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Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore announced this past Friday that New York State Supreme Court Justice Thomas F. Whelan had dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Sand Land Corporation, the owner of a sand mine on Middle Highway and Millstone Road in Noyac that has been involved in a legal battle with the town for more than a decade. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that Moore said Whelan had granted the town’s motion to dismiss Sand Land’s petition, affirming the town’s position that the company, owned by John Tintle, must adhere to the rulings of the New York State Court of Appeals. The supervisor noted that Sand Land had been seeking $50 million in damages from the Town of Southampton. The lawsuit stemmed from the town’s efforts to ensure that the mining company followed the procedures outlined by the Court of Appeals, which requires the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to ascertain from the town whether Sand Land’s proposed mining activities fall within the scope of any prior nonconforming use. The court determined that Sand Land filed suit in an effort to bypass this crucial step by petitioning the court to declare the scope of their nonconforming use rights instead of engaging with the town’s zoning authorities, Moore said. The court, in its decision, explicitly stated that Sand Land's failure to apply to Southampton Town's zoning authorities regarding the scope of the prior nonconforming use of the property required the dismissal of the action, she added.

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A 140-year-old state law is playing a role in spiking the cost of new construction statewide, according to some local contractors and builders, who cited the soaring cost of commercial insurance. The so-called Scaffold Law holds commercial property owners and contractors completely responsible for falls at construction sites, even in cases when the worker was negligent. Critics argue the law is being exploited by those who stage fake accidents for hefty payouts, while supporters contend it holds contractors accountable for unsafe work conditions. The law gives contractors and commercial property owners virtually no legal defense in the event of an accident, even in cases of worker negligence, so each fall can quickly blossom into expensive legal fees, medical bills and cash payouts to the alleged victim. "It impacts whether you're building a school, a hospital, a commercial building," Michael Florio, chief executive of Long Island Builders Institute, a nonprofit trade association, said of the “Scaffold Law.”

While many of the expenses are incurred by private construction firms and their clients, New York taxpayers also are paying an estimated $785 million annually in costs that trickle down from publicly funded projects, including school construction, bridge and rail projects, according to the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, an Albany think tank.

Robert Brodsky reports in NEWSDAY that the precise numbers of allegedly staged accidents are hard to pinpoint, but critics point to a significant increase in lawsuits in recent years involving people accused of staging accidents as part of what they say are vast criminal rings. A key problem, critics say, is that anyone allegedly caught staging an accident is faced with an A misdemeanor, an offense that at most leads to a year in jail.

Now legislators in Albany are pushing multiple proposals that would allow prosecutors to charge people who allegedly stage an accident with a felony.

But there is significant resistance to the changes from influential groups who say this is a ploy by contractors to leave...