Nonprofit wins suit against Vestal

Candlehouse gets just $4,700 in damages

Candlehouse Teen Challenge tried to open a rehabilitation facility in 2009 for women recovering from addiction and emotional disorders on Mirador Drive, a residential Vestal neighborhood. / File Photo

A jury sided with a religious group in a federal lawsuit that clears the path for opening a rehabilitation facility in a Town of Vestal neighborhood.

After a seven-day trial, the verdict reached Tuesday night agreed with Candlehouse Teen Challenge, a Christian nonprofit group contending town officials improperly denied its request to open the Mirador Drive facility for 12 women recovering from addiction and emotional disorders.

While Candlehouse had been seeking about $1 million from the town, the jury awarded just $4,700 in legal damages, court records show.

Addressing the verdict, Richard Mecklenborg, director of Candlehouse, said he plans to open the rehabilitation facility within a year. He would not discuss details about the women who would be living at the 400-401 Mirador Drive property, or the amount of legal damages.

“We are going to resume our Christian family activities for restoring women, which is our primary mission,” he said.

The U.S. District Court, Northern District, lawsuit was filed in January 2011, with Candlehouse contending Vestal violated federal anti-discrimination laws, including those protecting disabled people.

Vestal countered it denied the facility based on municipal zoning codes, which limit the number of non-family members living together in the Mirador Drive neighborhood to five.

Town Supervisor John Schaffer referred questions about the verdict to town attorney David Berger, who issued a written statement.

“The facts and evidence at issue were vigorously debated by both sides,” Berger stated. He did not respond to written questions about the amount of legal damages and whether the town plans to appeal the verdict.

Prior to the trial, the town spent nearly $143,000 on legal costs connected to the lawsuit, including attorney fees. Laura McKane, town comptroller, did not respond to written questions about the total legal costs following the trial.The jury — composed of seven women and one man — concluded Candlehouse sufficiently proved town officials discriminated against women with disabilities or handicaps, which referred to their addictions to drugs or alcohol under this lawsuit, court documents .   READ MORE HERE

Vestal appealing UHSH tax exemption decision

VESTAL — Town officials are appealing a Broome County court’s decision that some experts say could have far-reaching implications on how landlords and nonprofits pursue property tax exemptions.

In July, Supreme Court Justice Robert Mulvey granted United Health Services Hospitals Inc. a real property tax exemption on the value of its multimillion dollar walk-in clinic building at 4417 Vestal Parkway East.

Mulvey concluded a lease agreement between the nonprofit health care organization and a private company, FGR Vestal LLC, supported awarding the tax exemption from a $5.8 million assessment, court documents show.

David Berger, Vestal town attorney, filed a notice of appeal on Sept. 4. He reiterated the town’s position that the lease agreement was insufficient to support granting an exemption among other issues.

“We’re not satisfied with the decision,” Berger said, declining to discuss further details.

Under the lease, UHSH owns the building and FGR owns the land. Mulvey ruled the land would remain taxable based on its $2.4 million assessment.

Michael West, an attorney for the New York Council of Nonprofits, said the ruling could be used as a legal precedent by other for-profit companies.

“You have hundreds and even thousands of landlords who are paying property taxes, despite the fact that they are renting to nonprofits,” West said. “Why wouldn’t they pursue a similar agreement?”

Officials with UHSH, including their attorney Paul Sheppard, of Hinman, Howard & Kattell, would not comment on the appeal. George Akel, a principle of FGR, also declined to comment on the matter.

Paul Battaglia, a Buffalo-based attorney and 20-year adjunct professor specializing in tax law at SUNY Buffalo Law School, said it appears the town is contending the exemption is invalid because UHSH doesn’t own the land, despite its ownership of the building.

Essentially, similar tax exemptions in New York are generally only granted when nonprofits own the land, regardless of other circumstances.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20130919/NEWS01/309190052/Vestal-appealing-UHSH-tax-exemption-decision?nclick_check=1