Federal Judge dismisses HAPA lawsuit against Hillside Project
March 5, 2010 U.S. District Judge
Stephen Robinson dismissed the Hillside Avenue Preservation
Association's lawsuit against the agreement reached by the Airmont Board
of Trustees and Mischknois Lavier Yakov that would permit the Planning
Board to review the Canadian congregation's plan to build a 13-building
complex that could hold 1,000 or more new residents on a 19 acre lot.
Oral arguments were supposed to be heard one week from An email sent out by HAPA explains some of the circumstances of the original agreement and the neighbors' legal argument against the arrangement. Our court case which has been postponed numerous times is back on the docket for Friday March 12 at 10:00 A.M. The email began: "As you may recall the Village of Airmont signed a Stipulation of Settlement with Congregation Mischknois Lavier Yakov back on January 3rd 2005. This legal agreement gives the Congregation the right to bypass our zoning laws and build a school with a dormitory for 200 students and married student housing for 30 families on the 19 acres at 44 Hillside Avenue. Our court case is to make this agreement null and void, this is important because the agreement appears to be part of the deed. If Congregation Mischknois Lavier Yakov decides not to build and sells the land, the new owners then have the same ability to bypass our zoning laws. The Village of Airmont violated our rights under New York States Sunshine Laws. Specifically, there was no open meeting. A sign was put on the door that the regularly scheduled meeting was canceled. So there was no public input, the mayor (John Layne) and board of trustees discussed the settlement in private and they voted on it in private. The vote brings us to the second point in our case; since the Rockland County Planning Board gave the development a negative referral a super majority was required to sign the settlement, or a vote of four in favor with only one against. This was not the case; the vote was three in favor and two against. There has been a lot of legal maneuvering since 2005 and our case, which was to have been ‘fast tracked’ will finally have oral arguments. Following oral arguments Judge Stephen C. Robinson will likely make a decision as to if our case will move forward. We have no way of knowing if this will be cancelled again, but thought that we should let everyone know that the possibility is that we will be heard. I know that may people have expressed an interest in attending these proceeding. Typically we find out the night before regarding cancellations. I will send out an e-mail blast if this is the case. If not, the location is United States District Court, 300 Quarropas Street, White Plains, New York, Courtroom 621." Sincerely, Hillside Avenue Preservation Association, Inc. Judge Robinson did cancel this hearing when he announced his decision Wednesday to dismiss the HAPA lawsuit. According to the Journal News, "Robinson found that the organization had failed to show that its interests were not represented by the village board when it signed the settlement." Read the full story here. HAPA organizers will now look at the options open to them. They can appeal the decision to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. You can review the past history of this application on these pages.
Michael Castelluccio
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