BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Step By Step Inc. has appealed a St. Lawrence County judge's decision dismissing its lawsuit over a proposed supportive housing project at 100 Ford St. in Ogdensburg.

The nonprofit filed a brief with the Appellate Division, Third Department, arguing the city's planning board failed to act on its site plan application within the deadline required by city code. The organization says, because of that, the project should have been approved automatically.

The appeal follows a July decision by St. Lawrence County Supreme Court Judge Mary Farley, who dismissed the Article 78 lawsuit after finding the case was filed too early.

Farley ruled the city had not made a final decision on the application and said Step By Step had not shown it submitted a complete application. She said the city should continue reviewing the project after a complete application is filed. 

She said any challenge to the city's zoning interpretation could come later if the project is denied.

Step By Step disagrees. 

In its appeal, the nonprofit says the city treated the application as complete by sending it to the planning board for action and never telling the organization within the required time that anything was missing.

The proposed project would replace a vacant commercial building at 100 Ford St. with two buildings providing housing and services for people with mental illness. One building would have 20 studio apartments licensed by the New York State Office of Mental Health. The second would have 14 short-term beds for people needing psychiatric stabilization and hospital-diversion services.

The dispute centers on an April 7, 2026 meeting where instead of approving or denying the application, the planning board voted to table the project and ask the Zoning Board of Appeals for an opinion on whether the development qualified as a nonprofit service organization under the city's zoning law.

In the filing, Step By Step says the planning board did not have the authority to do that. The organization says city code required the board to approve the project, deny it or approve it with conditions within 45 days. Since none of those actions happened, the appeal argues the application was approved by operation of law. That argument failed at the county level, but the organization is hoping to find a different result in appellate court.

The appeal also challenges the city's interpretation of the zoning code. City officials determined the project did not qualify as a permitted nonprofit service organization in the Residential/Business Mixed Use district. Step By Step says that interpretation adds restrictions that do not exist in the city code and improperly excludes its mental health housing project.

The brief also points to a 2016 federal court case involving Step By Step and the City of Ogdensburg, which paints a picture of discriminatory intent.

In that case, a federal judge ordered the city to approve a previous housing proposal after finding city officials acted with discriminatory intent. 

The nonprofit argues similar public opposition and actions by city officials provide important background in the current case.

Step By Step is asking the appellate court to reverse Farley's decision, rule the project was approved automatically, order the city to issue a certificate of approval and invalidate the Planning Board's referral to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The City of Ogdensburg will have an opportunity to file its response before the Third Department hears the appeal, but typically does not comment on the legal proceedings.

Although not directly related to the lawsuit, the project has faced opposition from the start.

In April the city held a public hearing regarding a moratorium that would have officially stalled the project for an entire year.  While the moratorium itself called for a blanket pause on projects, it appears Step By Step’s plans were the catalyst based on comments from the public and council.

In the end, the council voted against the moratorium in a split vote.

Prior to dealing with issues at the Main Street property, it appears Step by Step had been considering using the long-closed St. Marguerite D’Youville Academy, but that deal fell through following public pushback as well.

St. Mary’s Church withdrew a request to rezone the Gates Street property.

Church leaders had hoped to rezone from an Adaptive Reuse District to Moderate-Density Residential to make the site easier to sell.

The planning board recommended the change 5‑0 in early January, but members of the public responded with harsh criticism about the rezoning, specifically in regards to rumors that the property was being considered as an option for a housing project proposed by Step By Step Inc.

 The rezoning ordinance had been tabled in late January pending guidance from the city’s Board of Ethics, as five of the seven councilors are members of the Catholic Church, which owns the property.

The ethics board ruled that the council could indeed vote on the matter, however that point is currently moot, unless a request comes before the council again in the future.

The decision to pull the zoning request came from the public's reaction.

Rev. Joseph Morgan, rector of St. Mary’s, clarified the church’s position in a letter to council

“It appears that misinformation and discriminatory attitudes have swayed the reception of this request,” Morgan wrote.