Not even 48 hours after the Village Elections, the halting the much-discussed at the Four Corners has been dismissed.
The Patchogue Village Facebook page has announced the news, stating that Justice Paul Baisley has ruled that the Village prevailed in the case and has dismissed the lawsuit.
Tritec's was in April 2011 for 291 apartments, 46,000 square feet of retail space and 18,000 square feet of office space to be placed at the Four Corners intersection in Patchogue Village.
The plan has been met with both support and dissent from Patchogue Village residents, resulting in a heated election campaign primarily divided among the issue.
The lawsuit was filed by a number of local business owners, including of the , , and Elisabeth McGuire, who was one of the mayor candidates running in opposition of the plan.
Kevin Brosnahan, an attorney working for those that filed the lawsuit, said that the plaintiffs do intend to appeal the decision as they feel the Judge's decision doesn't reach the merits of their argument.
"Respectfully to the judge, I disagree, I believe on the merits my clients would prevail," Brosnahan told Patch Thursday.
Village attorney Brian Egan said that such an appeal would not stop the New Village plans from moving forward.
"If they decided to undertake that very expensive endeavor, I am confident based on the judge's decision that the appeal is meritless," Egan said.
Patchogue Village Mayor Paul Pontieri told Patch Thursday morning that discussions with Tritec Real Estate Company have resumed, and that plans for scheduling the demolition will be made over the next 10 days.
"Tuesday's election was at that point was the highlight of the week," Pontieri said. "Add this to it, it's been a wonderful week. Just on a personal level, the amount of time put into this development is what we need."
Pontieri also said that the judge's decision was officially made on Tuesday, but the court's office initially held it back from release as to not affect the election.
The full documentation of the decision is attached in the PDF section.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Update 3:41 p.m.: Added the PDF of the judge's decision, comments from plaintiff's attorney Kevin Brosnahan and Village Attorney Brian Egan.
Update 5:55 p.m.: Added information on when decision was made.
But where I do agree with you is that your voice should be heard. In fact let's be allied where we have common cause. Both of us want to make sure that New Village turns out for the best. Let's both keep working on making that happen. One way I am going to move that along is that next Monday at the Trustee meeting I am again going to advocate for televised meetings. It's a good idea to promote accountability in our village government. You too have advocated for the same cause. Let's stand together and make sure that the movement foward for democracy in our village keeps moving along. And everyone else who feels the same please join the cause. This idea is long overdue. The time for change is now.
I have been working odd hours and have not been able to get to the meetings. However, I must change my hours to make sure I can. I have already informed the people I work with that my Monday Schedules will change to allow my ability to attend the meetings. I do plan on attending as many meetings as I can.
It is sad that people gave up and did not come out and vote their views. I heard late today that people were upset with the apartments, but did not like how both sides ran their races so they decided not to vote. A very foolish action. I am going to be at the next meeting and at as many as I can. My work schedule is such that I have a heavy plate on Mondays; however, I am going to be at the next meeting and look forward to meeting you and working with anyone whose end goal is to help the residents know what is going on in Village Hall. Some of my ideas (many of which have been discussed by others) more open communication, posted minutes to all the meetings, televised meetings - at best video tape them and post them on the website, a master plan that incorporates the voices of citizens and businesses in the community, a hands on ethics review board, the laws being applied more efficiently and equally to all and dealing with those that break them accordingly. These are just a few of the ideas I have and have seen on these boards. I firmly believe that this Village is a diamond in the rough. With a little help from the citizens and a cooperative board, we could have a really beautiful gem.
I just would like you to elucidate what Mayor Pontieri has done that can be construed as "liberal" and "tyrannical." You know, since you only deal in facts, let's see them. I'll remind you that this election showed that Paul did have community support for these plans. Where's the tyranny there? Remember this is democracy. Secondly, I'd like to remind you that name calling and painting people with broad strokes might earn a few political points at the national and state level, but at this level it's always important to remember that these men and women who run for office and are elected by us and they are our neighbors. They are real people who live and work and care about this village. Perhaps they don't share the same vision of it as you, but surely there's a more constructive way to get things done than name calling. I think it's a good thing that you will start attending meetings. Perhaps you'll learn that the men and women who serve us are human beings who are doing what they think is right for the people of this village. There's nothing tyrannical about it.
