Judge finds no standing for plaintiff who brought the suits
The multiple lawsuits filed against the Aldi/Cazenovia Market development project have been dismissed by a state supreme court judge citing local attorney and plaintiff Barry M. Schreibman’s lack of standing in the case.
Schreibman’s lawsuits — against the village of Cazenovia and developers New Venture Assets LLC and Sphere Development LLC — included an Article 78 to annul the project’s site plan review approval (in December 2016), a summons with notice seeking declaratory relief that the Village Edge South mixed use rezoning on Route 20 was unlawful, and amended petitions of both lawsuits adding additional plaintiffs (in February 2017).
“We were extremely confident that both the village board and planning board conducted rigorous, careful reviews and rendered thoughtful decisions that reflect the public interest. I am delighted that the judge concurred with our motion to dismiss these actions,” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler. “Countless people have contacted me in recent weeks to inquire about the project. They will be delighted to know that it can now proceed.”
All the lawsuits alleged that Schreibman, who lives at 5 Burton St. in the village, had standing in the case because he would allegedly suffer “direct injury different in kind and degree than that experienced by the general public” from the development project, including noise pollution, air pollution and the devaluation of his property.
The suit also alleged that the project would pollute the groundwater from which Schreibman draws his water, therefore making his house non-habitable; that his Burton Street house is “immediately proximate” a truck route whose use by commercial traffic will intensify if the project is constructed; and that his house is close to the Tops plaza “from which the project will relocate two anchor businesses with little or no chance that these vacancies will be filled, thereby creating a risk of blight in the immediate vicinity of petitioner’s property.”
In his nine-page ruling, issued April 5, State Supreme Court Justice Eugene D. Faughnan declared that Schreibman’s allegations of suffering injuries from traffic, air and light pollution, from his proximity to the development, from neighborhood blight and from a polluted water aquifer are all vague and unsupported by facts. Therefore, his suits were dismissed.
Faughnan’s opinion stated that Schreibman’s amended lawsuits were also dismissed because he lacked standing for the same reasons as above, but, even if he did not lack standing, the petitions were untimely and not filed within the 30-day window required under law.
“The statute of limitations in this case was 30 days — the shortest on the books. It takes time for concerned citizens to organize a challenge to reckless government action — which approval of the Aldi strip mall surely was. In this case, 30 days just weren’t enough to bring on board all the people the court deemed were necessary to meet the technical standards for standing to sue,” said Schreibman. “It’s a pity because now we appear to be stuck with a development which the Madison County Planning Board and many others think will change the character of the village — and not for the better.”
Despite the lawsuits against the project, both New Venture Assets and Sphere Development have been moving forward with their respective timelines for the development projects, which include an Aldi and other commercial and residential buildings.
“Obviously we are pleased with the outcome, and we are just continuing to move forward to get the project under construction and open,” said Greg Widrick, a partner in the developing firm of Sphere Development LLC.
David C. Muraco, owner of New Venture Assets LLC, was unreachable for comment.
Widrick said the Aldi company plans to open its new Cazenovia location sometime before end of this year, and “significant progress” in the project will probably be made before the end of this month or by early May.
