Harris Seaside provides actual property, land-use skilled as senior counsel

Brian Stolar has joined the Long Island office of Harris Beach as senior counsel.

Stolar brings expertise in land use, zoning, environmental compliance, real estate development, commercial real estate, and municipal law.

Stolar represents real estate developers, small businesses, major corporations and property owners in the development of residential, commercial and industrial properties, and serves as general counsel and special counsel to municipalities and zoning and planning boards.

He has worked on projects that include apartment buildings, office buildings, retail and drug stores, residential subdivisions, a 250- megawatt electric generating facility, zoning changes and site-plan approvals.

Stolar is recognized with the ability to secure difficult-to-obtain approvals, including an apartment building project that required approvals from four separate municipalities.

As counsel to local governments, Stolar advises elected officials and staff on operations, procedures, administration, and compliance with federal, state and local laws. He guides municipal boards and departments, drafts land use and general regulatory legislation, and prosecutes and defends land use challenges, constitutional claims and all municipal and regulatory litigation.

Stolar serves as village attorney in Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Neck, Sea Cliff and Woodsburgh and has been serving as counsel to the Great Neck Estates and North Hills zoning boards. He held similar roles in the villages of Great Neck, Kings Point, Oyster Bay Cove, Port Washington North and Roslyn Estates.

A 1993 graduate of the Boston University School of Law, Stolar serves as an advisory board member for the Touro Law Center Institute on land use and sustainable development law. He has taught continuing legal education courses and published several articles on land use law, planning law and the law of eminent domain.

Stolar has lectured on land use and municipal law topics for the Nassau County Bar Association, the Nassau County Planning Federation and the National Business Institute. He has served as guest commentator in connection with land use and eminent domain issues.