Village resident claims development approval was unlawful
A Cazenovia village resident, who is also an attorney, has filed a lawsuit against the village, the village planning board and two development firms, seeking to annul all municipal approvals granted to the Cazenovia Market project on Route 20.
The lawsuit alleges that the approvals for the development were “in violation of lawful procedure, were arbitrary and capricious and constituted an abuse of discretion.”
The suit was filed Dec. 29 in state supreme court in the Madison County courthouse by attorney Barry M. Schreibman, representing himself as the plaintiff. The defendants are the village of Cazenovia and the village planning board, as well as developers New Venture Assets LLC and Sphere Development LLC.
The suit states that Schreibman, who lives at 5 Burton St. in the village, has standing in the case because he will allegedly suffer “direct injury different in kind and degree than that experienced by the general public, including without limitation noise, air pollution and the devaluation of his property.”
The suit alleges that the project will 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.”
Cazenovia Market, which was approved by the village planning board on Nov. 28, is a mixed use commercial/residential redevelopment of land on which currently sits a defunct diner and motel. The development will include an Aldi grocery store, a drive-thru pharmacy, a drive-thru bank, a fourth retail space yet unspecified for a business and four, eight-unit apartment buildings aimed at people ages 55 and older. Construction is expected to begin this spring.
Schreibman’s lawsuit states that the Cazenovia Market development is not something “desired” by the community, that it does not fit the village character, that the planning board arbitrarily amended the village zoning code to accommodate the developers of this project and that the planning board abused or ignored village laws in order to make them fit the developers’ plan.
The specific allegations against the defendants of the suit include that:
•The development is not mixed use because the residential component is not in the mixed use zone.
•The development lacks the required multi-story buildings.
• Route 20 is not a “village street” as is required in village zoning guidelines.
•The development traffic study arbitrarily eliminated certain parameters to make the project appear compliant.
•The planning board failed to consider a final storm water protection plan before giving its approval.
The suit labels the development as “nothing more than a typical, auto-dependent suburban-style strip mall” that is not wanted by the community and does not fit within the current character of the community.
Village Mayor Kurt Wheeler verified that a lawsuit has been filed but otherwise could not comment on pending litigation.
David C. Muraco, owner of New Venture Assets LLC, called it a “frivolous lawsuit” by a man who does not own a neighboring property and has no standing in the case. “The planning board did a great job and we definitely did our work,” Muraco said. “It’s not holding us up in any way; we’re working on getting the demolition permits [for the diner and motel] now and moving forward.”
Greg Widrick, a partner in the developing firm of Sphere Development LLC, said his company is also proceeding with the project.
“This is not going to slow us down at all; we’ll just continue to plan … everything is moving forward on our end,” Widrick said. “We feel the village went above and beyond in vetting out our application. They’ve done an excellent job keeping in mind the quality of the environment and the local economic needs.”
The Cazenovia Market project, which was reviewed for eight months before its approval, was a contentious issue in the village that garnered both supporters and opponents. All of the allegations included in Schreibman’s lawsuit as to why and how the development is “unlawful” and the planning board “abused its discretion” were broached by project opponents — including Schreibman, who attended one meeting — during multiple municipal meetings on the project and were discussed at length by the planning board.
This is the second suit Schreibman now has ongoing against the village and its development projects. He also filed a suit in 2015 to get the Western Gateway rezoning annulled as being unconstitutional and illegal spot zoning.