When I bought my home in patchogue 1 year ago and I pondered what patchogue needed to continue its progress, another apartment complex did not come to mind. The argument that an apartment complex in the middle of town will improve the community is flawed. 1) Have the other apartment complexes in the area revitalized the downtown? 2) Heatherwood is within walking distance to main street, has it revitalized the community? 3) Tiffany Apartments are within walking distance from the downtown, has it revitalized the community? 4) Rider Avenue apartments are within a short walk to main street, has it revitalized the community? 5) Maplewood Apartments are within a short walk to main street, has that building revitalized the community? 6) have the owners of these buildings began renovating them to keep up with the increased demand for high end apartments in patchogue so they can demand higher rents? My wife said it best this morning, " I moved to this area to get away from big apartment complexes. If I wanted to look a big apartment complexes i would have stayed in Queens. Why does this stuff keep following me?"
I am an involved citizen & resident of the Village. I want to see true & value added improvements here. I still live here & do not want to move out of the community I choose to live in almost 20 years ago. Yes, as a resident of the Village of Patchogue, I did post a call to action to my friends, both in the Village & in the Patchogue area (who are affected by what goes on in the Village). I asked them to come & listen to the candidates at the debate; then make their own decision if they want to help get out the vote. Several of my friends came to the debates. Those who helped get out the vote live in either the Village or Town of Patchogue & do business here with the residents. My view of the mayor is my own opinion from my own interactions with Village Hall (and the lack of responsiveness to a resident requests and/or questions) & the one-on-one discussions I have had with many residents. I walked several parts of the Village reaching out to fellow residents to get to get them involved with the election. I did not support any candidate when I went door to door; I was walking around to ALL homes on a voter registration drive. One of 3 posts
This complex is going forward and we will have to work with what ever comes. That is another simple fact. Forget about who donated to whom…it is done and we need to move forward. My concern overall goal is simple: Community involvement in the future of our Village. All residents need to come out to Village meetings OR petition Village Hall with letters and/or emails about their interests and concerns. I am not referring to petitions to stop things from happening, but petition in writing their concerns about issues in the Village. Communication is a two way street. I would like to see more communication on the Village website with respect to meeting minutes and facts about upcoming decisions so the village residents can become more informed before the issue "hits" the Patch or the Advance.
To use name calling to "win points" is not my goal. I stated my opinion of the situation as I see it. As you stated, these are real people and may not share my vision or views. So are those individuals stating their views and visions of the town. You may not agree with my remark, but I still changes need to be made to correct things in Village Hall. One of the most important and scary things I learned is many people didn't even know about the election or the full plans for the 4 Corners. Many people I spoke with thought it was still going to be a hotel & department store, not apartments. That is a sad statement of the lack of communication between the residents AND the Village Hall. Several people actually thought I was pulling their leg about the apartments. They felt that the mayor and trustees would not build something like that in the Village. Second of 3 posts
I like the idea of a citizens review board or a citizens complaint board that can help address issues to the board at meetings and at the departmental level. A facebook page for these issues to be posted is a good idea as well. When a resident does post an issue or question and two things can happen. One a fellow resident can say...'that happened to me and I did this or that'...thus freeing up the Village Hall and creating an open discussion between residents or a representative of the various departments could chime in and give more details to the laws and/or actions that can be taken. A great idea to create a open forum of communication between the residents AND the village!!
@Been her a long time... Sorry but you feel someone who loves their home enough to stand up for it has "too much time on their hands". I will continue to comment, reach out and fight the CORRECT fight and strive to find solutions to the problems and bring change that is beneficial to all.