Third Local Ban on Gas Drilling Upheld by New York Court

On March 15, 2013, the Town of Avon reportedly became the third upstate New York municipality to prevail in a court challenge of a local zoning ordinance banning gas drilling.  The trial court rejected the argument that New York’s Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law preempted the town’s moratorium on gas drilling.  In its decision, the court cited two previous decisions that upheld local bans in the towns of Dryden and Middlefield, which are both currently on appeal before the New York Appellate Division.