Brighton neighbors file lawsuit against town, developers of Whole Foods project

Neighbors angered by the development process surrounding the proposed Whole Foods plaza in Brighton filed a lawsuit Friday alleging the developer has been allowed to seize control of a public trail at the site.

The Daniele Family Companies has proposed a retail plaza, including a Whole Foods supermarket, on property the company owns on Monroe Avenue near Clover Street.

A walking and biking path known as the Auburn Trail runs at the rear of the Daniele property.

In legal papers filed in state Supreme Court in Rochester, the Clover/Allen’s Creek Neighborhood Association said its members and others had long enjoyed use of the trail.

But the neighborhood group said the Daniele company has paved over a portion of the trail and blocked it with a padlocked gate.

The company owns the land on which the Auburn Trail runs, but the town of Brighton holds a recreational easement that gives the public a right to use the pathway, the legal papers say.

The suit accuses the company of "misappropriating" the land in violation of the easement and accuses the town government of allowing that misappropriation to occur.

“We’re enforcing our right as owners of that trail,” said Ben Werzinger of the neighborhood association.

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The group has actively advocated for neighbors during the three years that the town has been reviewing the Daniele proposal.

Many neighbors and businesses have come out in force against the project, saying they believe it’s too big of a project for the property and that it will bring too much additional traffic to the already-congested area.

The lawsuit separately accuses the town of failing to give proper public notice of the fact that the Whole Foods project and previously undisclosed studies related to it would be on the agenda for a Jan. 24 town board meeting.

That left residents scrambling to prepare for the meeting — especially those intending to comment on the new project documents that night.

Read: The legal complaint

Brighton Town Supervisor William Moehle said Saturday that the town has not been served with the legal papers and he could not comment on the suit.

He has said the town has fully complied with state environmental-review and open-meetings laws. "In fact, the town has gone far above what is required ... in conducting several public hearings to give the public the opportunity to express their opinions on the environmental impacts of the proposal," Moehle said.

"We respect and listen carefully to the opinions expressed on this or any other matter coming before the (town) board. No final decisions have been made yet by the board and we will take the input from the hearings into account when the time comes to make those decisions," he said.

Moehle said proper public notice was given before the Jan. 24 board meeting.

The board has scheduled another public hearing on the proposed project for 7 p.m. on Feb. 28 at Council Rock Primary School, 600 Grosvenor Road.

Under the Daniele company proposal, the section of the Auburn Trail at the rear of the project site would be given over to the development. The path would be relocated at the Danieles' expense and improved in various ways.

In their legal papers, though, the neighborhood association asserts that the town has no right to surrender the easement and allow the developer to use the property for its project without explicit permission from the state Legislature, based what is known as the public trust doctrine.

Werzinger said the lawsuit is one result of neighbors feeling ignored by town officials as they’ve brought up what they believe to be serious issues with the project.

“It’s sad we got to this point,” he said. He feels the town won’t take neighbors’ concerns into consideration when they vote on the project, which could be upcoming in the next several months, given that the review process is nearing its end.

“This is our last, last shot to actually modify the plan and have our comments heard. That’s why we decided to do it at this point,” he said.

STADDEO@Gannett.com

SORR@Gannett.com