Planning board prevails in grocery store lawsuit

VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – An Onondaga County Supreme Court judge has dismissed the lawsuit brought against the Fayetteville Planning Board for its approval of plans for a grocery store development at 547 E. Genesee St.
The lawsuit was filed this past Dec. 7 by villager Marguerite Ross, whose Cammot Lane residence borders the 30-acre property in question where a Hannaford supermarket has been rumored to go. The court challenge was put forth with attorneys from Knauf Shaw LLP, a law firm based in Rochester.
The partially industrial-zoned, partially single-family residential lot where the 56,550-square-foot grocery store would be placed is currently the site of the vacated, 130,000-square-foot O’Brien & Gere manufacturing building. Accurate Die Casting previously operated on the property from 1955 to 1988 and left behind a hazardous brownfield which the temporarily stalled redevelopment project is aiming to remediate.
It has been interpreted that the building is a preexisting, non-conforming structure which may be downsized without the need for a variance.
Ross’ dismissed petition contended that the planning board’s issuance of a special use permit for the project in November was “arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, and an abuse of discretion.” She alleged that the board failed to issue factual findings in support of the decision to grant the special permit and that the project does not satisfy permit requirements, including a cap on building size at 10,000 square feet and a complete compliance with subsections of the zoning code on special permits.
The court later found upon reviewing the information submitted, the board’s resolution and meeting minutes that the final decision both addressed the applicable considerations for a permit and has a “rational basis” and also that the dormant building is exempt from the 10,000 square foot requirement in the code because it was determined to be preexisting and non-conforming.
The court also determined it was “without merit” that Ross foresaw the Northwood Real Estate project having an adverse effect on her neighborhood as well as inadequate open space, drainage facilities and landscaping because those expectations relied too heavily on the variance application for a larger, “substantially different” mixed-use project previously submitted by Millstone Development Group LLC. That prior project called for the construction of an assisted living facility with a third building that would have been medical, retail or office space.
Ross also sought to annul the board’s negative declaration pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) on the basis that alongside Fayetteville’s zoning board of appeals the planning board segmented its review from the environmental cleanup of the property and the proposed widening of East Genesee Street to construct a turn lane and install a traffic light and that they failed take a “hard look” or prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The court found that the zoning board issued an interpretation of the code as it related to the downsizing of the structure but did not make a decision to fund or approve the project, and therefore that board did not need to be involved in a coordinated SEQRA review.
It was also determined that the planning board considered a traffic impact study and that the environmental remediation of the property was subject to a brownfield program and exempt from SEQRA review as a result.
As far as taking a “hard look,” the court stated that an EIS was not required and that the planning board “identified the relevant areas of environmental concern” and made a “reasoned elaboration” supporting the crafting of its determination.
Ross also argued against the site plan approval for the development of a grocery store, but the court concluded that disagreement with the decision does not equate to improper, unfounded or arbitrary procedure conducted by the board.
The final cause of action regarded an alleged violation of open meetings law because of a failure to post documents connected to the approval of the project to the Village of Fayetteville website.
According to the written decision dismissing the lawsuit, the court was “unpersuaded” by that claim because the meetings law violation did not deprive Ross of a “meaningful involvement in the proceedings” and because the oversight was not viewed to be intentional on the board’s part.
Fayetteville Mayor Mark Olson said he’s “gratified” by the judge’s recent decision and that he looks forward to seeing how the developer approaches the grocery store project.
“All along we were confident that our planning board, our zoning board and our code enforcement officer were making decisions based on sound advice and sound decision-making,” Olson said. “They did the correct thing and followed the guidelines set forth in front of them.”
Olson said, however, that he is “saddened” that Ross’ lawsuit against the planning board and her other dismissed suit challenging the interpretation by the zoning board and Code Enforcement Officer Mike Jones relating to a size reduction for the dilapidated O’Brien & Gere building have altogether cost village taxpayers to date “close to $25,000 in legal fees” for the defense of the municipality.
According to Olson, Ross had indicated before the dismissal that she would appeal the decision made in Onondaga County Supreme Court if she lost the case there.
Ross said in December that presenting an Article 78 proceeding was her “last remedy” to have the planning board listen to her concerns after her submittal of letters to the board and her comments at public hearings. She added at that point in time that she was willing to bring the lawsuit to the highest levels of New York State’s court system.
Now retired, Ross previously worked for the Baltimore City Planning Department and the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency.