Willow Pond Permit Claims Rebuffed

Like many, we at Preserve Penfield were dismayed watching the Town Board’s work session on January 22nd (full video here: https://vimeo.com/1049747148). At that meeting, the town’s attorney and some Board members spoke about the Special Use Permit (required to move forward with the Willow Pond project) as though it were a foregone conclusion, with the Board having no ability to deny the permit. We believe such a claim to be a falsehood that betrays public trust, and decided to push back.

The deciding vote for the permit was scheduled for the Town Board’s February 5th legislative session (full video here: https://vimeo.com/1054142363). Representatives from Preserve Penfield, including our attorney Jake Zoghlin, made sure to attend.

To start, Jake attacked the legal basis for assuming the Board lacked the discretion to deny the permit. He provided an overview of a letter sent the day prior (full text) referencing legal precedent from throughout New York State, all of which supports the notion that permit approval is a discretionary, legislative act.

Later, Preserve Penfield’s Vice President, Laura Payne-Bourcy, shared her findings from research into the Town’s records for the entire Willow Pond subdevelopment. Through a series of Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, she obtained records dating back more than 30 years. As it turns out, on separate occasions in 1992 and 1996, the Town Board declined similar permit requests for the SAME developer at the SAME site for the SAME sort of project (market rate/luxury apartments).

These decisions stood, with no known legal challenge by the developer. Surely a similar decision today can stand on its own merit as well.