT to obey the law.”
Thursday March 7, 10am, Court Hearing: Hon Daniel J. Furlong, State Supreme Court, Buffalo City Court, 50 Delaware Avenue, Part 28, 8th Floor.
The case was dismissed at this hearing
Mark Sommer in the Buffalo News, 3-7-2024: A court challenge to the Kensington Expressway project filed by a Humboldt Parkway couple was dismissed in State Supreme Court Thursday on administrative grounds.
Justice Daniel J. Furlong said the appeal, filed in December by Terrence Robinson and Marcia Ladiana, was premature because a report by the state Department of Transportation had not yet been finalized.
He also said the type of legal challenge itself, known as a mandamus, was not “the proper remedy” for the couple. He noted the use of mandamus “is an extraordinary action only used in rare circumstances for administerial actions.”
“After careful review and oral argument, the court is going to grant the motion to dismiss,” Furlong said, before adding, “The court is not judging on the merits of the arguments. It’s a procedural dismissal.”