Corey Auerbach

Corey Auerbach focuses on land use and zoning, guiding developers through the approvals needed for large commercial, industrial, renewable energy, and infrastructure projects. His experience includes community solar installations, battery energy storage systems, data centers, hotels, health care institutions, and projects for not-for-profit organizations. Having begun his career in municipal government, Corey brings an understanding of how local boards make decisions and how development proposals are received by communities.

Corey regularly appears before planning boards, zoning boards of appeals, town boards, environmental agencies, and state regulators. He handles rezoning and zoning text amendments, special-use permits, variances, interpretation appeals, and SEQRA environmental review, as well as wetland and stormwater compliance, highway work permits, and wireless and telecommunications siting. He also leads teams conducting zoning and land use due diligence for major energy and infrastructure acquisitions.

His practice extends from approvals to disputes over land use decisions. Corey represents applicants and municipalities in Article 78 proceedings and related state-court litigation before the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, and Court of Appeals. He has litigated complex telecommunications siting matters in federal court and serves as an expert witness on zoning procedure, municipal authority, and SEQRA. As special counsel to municipalities, he advises on zoning code updates, environmental reviews, and complex development proposals. His SEQRA work includes leading the environmental review for a three-million-square-foot robotics fulfillment center and advising on the construction of a new professional football stadium.

In related areas, Corey forms and represents condominium and homeowner associations, prepares and files offering plans and amendments with the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and advises association boards on governance. He also counsels hotels, restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries, and entertainment venues on New York State liquor licensing matters, from applications and renewals to corporate changes, alterations, additional bars, and disciplinary proceedings.

Corey chairs Barclay Damon’s Land Use and Zoning Practice Area, serves on the firm’s Management Committee, and is managing director of its Buffalo and Toronto offices. He frequently lectures on zoning, SEQRA, and municipal law for statewide professional audiences. The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized him for Land Use and Zoning Law, including naming him a Buffalo “Lawyer of the Year.”

• Albany Law School, JD
• Bar Ilan University, Israel, Summer Program
• University of Florida, BA

Bar Associations

• Bar Association of Erie County
• New York State Bar Association

Selected Memberships & Affiliations

• Community Association Institute, WNY Chapter, Board of Directors, Immediate Past President

• Community Associations Institute of WNY’s Community Associations Connection, “Lien on Me”; "Skating on Thin Ice: When HOA Rules Land You in the Penalty Box"
• Buffalo Business First, “How I … Help Developments Come to Fruition”
• Community Associations Institute Common Ground, “Ask the Experts: Generous Donations”; “Ask the Experts: Tied Up”
• Zoning and Planning Law Report, “Position Prediction Through Past Performance: A Quarter Century of United States Supreme Court Landowner Rights Jurisprudence”
• American Law of Zoning, Update Editor

• New York Association of Towns, 2026 Planning and Zoning School, "Demystifying SEQRA: A Practical Guide for Planning and Zoning Board Members"
• Albany Law School Edwin L. Crawford Memorial Lecture in Municipal Law, "Municipal Powers Under New York State Cannabis Laws and Regulations," Co-Presenter
• National Business Institute, Practical Guide to Zoning and Land Use Law in New York CLE, "Challenging or Appealing an Administrative Zoning Decision"
• American Planning Association New York Upstate Chapter Annual Conference, "Balancing Legal Risk Aversion and Planning Best Practices"
• New York Planning Federation Planning and Zoning Summer School, "The Substance & Procedure of Interpreting Zoning Provisions"