Honorable Frank J. Magill of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation. Edward J. Ledogar, West Islip, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant. Plaintiffs, who are Area landowners, also sought to enjoin various state and local officials from implementing the Act. Because we conclude that abstention was improper, we vacate the district court's order and remand for further proceedings. The Act Enacted in 1993 by the New York State Legislature, the Act focuses on land use and environmental protection in the Long Island Central Pine Barrens.
Plaintiffs own property in the Core Preservation region.
The Act established a Planning and Policy Commission charged with the preparation of a plan to fulfill the Act's goals. The Act provides for expedited state court review of any final determination made by the Commission. The WJF Realty plaintiffs complain that the government defendants refused to provide impartial review of plaintiffs' long-standing development plans, actively thwarted those plans, and sought to depress the value of plaintiffs' property in order to facilitate public procurement of the property. As in the action before us, the plaintiffs in WJF Realty challenge the constitutionality of the Act and the Plan on due process and equal protection grounds. The Dittmer Plaintiffs' Lawsuit Plaintiffs brought this action for injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment against, among others, several towns and state and local officials.