Matter of Korean Joong Bu Presbyterian Church of New York v Incorporated Village of Old Westbury

Matter of Korean Joong Bu Presbyt. Church of N.Y. v Incorporated Vil. of Old Westbury 2004 NY Slip Op 03855 [2 NY3d 787] May 13, 2004 Court of Appeals Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, September 1, 2004

[*1] In the Matter of Korean Joong Bu Presbyterian Church of New York, Appellant,
v
Incorporated Village of Old Westbury et al., Respondents.

Decided May 13, 2004

Matter of Korean Joong Bu Presbyt. Church of N.Y. v Incorporated Vil. of Old Westbury, 303 AD2d 755, reversed.

APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL

Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C., Mineola (A. Thomas Levin of counsel), for appellant.

Farrell Fritz, P.C., Uniondale (John M. Armentano of counsel), for respondents.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed, with costs, and the matter remitted for further proceedings in accordance with this memorandum.

Here, the courts below and the board of assessors erred as a matter of law in concluding that petitioner church was not entitled to a tax exemption pursuant to RPTL 420-a simply because the church's proposed use of the property was unauthorized due to its lack of a special use permit (see Matter of Legion of Christ v Town of Mount Pleasant, 1 NY3d 406 [2004]). Because the board of assessors did not examine whether the development of the property was "in good faith contemplated" by the church, we remit for that purpose. [*2]

Chief Judge Kaye and Judges G.B. Smith, Ciparick, Rosenblatt, Graffeo, Read and R.S. Smith concur.

On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals (22 NYCRR 500.4), order reversed, with costs, and matter remitted to Supreme Court, Nassau County, with directions to remand to respondent Board of Assessors of the Incorporated Village of Old Westbury for further proceedings in accordance with the memorandum herein.