Town votes to appeal Wave Farm ruling
The Daily Mail
May 25, 2009, online

CAIRO - The Cairo Town Board voted Wednesday night to appeal a Supreme Court ruling against a Cairo Planning Board decision regarding arts organization free103point9’s Wave Farm. The decision to appeal the ruling was made by roll-call vote with four members in support of and one against the appeal.

Free103point9 Program Manager Tom Roe, who was present at the vote, said the board’s decision to stop a library and a radio station from coming to the town could raise constituents’ taxes.

“I suppose none of the town board members who voted this way are running for re-election, because the people I’ve spoken to in Cairo do not want to pay for frivolous lawsuits, and would like a chance to go on the air on their own community radio station,” he said in a statement after the vote.

An April 17 decision handed down by State Supreme Court Judge Joseph C. Teresi stated that a previous denial of the arts organization’s site plan had been “arbitrary and capricious.”

On Feb. 4, the Planning Board denied the site plan for the Wave Farm, which would include residential and performance space. That decision had been based on what members perceived as deficiencies in waste disposal plans, an insufficient parking area and the lack of sufficient screening, among other reasons.

Teresi handed down a similar ruling in January, in which he stated that a Sept. 3, 2008 resolution by the Town Board to deny the application had violated the state’s Open Meetings Law.

Councilwoman Janet Schwarzenegger cast the lone dissenting vote at the meeting Wednesday night.

She declined to comment on her reasons before obtaining the amount of money the town has spent on litigation to date.

Supervisor John Coyne said he supported the appeal based on the advice of Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea and conversations with the Planning Board.

Daniel Benoit, who was named chairman of the Planning Board during the same meeting, said he was pleased to have the support of the the Town Board.

“I think we have a strong case,” he said.

Benoit could not say how continuing litigation would affect the site plan approval process but said some discussion of the Wave Farm site plan could occur at the Planning Board meeting scheduled for June 3.