Meredith Defense Fund

An Article 78 is a type of lawsuit. It was created by the New York legislature in 1937. Generally, Article 78 proceedings are used to challenge action (or inaction) by agencies and officers of state and local government. Sometime even the actions of private corporations are subject to Article 78 review. If you feel that an agency has screwed up your administrative case, filing an Article 78 will bring your case into a New York Supreme Court. There, a judge will review your administrative case, scrutinize the agency's actions and decisions, and if necessary reverse an agency's decision. If you are concerned that you will be harmed by the agency's action while you are waiting for the judge to complete his review of the case, the judge can prevent the agency from taking any further action until the Article 78 has been resolved.

The general statute of limitations for the filing of an article 78 proceeding is four months. Most likely, the adoption of a local law, such as the Wind Energy Facilities Law, is subject to this general four-month limitation. However, section 282 of the Town Law requires that Article 78 proceedings challenging decisions of town boards pertaining to planning and zoning are subject to a 30 day statute of limitations. If the wind ordinance is characterized as such an enactment, it would be subject to this shorter statute of limitations. While I believe that such an argument, if advanced by the town, would probably fail, there is a danger that a court might impose a 30 day statute of limitations.

In any event, the statute of limitations begins to run from the date that the local law was filed in the office of the Town Clerk. It is my understanding that this filing did not occur until at least August 6, and possibly later.