ARKPORT, NY – Margaret Horan got some good news August 6th when Judge Robert B. Wiggins of the 7th Judicial District Court in Livingston County ruled in her favor over the zoning of her property in the Village of Arkport. Horan wanted to designate the property as commercial while the village strongly opposed, trying to keep it labeled as agricultural.
With this ruling, Horan is now free to sell the land to a developer which she intended to do months back but could not because the Village Board refused to change the designation. At a board meeting months back, many village residents turned out to voice their opinions about the idea of putting a Dollar General at that location, with the majority against it.
According to the board, this is not an automatic green light for a Dollar General, or any commercial business, to be built. There are still hurdles that will have to go in front of the Planning Board and DEC, such as the property being in a flood plain, environmental impact, and traffic issues.
The next big decision facing the board was whether they want to appeal the judge’s ruling or not. After some lengthy discussion it was agreed that they would, to a certain extent. “We don’t know if there is an end to this,” said trustee Mike Brewer, “We appeal it and win, now were back to square one. She takes it back to court and then we have to hire another attorney with money we don’t have. When does it end?” Trustee John Hedges countered, “There's probably 75 to 100 people in this village that do not want a Dollar General store there, and it is up to us to fight for them.”
The Village has 30 days from August 6th to file their appeal, and agreed not to exceed a certain dollar amount in fighting the Judge’s decision. Click HERE for additional video reaction.
