Developer sues Yorktown over land-use, enforcement claims

A local developer is suing the town and several current and former officials, alleging a years-long scheme to suppress the value of the company's Navajo Street property while advancing zoning changes that benefited a competing redevelopment project.

Creative Living Development Inc., which owns the Yorktown Sports Complex — also known as Navajo Fields — alleged in a May filing in the New York State Supreme Court that Yorktown officials and competing private developers coordinated for more than a decade to restrict development opportunities at the Jefferson Valley site.

Town officials have called the lawsuit "meritless."

The complaint states that the property was once considered for inclusion in the Lake Osceola/Jefferson Valley Planned Design District overlay, but alleges in December 2021 town officials ignored its own comprehensive plan. Creative Living said at that time, the Town Board adopted a “law changing the zoning for Underhill Farm to create an overlay zone for Unicorn’s property in Yorktown Heights (prohibited by Comprehensive Plan) while excluding Creative Living’s property in Jefferson Valley (permitted under Comprehensive Plan).”

“This is an action to recover money damages Creative Living has suffered as a result of a 15-year predatory acquisition enterprise—a systematic scheme by which the defendants, officials of the Town and their associates—used the power of the Town wrongfully, tortiously, and unconstitutionally,” the suit said.

The lawsuit names the Town of Yorktown, former Planning Director John Tegeder, Supervisor Ed Lachterman and former Town Supervisor and current Assemblyman Matt Slater, in both their official and individual capacities, along with attorney Mark Blanchard, Terrence Murphy, Unicorn Contracting Corp. and Underhill Soundview LLC as defendants.

Slater addressed his inclusion in the lawsuit in a statement to Yorktown News.

"The facts are straightforward," he said. "I repeatedly declined the applicant's requests that I approach the Town Board in support of this project. After refusing those requests, I was named in this lawsuit despite having no role in the town's review or decision-making process. At the time of the application, I was serving in the State Assembly and had left the Town Board two years earlier. I am confident the facts will speak for themselves."

Lachterman said he does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.

Last fall, before the Town Board could vote on whether to expand the Lake Osceola Planned Design District Overlay Zone to include the Hidden Valley project at 3000 Navajo St. — a measure the board was poised to reject — Creative Living withdrew its application. At the time, Slater, who is being sued in both his personal and official capacities, was serving in the state Assembly and was not a member of the Town Board.

The project’s possible inclusion in the overlay zone was a highly contested issue, with residents filling board meetings to voice both concerns and support for the project. Creative Living had requested adding the 49.6-acre property at 3000 Navajo St. to the Lake Osceola Planned Design District Overlay Zone. The proposal called for redeveloping the site into a mixed-use commercial recreation and multifamily residential development, including a 23,000-square-foot athletic facility, a 5,500-square-foot clubhouse and 242 multifamily housing units.

Local baseball coaches and business owners supported the amendment, citing potential benefits for young athletes and small businesses. Others in favor noted that it would enable them to hook up to sewers. But opponents, including residents from the Jefferson Village complex, expressed concerns about traffic congestion and said it could delay emergency response times for police, fire and EMS.

Creative Living's complaint alleges retaliation, selective enforcement, conflicts of interest tied to zoning decisions and code enforcement, and coordinated efforts to reduce the property’s value. The developer’s claims focus on both land-use decisions and the town’s enforcement actions.

“The lawsuit is meritless,” Town Attorney Adam Rodriguez told Yorktown News. “The town’s land use decisions and enforcement activity were eminent and proper.”

Rodriguez said the town will file a motion to dismiss.