Leija Blew It!

In a stupendous blunder the Knapp's lawyer Andrew Leija made a statement at Friday's hearing that will prevent their appraiser from giving them more money for their farm.

Frank Hogg (draft)
1/21/02

Keep in mind four things.

What happened?

The purpose of the commercial rezone was to make the property more valuable so the Knapp's could get more money from the Farmland Protection Program. They decided to do it by getting it rezoned commercial but the town put in a stipulation that prevented it from being used as commercial. Therefore the farm has no real commercial value. A brick is not a boat no matter what you call it, it ain't gonna float. Just calling it commercial and at the same time preventing it from being used as commercial does not increase its value. Therefore the rezone was a fraud. (Besides their appraiser did not say that it had to be rezoned, they did that on their own.) We knew it wouldn't be worth more and last year we mentioned it here. BUT we were not going to make an issue of it IF the Knapp's just used the Department of State's letter and had the appraiser value it as if it were commercial. We told them to do that in this letter here. BUT they didn't take our advice and forced this lawsuit. Then their lawyer, Andrew Leija made the mistake of bringing the subject up at the hearing last Friday by reading a section of Hudson's (the appraiser) letter that addresses this and the judge made the point about what this rezone really is. Leija blew it. Now there is no way any appraiser can value the Knapp's farm as commercial. It is in the open and was put their by their own lawyer. I doubt the Knapp's could sue Leija because he just revealed the truth in open court but they might try.

When Leija made his comment I almost choked trying to hold back my laughter. What a mistake, why did he do it. I've been talking to several people over the weekend trying to figure out what happened. The nearest we can guess is that Leija was so focused on other areas of the lawsuit that he didn't think this aspect of it through. He didn't realize the implications of what he was saying when he made that comment. The judge however jumped on it so fast it surprised Leija and he spent several minutes floundering trying to recover. It was one of those moments in time when an event happens that completely changes the course of history. Just a little history in this case but a moment just the same.

In other areas the judge was very active asking both Leija and Casullo (standing in for Don Armstrong) many questions. He seemed to be trying to make sure he understood their position perhaps making sure he wasn't missing anything.

But this case is over. If the judge were to let the rezone stand (and he won't) the appraiser could not give an inflated value because of the condition put in by the town. Not when their lawyer brought it up in open court. His ethics would prevent that and his desire to keep his license. Besides we would appeal a decision that went against us.

Other areas that you might find interesting.

Another angle. . . wide angle.

Suppose this was all a ruse. Armstrong and Leija should have known this wouldn’t work. They knew we would sue over it so perhaps they planned it all along. After all they are not stupid. Now they can come back to the town and say they need it rezoned commercial without any encumbrances for Hudson. They 'tried'to put in protection that 'we'wanted but failed so now they 'have'to do it clean and we can 'trust'the Knapp's to put it in Farmland Protection. We'll just take their word for it. BUT I have been wondering about a few details that don't fit the puzzle.

Why sub-divide at all?

Part of the Knapp's overall plan is to rezone and then sub-divide the farm into three parcels. One division seems to be logical as it separates the farm where the land crosses Rt 81. But the other line is 281. There is a small lot next to Del Knapp's home (the father) that could easily be considered commercial as it borders 281 so why not include it and get the farmland protection money for that too? Perhaps the reason is that the 'buyer'for the 82 acres does not want that little piece or perhaps Paul didn't want to sell that piece next to his father. Curious isn't it? But why sub-divide at all? It is not necessary for the rezone. No single piece of property has to be zoned the same throughout. If you look at the zone map in the town hall you will see many have more than one zone. If the goal is to rezone it commercial and then sell it to someone then the current set of facts meets those criteria.

Now it gets really interesting. We are very sure that the judge will find in our favor; probably have the decision by April. If the Knapp's wanted to pursue this they would come back to the town in May or June with a new rezone request. Because it is new and different, no Farmland Protection guarantee, it would require public hearings. This will take it into summer with a vote late summer or fall. We would file another article 78 lawsuit because rezoning those 82 acres is illegal for numerous reasons and that lawsuit would delay it into winter or further. This means that it would still be up in the air and a hot issue for the next town board election in 2003. The people up for re-election are Betty Pitman for supervisor, Peter Knapp and Kate Edinger for town board. Assuming all would want those positions. However the Republicans have been grooming someone for their choice for supervisor so it is unlikely that Pitman would have the Republican endorsement that she had last time. Any Republican candidate for local office has a 200 to 100 vote advantage out of the box. In order for Pitman to have a chance at re-election she would have to get support from a segment of the town that does NOT want this re-zone while holding on to support from her base. What a dilemma! Therefore if she does support a full rezone she would be throwing away her chance of re-election.

Final thoughts.

All this is just speculation and a clear sigh that I have way too much free time on my hands. If Judge Rumsey does find in our behalf he could write his decision in such a way that would prevent another rezone attempt by the Knapp's. I have to think he is getting tired of seeing Preble on his doorstep so often.

At this point the only reasonable course for the Knapp's is to go ahead with their application for Farmland Protection, take the money their farm is actually worth and get on with their lives.

The only way the new administration can hope to bring the town together is to treat every citizen the same and fairly.

Let the Knapp rezone fiasco be the last of the special treatment for the privileged few.

Frank Hogg
1/21/02