Jessica Vogele, the number one ranked law student in the 2L class at Touro Law Center who is also a Law Clerk at Lieb at Law, P.C. addresses the most hot-button issue on Long Island today by delving into the zoning of medical marijuana facilities within her article published in The Suffolk Lawyer.

In July 2015, the New York State Department of Health licensed five companies to manufacture and sell medical marijuana in compliance with the Compassionate Care Act of 2014. Although no manufacturing plants will be located on Long Island, there are plans to build two dispensaries – one in Nassau County and the other in Suffolk County. The proposed site for Suffolk County is located in the Town of Riverhead and has met considerable resistance from town residents due to its proximity to a high school and the risks of increased violent crime and traffic generally associated with medical marijuana dispensaries. This backlash against the proposed site has prompted the Village of Islandia to preemptively amend its zoning ordinance in order to ensure that no dispensaries will be placed
within the village’s boundaries in the future.

There is a strong temptation for homeowners to rent out the extra space in their home for a few quick bucks on the side, but long gone are the days where being a part time landlord was as easy as posting a classified ad in the newspaper and watching the monthly rent checks roll in. 

Income producing real estate in Suffolk County is the backbone of our local economy. We have our weekend warriors who rent out their second homes, merchants who operate and lease our mixed use downtowns, REITs, public companies and national brands who manage our industrial parks and shopping centers, hospitals and their doctors, lawyers, architects and accountants who inhabit our professional spaces and every other category of property owners imaginable. Yet, the business of owning and/or managing an income producing property is truly a business, and should not be thought of as a passive investment afterthought. It’s a business that requires a lawyer to serve as counselor, negotiator, scrivener and litigator. In fact, best in class legal services can transform a poor real estate investor into the next great American tycoon.

In this issue of The Suffolk Lawyer, we not only focus on Real Property, but also focus on the business of profiting from real property with all of its associated risks and blue ocean opportunities. Regardless of your individual legal practice focus, knowing the basic pitfalls of real estate ownership is a necessary knowledgebase for every Suffolk County attorney. 

In this edition Dennis Valet, Esq. discusses the need to preemptively mitigate leasing risks in “Reasons to Involve an Attorney in the Rental of an Accessory Apartment,” and Alicia Menechino, Esq. addresses the need to respect the judicial process for evictions in her article, “Self-Help: Vigilante Justice or Legal Re-Entry?” Next, Jordan Fensterman, Esq. addresses the unique risks inherent with renting medical space in his article, “Leasing Medical Office Space in New York.”