People v. Bove

• Decision Date: 01 December 1992
• Citation: 593 N.Y.S.2d 736,156 Misc.2d 469
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York v. Kenneth BOVE, Defendant.
• Court: New York Justice Court

Page 736

593 N.Y.S.2d 736

156 Misc.2d 469

The PEOPLE of the State of New York v. Kenneth BOVE, Defendant.

Justice Court, Incorporated Village of Westbury Nassau County.

Dec. 1, 1992.

Kenneth Bove, pro se.

Jerome F. Matedero, Village Attorney (Stephen K. Malone, of counsel), Freeport, for Village.

THOMAS F. LIOTTI, Village Justice Presiding.

The defendant is a homeowner and resident within the Incorporated Village of Westbury, residing at 577 Carle Road, Westbury, New York. He is charged with two (2) violations of the Village Code, to wit: Article IV, § 50-6(K)2. The pertinent section of the Code states:

In a Residence A District the following regulation shall apply: ...

(2) The parking or storage of a commercial vehicle on a lot in any residence district shall not be deemed an accessory use and is prohibited, except that the parking or storage of one (1) commercial vehicle not exceeding one (1) ton carrying-capacity owned and used by the owner or tenant of the lot wholly within a private garage located on said lot shall be deemed an accessory use and is permitted.

Following a trial of the instant matter and submissions of Memoranda of Law by both sides, the Court decides as follows in favor of the municipality and against the defendant.

I. Residence A

Although not previously requested to do so by either side, the Court, sua sponte, takes judicial notice that the property in question is in a Residential A Zone. A Residential A Zone within the Incorporated Village of Westbury is the "highest" zone within the Village comprised, almost exclusively, of single family residences.

II. History And Background Of The Section

The Court finds, again sua sponte, that the history of the law demonstrates that its enactment is a valid exercise of the police power of the municipality. The Incorporated Village of Westbury is located in Central Nassau County. Its residents, numbering in excess of 14,000 inhabitants, are middle to upper middle class. Many are blue collar workers. The history of the Village, both before and after its incorporation in 1932, is such that it borders the pristine and well-to-do community of the Village of Old Westbury.

The North Shore of Long Island came to be known as "The Gold Coast". Pulitzer Prize Winning Author, Robert A. Caro, best described the development of this part of Long Island in his remarkable book, The Power Broker, Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Vintage Books Edition, 1975 (originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. in 1974) in pertinent part as follows:

"The castles reflected the extent of their triumphs. Mrs. John S. Phipps, already mistress of seven other houses, wanted her Long Island residence to look exactly like the great eighteenth-century English manor houses. To make sure that it would, the famous London manor-house architect George Crawley was summoned to the Wheatley Hills to design 'Westbury House' ¹ and to stay for years until it was completed--a masterpiece of cherry-red brick and limestone, Georgian chimneys and a pale-gold roof rising "And the Phippses were noted for their modesty and restraint. Westbury House, after all, contained only thirty-two rooms. The F.W. Woolworth mansion in Glen Cove contained sixty-two, and included not only solid gold instead of silver-plated bathroom fixtures and doorknobs but a dining-room ceiling gilded with fifteen hundred square feet of fourteen-carat gold. The Tiffany Estate in Laurel Hollow contained eighty-two. The Phippses had a private golf course and two private polo fields, but guests of the Marshall Fields in Lloyd Neck were not forced to limit their activities to polo or golf, since their hosts had also provided them with tennis courts, badminton courts, squash courts, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, sailboats, motorboats, skeet ranges--and a thousand-acre hunting preserve. No extravagance was too great. Finding that all the large hills in the Cold Spring Harbor area, where he wanted to build a chateau, were taken, Otto Kahn built a hill of his own, a small mountain, in fact, and since hauling the necessary earth and stone to the site required a railroad line, he built a railroad line." (Id. at 150).

                above the trees, complete with a vault for the family silver, separate rooms for glasses and china and luggage, silver-plated bathroom fixtures and doorknobs, and a cellar so large that in 1960 the Nassau County Office of Civil Defense would designate it as a bomb shelter large enough to hold eighteen hundred persons.   To make sure that the mood of England should not be lost in the furnishings, envoys of the Phippses scoured England for furniture made by Chippendale himself.   The armoire in Mrs. Phipps' bedroom had belonged to James II.   The mantel clock in her study was made by the clockmaker to King George II.   The desk in the hall outside it was the desk on which Cromwell had signed the death warrant of Charles I
                

