By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – An attorney for Step By Step has issued a letter to Mayor William Nelson stating that denial of its application to rezone the former Lincoln School would constitute a violation of state and federal laws.

Ogdensburg City Council is expected to act on the proposed zoning change at the former Lincoln School tonight (May 28) at 8 p.m. at City Hall.

The building is located at 1515 Knox St. and is currently zoned as single family residential. The application would change that designation to planned development district and allow the developer to provide outpatient mental health services at the facility.

In a letter issued May 27, attorney Carlo A.C. de Oliveria of Cooper Erving 7 Savage LLP accuses the city of discriminatory treatment of the non-profit in its handling of a zoning change proposal.

“The questions raised by members of this Council, residents and county and city officials about Step by Step's patients are irrelevant to any zoning concern. The fears and prejudices expressed by members of the community cannot cause the City Council to impose more stringent requirements on Step by Step than those applicable to other PDD applicants,” the letter says.

De Oliveria says the city and county have also departed from their normal procedures while in the handling of Step By Step’s proposal.

“Both the St. Lawrence County and the City Planning Boards ignored the City's Code criteria for evaluating a PDD application when making their recommendations to disapprove Step by Step's application.

This Council has departed from its normal procedure for review and approval of a PDD application. City councilors, who are elected to ensure that the laws of the City of Ogdensburg are followed, have publicly advocated a different treatment with respect to Step by Step's application. Although Step by Step's application was timely and properly filed, members of this Council proposed to change the rules of the game applicable to Step by Step's application.

This Council's willingness to change the rules applicable to Step by Step has affected the way other officials evaluated Step by Step's application and further fueled the public's perception that Step by Step poses a threat to its neighbors,” De Oliveria said in the letter.

De Oliveria says the city will be breaking state and federal laws if it denies the PDD application for the reasons cited by the county and city planning boards.

“If the City of Ogdensburg persists in this course of action and denies Step by Step's PDD application, we believe such action would not only be ultra vires (outside its authority), it would be in violation of the FHA, Title II of the ADA, the New York State of Human Rights Law as well as New York and Federal common law and statutory provisions relating to land use and zoning. For the foregoing reason, I urge the Council to disregard the irrational fears and prejudices of some of the City's residents, the arbitrary and capricious recommendations of the County and City Planning Boards, and to approve Step by Step's PDD application.”

Mayor Nelson could not be reached for comment.

The full letter can be read at http://northcountrynow.com/webfm_send/65