By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
COEYMANS — Long Energy filed suit against the town and joint planning/zoning board of appeals after a proposal to build a bulk fuel storage facility failed to get approval and ended in a 3-3 tie.
The Article 78 — a suit against a municipality — was filed May 26 by Marebo LLC, which owns Long Energy, in Albany County Supreme Court.
Named in the suit are the Coeymans town board; Robert Nolan, chairman of the planning/zoning board of appeals, Town Supervisor George McHugh; Town Clerk Candace McHugh; and Bernard Teriele and Joseph Cinque, member and alternate member of the planning/zoning board of appeals, respectively.
Other members of the joint board, including Patricia Grogan, Nathan Boomer, Melissa Stanton, Albert Collins and James Pietropaoli, were not named in the suit.
The project, which has been in the works since last summer, seeks to build a bulk fuel storage facility on five acres on Route 101. The site would include two fuel tanks with a capacity of 30,000 gallons each.
The planning/zoning board of appeals voted on the project April 26, leading to a tie vote.
Long Energy filed suit one month later.
“Ideally, the goal is to have the court, because of the egregious behavior shown by the planning board/zoning board and some of the members, to actually remand it for them to approve the project, or in the alternative, to give some more direction to make a decision,” attorney Beth Carey, general counsel for Long Energy, said.
In the Article 78 filed with the court, the claimant alleged the project was met with roadblocks throughout the review process because Robert Nolan, chairman of the planning/zoning board of appeals, owns a competing business in town.
“This matter involves a brazen and concerted effort by a select group of Town of Coeymans officials, who have systematically abused their authority and attempted the kill the project, for the benefit of their own personal business and financial interests,” according to the Article 78. “Marebo is an affiliate of Long Oil Heat, Inc., d/b/a Long Energy, which would operate the project and is a direct competitor of Town of Coeymans Planning Board Chairman… Robert Nolan.”
Nolan did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Town Supervisor George McHugh, who is also named in the suit, said the town acted legally and properly in the review process.
“The town looks forward to responding to Marebo, LLC’s petition at the appropriate time,” McHugh said in a statement. “We are confident that the facts will establish that the planning board acted lawfully at all times during the review of this special-use permit application.”
“As with any application, a project must demonstrate that it is in harmony with the town’s planning and zoning regulations,” McHugh continued. “We trust that the propaganda and narrative advanced by the applicant will be dispelled as the judicial process plays out. The Town of Coeymans remains a strong partner with the business community, as demonstrated by the significant business opportunities and industrial growth the town has enjoyed in recent years.”
Long said his company has received strong support from the community and submitted a petition urging the town to approve the project, signed by 243 residents.
“The citizens of the town are in support of this,” Long said. “We haven’t had any negative feedback from anybody.”
The company currently delivers fuel to its customers in the Coeymans area from existing facilities in Ghent and Duanesberg.
“We think it’s a shame that this even went this far,” Long said. “It’s really just a propane bulk storage plant — there’s dozens of them around the area. We are not new to the area, we are not a competitor coming to the area to take anything over. This is strictly an operational action that we are trying to do. The roadblocks have been incredible. We have never seen anything like this before.”
The Article 78 is currently before the Albany County Supreme Court.
