By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg City Council will again meet with its attorney to discuss a lawsuit filed by Step by Step Inc.

The council met with Attorney Andrew Silver Tuesday to discuss the suit in executive session during a special meeting.

A special meeting has also been called for Sept. 14.

Mayor William Nelson says that meeting will also focus on the lawsuit. He said the council will meet privately with Silver and no action is expected.

Although the meeting is open to the public the discussion will not take place publicly.

Step by Step is suing the city of Ogdensburg in federal court, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act when City Council denied the organization’s request to rezone the former Lincoln School.

The organization provides support services for mental health patients.

Mayor Nelson offered the only vote in favor of the zoning change. Councilor Jennifer Stevenson abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest.

Step by Step bought the former school at 1515 Knox St. in September and petitioned city lawmakers to rezone the parcel from single family residential to a planned development district.

Step by Step’s request drew public outcry from area residents who feared the rezoning would lead to reduced property values and change the atmosphere of the neighborhood.

“The City of Ogdensburg ignored its own laws and procedures governing rezoning applications in order to appease the discriminatory viewpoints of members of the community when it decided to deny Step by Step’s application,” according to attorney Carlo A. C. de Oliveria, who is representing the plaintiffs. “During the application process, city residents opposing Step by Step’s application referred to Step by Step’s patients as ‘these people,’ ‘mentals’ and ‘sex offenders,’ while City Council members spoke of the need to protect the community from PDD applications such as the one filed by Step by Step.”

De Oliveria says Step by Step fulfilled all requirements to get the building zoned as PDD that are set forth by city law.

“It was disheartening to see that the council had no intention of considering the merits of Step by Step’s application but instead focused on Step by Step’s patients,” Bayne said in the prepared statement. “The council meetings turned into a public lynching of Step by Step and its patients … there was no hope.”

De Oliveria says his client plans to seek a preliminary injunction ordering the city to approve the application. He says they will seek the order on the grounds that Step by Step patients “have suffered and will continue to be irreparably harmed if Step by Step is not permitted to provide housing services to its members at 1515 Knox St.”