Complaints Filed by Six Homeowners Cost $15,000 in Legal Fees for Village

Editor,

I moved to Warwick in 1984 to open Yesterdays family restaurant and have been an active member of the community since that time, providing jobs, great food and drinks, and hosting events for our families, members of our fire department and police department, churches, and so many more organizations in Warwick. Yesterdays is a home away from home for many of our regular patrons, and – even during the pandemic – we have remained a busy restaurant through take-out, socially distant dining, and seasonal outdoor seating on Main St. 

As readers of the letters columns in any of the region’s papers will know, my wife, Peg, and I have been trying to relocate our restaurant to a larger space on Elm St. in Warwick since 2017. With another challenge being lobbed at us, I feel it’s the right time for me to reach out to the community Peg and I serve and share my perspective.

The space we have been trying to relocate to has been an empty lot wrapped in chain link fence for years, bordered by train tracks and a car wash, and had largely been used to store cars for one of the area auto dealers. Our intent to purchase this space and build a larger family-friendly restaurant to support our growing clientele was challenged when we announced our plans in 2017 and began initial building that has been on hold for quite some time now. 

This resulted in challenges to both the current property owner, as well as me as the owner of Yesterdays, and the Village itself all being challenged by six residents who have filed most of the legal complaints that have resulted in the ongoing disruption of our ability to build our new restaurant. The matters we have navigated in recent years to help make this dream of ours possible are as follows:

On Aug, 6, 2018, we won a challenge in Goshen Court filed under Article 78 to challenge our plans that had been approved by the Village, presiding by one  Judge. 

On Oct. 18, 2018, we won in the Appellate Division courts in White Plains when a Stop Work Order had been filed by the neighboring homeowners, prosiding by one judge. 

On Nov. 16, 2018, we again won in the Appellate Division courts in White Plains – this time with two judges presiding over the appeal – when another Stop Work Order was filed.

On Dec. 16, 2020, we once again won in court, this time in the 2nd Judicial Department in Brooklyn, where an appeal of the previous findings of the Article 78 filing were being appealed by the homeowners neighboring the building site. Four judges unanimously agreed that the case had no merit.

A further challenge to our ability to move forward with completing the purchase of the land and completing the building of the restaurant on the property was filed, this time over our site plan’s validity.  Once again, on Mar. 16, 2021, a presiding entity – this time the Village of Warwick Zoning Board of Appeals – sided with Yesterdays.

   We are all now facing a further filing, submitted Apr. 23 under Article 78 to challenge the Village’s decisions on zoning and how this land can be used. And I say, “we are all” very pointedly here. I have paid extensive legal fees myself to cover my representation in these matters.  But, since the Village of Warwick was named as a plaintiff in the above legal engagements that cite Article 78, this matter is costing Village taxpayers every time six households try to challenge having an empty, chain link fence wrapped lot being transformed into a restaurant that could serve the community.  

  The Article 78 complaints filed by six homeowners have resulted in $15,000 of legal fees for the Village, only to go up from here with a further Article 78 having been filed. That’s enough to pay the wages of a full time Village employee for 22 weeks or a part-time Village employee for 28 weeks or pave three blocks of Village roads. 

  Conversely, let’s look at the impact of Yesterdays opening a larger location at the proposed site: Currently, the property taxes for the empty lot are approximately $7,000/year, 13% of which goes to the Village. The estimated taxes on the proposed new Yesterdays on the same land would generate approximately $22,000/year in property taxes, again with 13% of those taxes going to the Village. The new restaurant will also generate an expected 20 new jobs – kitchen crew, wait and cleaning staff. Plus vendor-based jobs for locals, including landscapers to tend the lawn, plants, and plow the parking area, etc.

I have pledged to use local suppliers and labor to build the restaurant, and have already used Roe Brothers for the building materials for what has been built onsite while awaiting resolution of the above challenges to our ability to proceed.

   The empty lot on Elm St. is not public property, and it does not belong to the homeowners with adjacent homes. Six homeowners should not be able to overrule existing zoning regulations, eight judges, multiple village governing bodies, and the popular consensus amongst locals that they want a bigger venue for their family parties or just dinner out.  

    As a community, do we want ongoing legal fees around a chain link fence-wrapped empty lot? Or do we want a great place to gather with our families – which also happens to generate more jobs, support local businesses and entrepreneurs, and generate tax revenue for the Village?  

   Thank you for reading my side of the story, and for your patronage. I have loved every minute of living in Warwick since I moved here, and I look forward to providing an even better venue to generations of Warwick residents to enjoy.  

JOHN CHRISTISON

PROPRIETOR OF YESTERDAYS