ccSCOOP - NEWS - Judge Rules Against Wilzig "Sporting Course"

JUDGE RULES AGAINST WILZIG "SPORTING COURSE"

Mike McCagg

ccSCOOP News

01-08-10 - 7:12 p.m. - A New York State Supreme Court Justice has issued an injunction barring the construction, completion, and use of the controversial Wilzig racetrack/sporting course in the Town of Taghkanic.

Justice Patrick McGrath’s ruling, handed down on January 7, states that the Granger Group’s “request for a permanent injunction is granted enjoining [town officials] . . . from issuing a Building Permit, Certificate of Compliance and/or a Certificate of Occupancy or Site Plan approval for the sporting course or track located on the Wilzig property.” The ruling also states that “Alan Wilzig and Karin Wilzig are permanently enjoined from using, constructing, or completing the sporting course or track in any way or manner as well as any agent, guest, or invitee of Alan or Karin Wilzig.”

Wilzig submitted a proposal in 2006 to construct the paved one-mile, 40-foot-wide track. That proposal was rejected by the Town of Taghkanic Zoning Board of Appeals, which ruled that a paved track was not a standard accessory use on a residential property. That decision was upheld in state court.

In 2008, describing the track as a “recreational use,” Wilzig submitted the proposal again and received initial approval from Taghkanic Code Enforcement Officer Dennis Callahan. In 2009, the “recreational course” was given approval by the Taghkanic Planning Board and the ZBA.

The Granger Group, which has mounted an intense campaign to block Wilzig’s proposal to turn his Post Hill Road compound into a “racing manor,” filed the Article 78 lawsuit in state Supreme Court last summer seeking to overturn town approval of the project on several grounds. The Article 78 proceeding specifically alleged that:

the Planning Board failed to take the requisite hard look at the potential environmental impacts of the proposed action before issuing a negative declaration in the State Environmental Quality Review Act process;
the SEQRA review process was impermissibly tainted by misinformation and threats of litigation by Wilzig's attorney to the Planning Board;
the Planning Board erred in failing to identify the noise impacts of this project as potentially large and failed to take the requisite hard look at the potential noise that would be generated by this project;
the Planning Board failed to give due consideration to noise reports submitted by the Petitioners’ expert and the testimony of neighboring property owners as to the noise already generated by the racetrack in making its determination;
the negative declaration issued by the Planning Board constituted an impermissible conditioned negative declaration.

In making his ruling, McGrath noted that the Zoning Board of Appeals and later Acting Supreme Court Justice Christian Hummel had previously ruled that the track/course did not qualify as an accessory use pursuant to the zoning laws of the town and as such could not be constructed. McGrath ruled that changing the name of the proposed project from “track” to “sporting course” and adding that the course may also be used for jogging, rollerblading, or the like did not constitute a major change and as such any subsequent decisions on the same proposal violated the doctrine of res judicata. Res juridicta “precludes the representation of claims which were previously litigated on the merits or might have been litigated at the time.” Because Wilzig could have raised the issue during the previous ZBA or judicial ruling, McGrath ruled, he was barred from his subsequent applications for the same project.

Sam Pratt, a co-founder of The Granger Group, lauded the ruling: "This goes to show once again that if ordinary citizens stand up for what's right, they can win against long odds. The Wilzig controversy began because one man considered himself above the local zoning law, by which others in Taghkanic have to abide. Judge McGrath's permanent injunction at last shows that it doesn't pay to ignore both the rules and your neighbors' own property rights. Great credit is due to Chris Tallackson and others who doggedly fought the good fight through to a sound conclusion."

ZBA member Moisha Blechman, who was the only member of the ZBA to oppose the track/course, stated on Friday, “It’s very refreshing to have someone think so clearly in understanding that if the racetrack were 90 percent complete, how you could call it by a new name?”

ZBA member Bob Rochler, however, called the decision “unfortunate.”

Taghkanic residents who coalesced to form The Granger Group got their first hint of what Wilzig was planning for his Post Hill Road property from a gossip column in the New York Post. There it was reported that Wilzig “plans to spend more than $75 million transforming a 300-acre property in upstate New York into a private auto and motorcycle racing facility, as well as a ‘family compound’” to be called “Wilzig Racing Manor.” In the column, Wilzig is reported as boasting, “I built every motor head's dream. . . . It's a truly private, secluded roadracing circuit." The article goes on to say that the property “includes a state-of-the-art, 1.18-mile, 30-foot-wide racing course with various elevation changes and a motocross style track for dirt bikes and racing buggies.”

A call to Wilzig requesting a comment on yesterday's ruling was not returned.

Press Release issued the The Granger Group - January 11, 2010

PREVIOUS ccSCOOP ARTICLES ABOUT THE WILZIG TRACK ISSUE

"Wilzing Court Ruling Still Pending" - December 18, 2009

"Judge Issues Injunction on Wilzig Project" - June 1, 2009

"ZBA Ruling on Wilzig Track: The Granger Group Responds" - May 22, 2009

"Wilzig Track Clears ZBA, but Matter Remains in Court" - May 20, 2009

"Another Round in Court for Wilzig Proposal" - May 4, 2009

"Residents Make Their Appeal to the Taghkanic Zoning Board of Appeals" - April 22, 2009

"Taghkanic Track Debate Shifts to ZBA Following Planning Board OK" - April 15, 2009

"Yet Another Taghkanic Panel to Hear from Public on Wilzig Proposal" - April 7, 2009

"Wilzig Proposal May Be Decided on Next Month" - March 12, 2009