Neroni v. Granis

• Decision Date: 23 October 2014
• Docket Number: 514735.
• Citation: 2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 07213,121 A.D.3d 1312,995 N.Y.S.2d 762
• Parties: In the Matter of Frederick J. NERONI et al., Appellants, v. Pete GRANIS, as Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, Respondent. (Proceeding No. 1.) Joseph Martens, as Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, et al., Respondents, v. Frederick J. Neroni et al., Appellants. (Action No. 1.).
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

121 A.D.3d 1312

995 N.Y.S.2d 762

2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 07213

In the Matter of Frederick J. NERONI et al., Appellants

v.Pete GRANIS, as Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, Respondent. (Proceeding No. 1.)

Joseph Martens, as Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, et al., Respondents

v.Frederick J. Neroni et al., Appellants. (Action No. 1.).

514735.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Oct. 23, 2014.

Tatiana Neroni, Delhi, appellant pro se, and for Frederick J. Neroni, appellant.

Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (Andrews B. Ayers of counsel), for respondents.

Before: STEIN, J.P., McCARTHY, EGAN JR., LYNCH and CLARK, JJ.

Opinion

CLARK, J.

Appeals (1) from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Becker, J.), entered November 22, 2011 in Delaware County, which, in a combined proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 and action for declaratory judgment, denied petitioners' motion to vacate a prior order of the court, and (2) from a judgment of said court, entered November 29, 2011 in Delaware County, which, in action No. 1, among other things, granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and imposed a civil penalty.

In 2006, staff employed by the Department of Environmental Conservation (hereinafter DEC) commenced an administrative proceeding charging, as relevant here, that Frederick J. Neroni had dammed a protected stream and created an artificial pond without a permit, and created turbidity in the waters of the stream, thereby violating ECL 15–0501 and 17–0501 and 6 NYCRR 608.2 and 703.2. An Administrative Law Judge (hereinafter ALJ) granted DEC's motion for an order without a hearing on the issue of liability on those charges, and directed further submissions on the issue of remediation. At a hearing on remediation, Neroni revealed that he had transferred his property to himself and his wife, Tatiana Neroni, after the charges had been filed, but prior to the ALJ's issuance of a decision on liability. The Neronis separately moved to vacate the decision on liability on the grounds that DEC lacked jurisdiction and had failed to join Tatiana Neroni as a necessary party. The ALJ subsequently denied the motions to vacate and issued a hearing report recommending that the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation impose a $10,000 civil penalty on Frederick Neroni and compel remediation of the stream. The Commissioner adopted the ALJ's findings of fact and conclusions of law, as well as the recommendations with regard to penalties and remediation.

The Neronis then commenced a combined proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 and action for declaratory judgment (hereinafter the proceeding) challenging the Commissioner's determination. Supreme Court (Peckham, J.) granted the Commissioner's motion to transfer the proceeding to this Court and denied the Neronis' cross motion to sever their declaratory judgment causes of action from those requesting relief under CPLR article 78. Although the Neronis filed a notice of appeal from the transfer order, they failed to perfect their appeal, and this Court granted the Commissioner's motion to dismiss the proceeding for failure to prosecute (2010 N.Y. Slip Op. 82562[U], 2010 WL 3603576 [2010] ). The Neronis instead moved to vacate the order of transfer, and Supreme Court (Becker, J.) denied that motion. The Neronis now appeal from the judgment denying their motion to vacate.

In April 2011, the Commissioner and DEC commenced an action against the Neronis to compel compliance with the underlying administrative determination. Following joinder of issue, the parties cross-moved for, among other things, summary judgment. Supreme Court concluded that this Court's dismissal of the initial appeal in the proceeding “serve[d] as an adjudication of all the issues raised or [that] could have been raised in the proceeding,” granted summary judgment to DEC and the Commissioner, and dismissed the Neronis' counterclaims. The court affirmed the $10,000 civil penalty imposed by DEC and awarded an additional $20,700 in civil penalties. The Neronis also appeal from the judgment entered upon this order.¹

We reject the Neronis' argument that this Court's dismissal of their initial appeal in the proceeding for failure to prosecute is irrelevant to any issue on the current appeal in the action. The Neronis argued, in response to the motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute, that the proceeding was improperly transferred and, thus, this Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, rendering any dismissal invalid. “[T]he order of transfer” itself, however, gave “this [C]ourt jurisdiction over the [combined CPLR] article 78 proceeding, requiring us to assess the propriety of the transfer” (Nassau Roofing & Sheet Metal Co. v. Facilities Dev. Corp., 131 A.D.2d 171, 173–174, 521 N.Y.S.2d 327 [1987] ). That is, an improper transfer does not deprive this Court of subject matter jurisdiction (see Matter of Cornelius v. City of Oneonta, 71 A.D.3d 1282, 1284, 898 N.Y.S.2d 272 [2010] ; Matter of Penny Lane/E. Hampton v. County of Suffolk, 191 A.D.2d 19, 22, 598 N.Y.S.2d 806 [1993] ), and the Neronis were not free to simply abandon their prior appeal without consequence.²

Moreover, there is no merit to the Neronis' contention that the dismissal of the proceeding has no preclusive effect. “[T]he dismissal of [a] prior proceeding for lack of prosecution ... act[s] as an adjudication on the merits of all issues that ‘could have been litigated had the [proceeding] been timely argued or submitted’ ” (Matter of Under the Elms v. Tolbert, 1 A.D.3d 373, 374, 766 N.Y.S.2d 876 [2003], quoting Matter of Stimpson Co. v. Jorling, 161 A.D.2d 593, 594, 555 N.Y.S.2d 172 [1990] ; see Rubeo v. National Grange Mut. Ins. Co., 93 N.Y.2d 750, 756, 697 N.Y.S.2d 866, 720 N.E.2d 86 [1999] ). Therefore, to the extent that the Neronis now-in the context of the action to enforce the underlying administrative determination-seek to challenge the merits of that determination, their assertions amount to “an impermissible collateral attack” on the determination, which became final when this Court dismissed the proceeding (Steen v. Quaker State Corp., 12 A.D.3d 989, 990, 785 N.Y.S.2d 551 [2004] ; see Matter of Public Serv. Commn. of State of N.Y. v. Rochester Tel. Corp., 55 N.Y.2d 320, 325, 449 N.Y.S.2d 463, 434 N.E.2d 699 [1982] ; Flacke v. Salem Hills Sewage Disposal Corp., 91 A.D.2d 739, 740, 457 N.Y.S.2d 992 [1982] ).

While the Neronis may collaterally challenge the determination on subject matter jurisdiction or constitutional grounds (see Matter of Public Serv. Commn. of State of N.Y. v. Rochester Tel. Corp.,

55 N.Y.2d at 325–326, 449 N.Y.S.2d 463, 434 N.E.2d 699 ; Egan v. Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., 214 A.D.2d 850, 853, 625 N.Y.S.2d 686 [1995], lv. denied 86 N.Y.2d 705, 632 N.Y.S.2d 498, 656 N.E.2d 597 [1995] ), the arguments that they characterize as jurisdictional-such as their assertions that DEC's remediation plan exceeds the scope of its authority, that the ALJ erred in failing to add Tatiana Neroni as a necessary party, that DEC staff altered a map that was used as evidence, or their many other allegations of misconduct-relate either to alleged procedural defects...