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Southold Finally Rezoned, The Owners and the Would Be Developer are Suing
Please click on heritage-lawsuit.pdf to read copies of the RJI, Notice of Petition, Summons and Petition / Complaint
Nocro, Ltd. who is the property owner, and The Heritage at Cutchogue, LLC who is the would be developer are the Petitioners and Plaintiffs. They are suing the Respondents and Defendants who are Southold Town, Town Board, Planning Board and individual members of the Town and Planning Boards. Although much of the complained of actions occurred under the previous (Horton) administration, the people who were in office then but not recently are not named in the lawsuit.
If the future of Cutchogue were not at stake, the claims would be laughable. For example, it is alleged over and over that Supervisor Russell conspired to rezone to force the developer to build a small affordable condominium for his mother.
The lawsuit claims a cool $40,000,000.00 in alleged actual damages. The facts on which this amount is based are not stated. There is no mention of how much Seacroft, Ltd. paid to purchase the property. Nor is there any mention of how much, if anything, Nocro, Ltd. paid Seacroft, Ltd. The fact that Nocro, Ltd. was formed by two out of the three Seacroft, Ltd. principals is not mentioned. The truth about how the property was rezoned from agricultural to high density residential without any planning study nor any environmental review and after executive sessions in which Henry Raynor the brother in law of the third Seacroft. Ltd. principal participated is not mentioned. The truth about the felony conviction and imprisonment of the third principle of Seacroft for embezzlement is not mentioned. It is alleged that F.A.D. Associates, Inc. contracted in 2002 to purchase the property from Nocro, Ltd. for $4,500,000.00 It is not stated how much if anything, was paid as a downpayment or otherwise. Now that the owners and would be developer have sued, the Town will be entitled to discover the terms and conditions of the alleged contract of sale and assignment of same. In addition to compensatory damages of $40 million dollars, the lawsuit also claims exemplary or punitive damages of $38 million dollars. The total, $78 million dollars, would be nicer than work if they can get it!
The bottom line is that the story in the complaint does not tell the truth. Parts of the whole truth are left out and there are false statements added in an obvious attempt to maximize their profit without regard to any resulting damages to other members of our community.
Southold must answer the lawsuit. But Southold should not wait until the dust settles to continue planning for the entire town including the fallow farmland where the Heritage at Cutchogue was proposed. The proposed Heritage at Cutchogue would in and of itself, not only damage the North Fork, it is intertwined with the planning or lack thereof by Southold Town, Suffolk County Health Department and Suffolk County Water Authority. We need an express comprehensive plan for Southold Town as well as to reexamine and revise the missions, goals and operations of those two “Suffolk County” institutions.