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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. December 7, 2021:
Three sources familiar with the status of the French American School of New York sale of the Ridgeway Country Property in White Plains have confirmed closing of the property, including the City of White Plains and Farrell Building Company. Papers confirming it have been submitted to the County Clerk WPCNR was told.
Farrell Building Company has closed the sale of the land with the school. Closing means the school has received payment on the property, reportedly $16.5 Million, but that is not ben confirmed directly.
This does not mean the Gedney Association appeal asking the original plans for the property be stopped. To refresh your memory, the first issue Gedney Association appealed was the original school proposal failed to adhere to the covenant of denying use for institutions. The issue of the appeal was alleged Common Council failure to execute a thorough SEQRA environmental review.
At issue now is whether to proceed with both segments of the appeal, or just one.This came about because–
When the sale was announced one week ago via news release, it was assumed this made the present appeal case “moot” which is defined “as having little or no practical relevance, typically because the subject is too uncertain to allow a decision:”
The original appeal filed on the part of the Gedney Association, consisted of two separate legal arguments.
In the decision that approved the now defunct school institution project, Judge Joan Lefkowitz of New York State Supreme Court combined the two appeals into one decision.
The quandary over scheduling the showdown in the Appellate Court (which has not been decided by the Appellate Court) is to drop either the environmental suit.
The attorney who wrote the Environmental brief, Dan Seidel, feels that appeal is now “moot” (since the land has been sold on which the original environmental statement no matter how complete or incomplete it was), or proceed with both appeals
The suspense goes on.