Three Petitioners Want Out of CVS Suit; Smear Campaign Alleged

Three of the petitioners listed on the Article 78 that aims to annul the special use permit granted to the proposed Armonk CVS this summer have requested that their names be removed from the action.

However, controversy has erupted over the circumstances of the looming departure of the three indviduals. Last week it prompted a spokesman for the Concerned Citizens of Armonk, the group that filed the action last month in state Supreme Court, to allege that Supervisor Howard Arden and other opponents of the organization were looking to discredit them.

Last week Dennis Buonocore, owner of Armonk Hardware, and Ellida Renna and Angela Himmelstein, co-owners of The Right Thing, a greeting card store on Main Street, confirmed that they no longer wish to be involved in the litigation.

Jeffrey Baker, the attorney representing the Concerned Citizens, has begun steps to detach Buonocore’s name from the litigation. It was not immediately known if the same was being done for Renna and Himmelstein.

On Sept. 5, Buonocore contacted Baker asking to be taken off the petition. When asked last week at his store about his decision, Buonocore said that “I just don’t want to be involved.”

Renna, who stressed that she wasn’t happy about the pending arrival of CVS into the hamlet, said she was advised by their own counsel to refrain from participating.

“Our lawyer decided that (we’re) retail, we should not be taking sides,” Renna said.

The merchants are three of the seven petitioners listed on the Article 78 that was filed after the North Castle Town Board’s July 25 vote approved the permit by a 3-2 margin.

During the Sept. 12 town board meeting when the board voted to acknowledge receipt of the petition, Arden said he had received a message from Buonocore who stated that he hadn’t given Baker the right to represent him in the fight against CVS.

“And according to my discussion with him (Buonocore), the attorney for Concerned Citizens never even talked to him, that his name has been put on here without any personal discussion,” Arden said last week.

But an email exchange between Buonocore and Baker that was obtained by The Examiner showed that Buonocore had reached out to Baker on Aug. 20 to be included as a petitioner.

“As a concerned citizen of Armonk, I would like you to represent me in the (A)rticle 78 petition regarding the CVS proposal,” his email to Baker stated.

On Sept. 5, Buonocore wrote back stating “I did not realize nor have the intention of giving you the right to represent me in a lawsuit against the Town of North Castle. I would appreciate if you would remove my name from this lawsuit immediately.”

Baker responded the same day that he “was surprised to learn” that Buonocore wanted his name withdrawn since he gave specific authorization in the Aug. 20 email. Baker indicated he would begin the process of making the change.

Greg Lane, a spokesman for Concerned Citizens of Armonk, said there appeared to be an attempt at “a smear campaign” by town officials who opposed the group to undermine its efforts. He specifically pointed to Arden for claiming that the group included Buonocore on the petition without his permission and Planning Board Chairman Robert Greene who read the names of the petitioners at that board’s Sept. 10 meeting.

He said their efforts will have no bearing on the outcome of the action or the resolve of Concerned Citizens. Ultimately, the merits of the petition will be decided by a state Supreme Court justice.

“The Article 78 goes to the heart of the SEQR and special use permit process and whether CVS met the requirements of the process,” Lane said.

Although a public hearing on site plan approval was put off until Sept. 24, Greene last week defended the planning board’s handling of the application. Greene said the town board’s decision to grant the permit and the planning board’s negative declaration on the application were properly handled.

“Personally, I think it’s unfortunate,” Greene said last week. “I don’t think the suit is an accurate portrayal of what is happening.”

The litigation contends that the town board failed to support its decision to grant the permit with substantial evidence and ignored reports from Concerned Citizens’ experts before concluding the chain pharmacy would not have an adverse impact on the hamlet’s downtown.

“Hopefully, it won’t delay the application,” Greene said, adding the town is in the process of preparing a response to the suit.

The Sept. 24 public hearing will be held at H.C. Crittenden Middle School, located at 10 MacDonald Ave. in Armonk at 7 p.m.

Neal Rentz contributed to this article.