Future Site no more, thanks to lawsuit
RADISSON -- Property owners in the Radisson community have finally won their battle with the YMCA. Nineteen property owners filed a lawsuit against the company over their proposed 98,000 square foot facility that would have gone right into the residential section of Radisson.
Judge Anthony J. Paris of the Onondaga County Supreme Court issued the ruling, saying that the restrictive covenants in the Radisson Declaration prohibited the construction of the massive, $17 million facility.
The judge also held that a corrective deed filed by the Empire State Development Corporation and Eldan Homes to remove the residential restrictions just one day before the land was sold to the YMCA was “an outright manipulation to remove the binding restrictions.”
“It has never been about the Y, but rather about the where. This is a great result for my family and my neighbors” said Jeff Dack, the lead plaintiff who owns a house across the street from the YMCA’s property. “We had to sue the YMCA twice to stop the project and Judge Paris came down for us both times” Dack said.
The attorney for the neighbors, Douglas H. Zamelis of Manlius, said “This should be the last nail in the coffin for the YMCA’s abandoned plans to build at Drake’s Landing”. The YMCA had previously announced that it would seek approvals to construct the Northwest Family YMCA at the Timber Banks development on River Road. According to Zamelis “This is an important decision for all the people of Radisson, because Judge Paris has upheld and strengthened the integrity of the Radisson Declaration which purposefully keeps industrial, commercial, and residential land uses separate and apart.”