In the early years of the settlement of both communities, Old Westbury was comprised mostly of estates, some famous, including, among a great many others, what is now known as Old Westbury Gardens. Many of the early settlers within the Incorporated Village of Westbury serviced these grand estates. The Incorporated Village of Westbury Golden Jubilee Journal, published in 1982, recites some of this history in a synopsis written by a renowned writer and poet from Westbury, Arthur Dobrin:

"Westbury recovered from the war and resumed its bucolic and prosperous life. Not until the completion of the Long Island Railroad through Westbury in 1836 did the area begin to change. At first a small post office was built in 1841 with the only shop around it one blacksmith and wheelwright's.

"The railroad made it easier for German, Italian, Irish and Polish immigrants to work Westbury's farms and in 1857, St. Brigid's Parish was founded. ²

"At the same time more black families came to the area via the underground railroad. For some, Westbury was only one stop on the way to Canada, but several stayed in this area after being harbored in secret rooms in the homes of the Quakers. In the years after the Civil War until near the turn of the century, the few stores that comprised the small village, around the railroad depot mainly, were black owned.

"The next great change occurred in the 1890's, as the enormous wealth accumulated by industrialists and capitalists made its way to Westbury as estates were built on the land of the old Quaker farms. A variety of stores were established to supply the needs of the wealthy neighbors and more immigrants settled "Camp Mills, later known as Mitchel Field, was built during WWI and it too added to Westbury's development.

                here in order to work on the estates.   Streets were laid.   Post Avenue received electricity in 1902 and in 1914 a water company was founded
                

"Hicks Nursery, begun in 1853, had a staff of about 300 in the 1920's, many of whom were immigrants from Durazzano, Italy. Several of today's prominent Westbury families had forefathers who began their work at Hicks. At its largest, the nursery occupied over 400 acres with more than 20 miles of nursery roads." (See Incorporated Village of Westbury Golden Jubilee Journal, 1982).

The history of both Villages, Westbury and Old Westbury, is that they have been and are interdependent upon one another. Old Westbury has always required the work of artisans, craftsmen and laborers. Although some of the north shore's workforce lived on the estates they serviced, many lived in surrounding communities such as the Village of Westbury. A harmonious and symbiotic relationship has evolved over the past 150 or more years.

Initially many of the workers were employees of the estates. Over the years they became more entrepreneurial and independent and gradually established their own small businesses. Many of the businesses were loosely organized, family businesses and in some cases, operated out of the residential communities of Westbury. This is still the case. Commercial vehicles were stored at homes in the residential community in order to keep down the cost of overhead, because there is limited commercial vehicle storage space in the Incorporated Village, and because the closeness of the vehicles to homes provides both security and convenience not otherwise available. Today Westbury is an amalgam of professionals, white and blue collar workers--both from private industry and municipalities. A large segment of the Village, particularly at its southern, central to eastern part is comprised of artisans, craftsmen, laborers, landscapers and other small business owners. Many use commercial vehicles in their trades and businesses. The property in issue is not within the described south, central to eastern portion of Westbury. Thus, a commercial vehicle located in the area is even more conspicuous there since many of the properties in the immediate area do not also have commercial vehicles on their premises. Because of the exclusively residential character of this area, as well as the occupations of its residents, commercial vehicles parked in this part of the Village are perhaps more objectionable to the residents there, than they would be in another portion of the Village, where residents are more accustomed to seeing commercial vehicles parked in the area or own one or more themselves.

Nonetheless, the law applies to all residential parts of the Village. It was enacted in order to safeguard the residential character and quiet enjoyment of the community. At the time of its passage, particular concern and need for the law was voiced by homeowners adjoining parked commercial vehicles where the sight of the vehicles was objectionable to those homeowners as well as to passersby. In addition, debris in the back of the vehicles, including, but not limited to, grass clippings, frequently gave off foul odors to anyone in proximity to them.

The vehicle in this case is not a landscaping truck. Rather, it appears to be a towing...