Conifer Attorney Levels Discrimination Allegations at New Castle
An attorney for the developer of the proposed Chappaqua affordable housing project last week accused New Castle officials of attempting to prevent minorities from moving into town as motivation behind continued opposition to the plan.
Comments last Friday by Randolph McLaughlin, of the Manhattan law firm Ferrara Newman, LLP, came a week after he and two colleagues initiated litigation on behalf of Rochester-based Conifer Realty in state Supreme Court asking for a permanent injunction against the town from enforcing an 18-month deadline to complete construction.
Papers filed on Feb. 19 cited a section of town code pertaining to workforce housing that allows the affordable housing developer up to 25 years to finish constructing the 28-unit building, Chappaqua Station, on Hunts Place.
“An erroneous application by the Town of the general provision would place a legally impermissible, unfair and undue hardship upon the Plaintiff and impose a significant obstacle to Plaintiff’s ability to fulfill the legislative purpose…to remove obstacles to the development of workforce housing in the Town,” Conifer’s complaint states in part.
The previous town board issued a special permit to Conifer Realty on Sept. 10, 2013. Under the provision of a general special permit, which the town contends is applicable, the permit is set to expire this month unless the applicant requests and receives an extension.
McLaughlin last Friday accused town officials of erecting obstacles to prevent affordable housing from being built in Chappaqua and to keep potential minority residents from moving into town. He compared officials’ actions to the Yonkers housing segregation case of the 1980s, adding that it “harkens back to the worst of the Civil Rights era.”
“It’s shocking that a government would go to these lengths to stop this project,” McLaughlin said. “Enough is enough.”
In addition to the special permit issue, McLaughlin also pointed to the Feb. 17 letter sent by Town Attorney Edward Phillips on behalf of the municipality to the state Board of Review asking that it reconsider its decision last month to grant four fire code variances to Conifer.
With approval of the variances, concerns about safety should no longer be an issue, McLaughlin said, adding that the town has no authority to try and undo the Board of Review’s variance approvals.
Phillips dismissed McLaughlin’s characterization of the town being discriminatory against minorities, stating that officials, including Building Inspector William Maskiell, maintain legitimate safety concerns about the site.
“It’s a description that Mr. McLaughlin has used before and it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Phillips said.
In his letter to the Board of Review, Phillips detailed that the one-third of an acre site is wedged between the MTA’s Harlem line railroad tracks, a Saw Mill River Parkway exit ramp and a bridge overpass embankment. Phillips wrote that “it is difficult to reconcile” the Board of Review’s decision to grant the variances while denying essentially the same variances last year.
The town also sent a letter to County Executive Rob Astorino and James Johnson, the housing monitor assigned to oversee the affordable housing settlement between Westchester County and the federal government, expressing similar concerns. In that letter, the town recommends Conifer consider the town-owned Washington Avenue site near Town Hall.
Phillips, who said he was “very surprised” at the permit controversy and Conifer’s legal action, said its attorneys have confused the town code. Special permits are valid for 18 months because the town wants to be certain that conditions at a certain location don’t change. The 25-year timeframe that the applicant’s lawyers are referring to goes into effect once the structure is built and a Certificate of Occupancy is issued, Phillips said.
Meanwhile, requests for permit extensions are routine, he said.
“An extension could be granted but you have to ask for it,” Phillips said.
At the Feb. 24 town board meeting, Supervisor Robert Greenstein expressed frustration at Conifer launching litigation rather than working with the town.
“On multiple occasions, the town attorney has advised Conifer that it can request an extension of the 18-month period by submitting a letter request,” Greenstein said. “Unfortunately, rather than simply asking for an extension of time, Conifer has filed a lawsuit.”
Conifer Realty last week was also scheduled to appear before the MTA in hopes of securing an easement to construct the building.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/