New Rochelle Seeking New York State Home Rule Request to Alienate Parkland for Armory Property

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — In a move all but certain to set off a new round of litigation over the Armory, the City Council will act Tuesday night on a controversial Proposed Home Rule Request made public late Friday afternoon.

The Resolution “authorizes the appropriate officers of the City of New Rochelle to sign a Home Rule Request for the enactment of Senate Bill No. S7184 and Assembly Bill No. A8014 authorizing the conveyance and alienation of certain land in furtherance of an economic development interest of the State and/or City of New Rochelle”.

In other words, the City wants to get the parkland alienation issue out of the way before the developer, Pratt Landing Partners, moves forward any further with the project.

The Resolution contains a great deal of “meets and bounds” mumbo-jumbo but the main point is that the Armory and the land on which it sits can be developed with the following conditions: (a) the City of New Rochelle shall dedicate the lands described in section nine of this act as parkland, provided that the city of New Rochelle has never used such lands for public open space or park purposes; and (b) any such deed transferring the parcel described in section four of this act provides (i) for the preservation of the Armory Building, including the annex, and (ii) a dedicated space for veterans organization use at no charge or a de minimis rental amount as approved by the city council.

UPDATE: A reader notes “As a condition for the State to authorize the alienation, New Rochelle is dedicating other lands to be parkland, in article 2(a) and then described in section 9.

These terms are those Pratt Landing Partners, the special purpose company set up by Twinings Properties to develop waterfront property in New Rochelle, submitted in a letter to the City’s Veterans Advisory Committee promising to deliver on terms agreed to in front of New York State Supreme Court Judge Charles Wood in 2020.

The entire Armory building will be preserved.
A minimum of 3.5 acres of publicly available open space will be provided.
2,000 to 4,000 square feet of office space (plus parking) will be set aside in the Annex building for use by Veterans Services Organizations.

A lawsuit brought against the City of New Rochelle, New York State and Twinings Properties (incorrectly named as a party when the actual development company is Pratt Landing Partners), by Dennis Starr and Robert Boddie, Sr., ostensibly on behalf of “the veterans” against the City of New Rochelle, Twinings Properties, LCC, and Letitia James as Attorney General of the State of New York was dismissed by Judge Wood on April 21.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles D. Wood dismissed the lawsuit on grounds that the various causes of action were either premature, without merit or foundation or barred.

At issue in the Home Rule Request, Judge Wood found that as New York State or the Legislature must approve any development plans for the Armory that would implicate the restrictive covenant, any such approval would constitute a final legislative or agency action that could be challenged in court and as that had not happened yet the action was premature.

Further, Wood found that as New York State or the Legislature must approve any development plans for the Armory that would in any way alienate its use as parkland it was premature of bring an action against New York State.

This count in the lawsuit would no longer be premature if the Home Rule Request is successful — hence the likelihood of further litigation should the Resolution be adopted which appears all but certain at this point.

The City Council Resolution for a Proposed Home Rule Request follows: