JOHN LYONS
CURRENT POSITION:
Partner, Grant & Lyons, LLP. Founded 1994. Private law practice dedicated to land use, zoning, environmental and real estate law.
EXPERIENCE:
Zoning, Planning and Land Use Law - Experiences includes: representation of development project opponents and proponents before Planning Boards and Zoning Boards of Appeal (ZBA); litigation experience, including appellate representation, in connection with land use issues, in particular, involving Article 78 proceedings appealing Planning Board and ZBA determinations; all facets of State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) review and related environmental impact issues; representation of municipalities in connection with zoning and land use, including drafting of zoning legislation, counseling of Planning Boards and Zoning Boards of Appeal, and enforcement of zoning regulations.
Environmental Law - Experience in a variety of fields of environmental law including issues involving: all facets of environmental impact review and SEQRA; pollution and contamination, including related environmental law enforcement, cleanup, and private rights of action; participation in State voluntary brownfields cleanup program; solid waste disposal, management and compliance; State mining permit issues and reviews; environmental permitting; conservation easements; riparian and littoral rights; wetlands; and tortious damage to natural resources. Litigation experience, including appellate representation, in connection with all of the aforementioned issues. Listed in Who’s Who in American Law for environmental law.
Real Estate Law - Experience includes: representing sellers and purchasers of both commercial and residential property; distressed property issues; tax assessment issues; and financing. Litigation experience, including appellate representation, in connection with all of the aforementioned issues.
AFFILIATIONS:
Executive Committee Member, New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), Environmental Law Section
Co-Chairman, NYSBA Environmental Law Section Committee on Solid Waste
Member, American Bar Association (ABA), Environmental Law Section
Member, Institute for Ecosystem Studies
Member, New York State Planning Federation
Member, New York Historical Society
Member, Hudson River Heritage
Member, Scenic Hudson
Member, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
PAST AFFILIATIONS:
Executive Committee Member, Dutchess County Environmental Management Council
Committee Member, Town of Rhinebeck Comprehensive Plan Revision Committee
Member, Town of Rhinebeck Conservation Advisory Committee
Director, /Counsel, Wilderstein Preservation, Inc., Rhinebeck, NY
Former Counsel to Wildcare, Inc.(The Raptor Center), Milan, NY
EDITORIAL POSITIONS, PUBLICATIONS AND LECTURES:
Panelist, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation SEQRA Workgroup, 18 December 2009.
Lecturer, SEQRA: Reconnecting with its Mission & Power, presented to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation staff, 28 May 2008.
Author, Private Nuisance Actions, NY Envtl. Law Series, 1996.
Co-Author, Use of Clean Water Act Penalty Provision in Citizen Suits, NY Envtl. Law Rep., June 1995.
Author, Statewide Hazardous Facility Siting Plan, NY Envtl. Law Series, October 1995.
Author, Environmental Interrogatories for CERCLA and Hazardous Waste Sites, Bender’s Forms for Civil Practice, 1996.
Former Legal Editor, Superfund & Hazardous Waste Report, published by the ABA Environmental Law Section.
BAR ADMISSIONS:
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
United States District Court, Southern District of New York
State of New York - all courts
State of Connecticut - all courts
EDUCATION:
Pace University School of Law
White Plains, New York
Juris Doctor, 1985
Honors: graduate cum laude
Published Member of Law Review
Siena College, Loudonville, New York
B.B.A., Accounting, 1982
Honors: Franciscan Merit Scholarship
