TOWN OF FISHKILL – The property owner and developer seeking to create Continental Commons is filing a federal lawsuit against the Town of Fishkill along with two additional lawsuits. Domenic Broccoli plans to file the lawsuits against the Town of Fishkill, the town board members, and Supervisor Ozzy Albra for allegedly violating his civil rights when the town blocked the development of Continental Commons, an approved colonial-themed village of restaurants, shops, inn, and museum on the commercial land he owns near the intersection of I-84 and Route 9.
Broccoli told the town board members of his intentions at Wednesday night’s board meeting. The developer asserts that after successfully completing a four-year state environmental review and local planning board approvals, Supervisor Albra and the town board systemically targeted and singled him out for denials of sewer and water permits, enactment of a new historic zoning regulation, and refusal to provide public information pertaining to his property.
Broccoli will file Article 78 appeals challenging the historic zoning regulation and the denial of a Freedom of Information Law request. He believes that these and other actions by the town have violated his guaranteed equal rights and due process under the United States Constitution.
Broccoli says he has been singled out and treated differently than any other property owner in Fishkill. “The actions of Supervisor Albra and Town Board members will be held accountable, as I believe they have put partisan politics, and special interest groups like the so-called Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot, ahead of the facts and land use law,” said Broccoli. “Albra’s actions have been orchestrated as political payback to his contributors and supporters. However, as always, the rule of law must be upheld.”
The developer said, “The denial of permitting for Continental Commons has become a political weapon of Supervisor Albra and the current Town Board. As a property owner and taxpayer in Fishkill, I will not tolerate anything less than a land use review process based on the facts and the law, and not or insidious partisan conspiracies.”
