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Legal issues entangling rental project in Drumlins

BY STAFF WRITER
Liz Foran

VICTOR -- The town of Victor has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Pioneer Corp. over its plans to build rental units in the Drumlins neighborhood.

The motion comes on top of a lawsuit filed by the town last week against Pioneer and the citizens group Drumlins Concerned Citizens. That suit seeks to have a key zoning issue that could derail the project settled before a judge.

Pioneer filed suit against the town Planning Board last month after the board decided it would not make a decision about whether the 154-unit Pioneer project was reasonably similar to the privately owned townhouses originally proposed for the 49 acres.

The town instead suggested that state Supreme Court decide the issue, which the Pioneer suit rejected as taking too much time on a project that has already been repeatedly delayed.

Drumlins Concerned Citizens, a group of Drumlins residents opposed to the Pioneer project, also rejects taking the issue to court, saying the town should be responsible for making the similarity decision.

"In all the years I've practiced law, I've never seen a petition to have the court make a decision that the town should decide," said Leon Katzen, attorney for Drumlins Concerned Citizens.

The group, which formed shortly after the rental project was proposed over a year ago and maintains its own Web site (www.oaknut.com/drumlins), claims that the project does not meet the reasonably similar clause and does not fit in with the surrounding neighborhood.

But the town is hesitant to make a decision that could result in more litigation, the lawsuit states. Both Pioneer and the citizens' group have indicated that they will pursue legal action over decisions unfavorable to their interests.

"This was a method to bring everything to the table " town attorney Jeff Morris said of the town's suit. "This would direct us on how to continue."

The town also is hesitant to decide the reasonably similar issue because it could be seen as discriminating against rental properties.

"This dispute is best resolved by a judicial statement ... and the plaintiff seeks to avoid threatened litigation," the suit states.

Both the Drumlins Concerned Citizens and Pioneer are resisting the town's summons.

The town's suit is just another delay for the project, which developers would like to start building this year, Pioneer President Chris Calabro said.

Attorneys will argue the town's motion to dismiss the Pioneer lawsuit at 9:30 a.m. April 10 in state Supreme Court in Canandaigua.

Attorneys for Pioneer and Drumlins Concerned Citizens have 20 days to respond to the town lawsuit.

Despite the current litigation, the Drumlins project is proceeding through the Planning Board review process. The board ruled Tuesday night that the project could have adverse environmental impact and must go through the State Environmental Quality Review process.

A hearing to collect public concerns about the project is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 27.

The meeting will allow residents to address concerns about lighting, traffic, drainage and other potentially adverse effects of the project.

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