Restraining order against Oyster Bay over Cerro Wire extended

A restraining order prohibiting the Town of Oyster Bay from selling its public works complex to a group that opposes construction of an upscale mall on the adjacent property has been extended until July 10.

The order issued last week by State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Farneti in Riverhead was to last until a hearing today. But the hearing has been rescheduled to July 10 and the order continued until then.

The extended order still will have no practical impact on the planned sale or the lawsuit filed by Taubman Centers Inc. to try to block the sale of the 54-acre complex for $32.5 million to Oyster Bay Realty LLC.

Taubman owns the adjacent former Cerro Wire property and has tried to build a mall there for 18 years.

The lawsuit filed last week accuses the town of failing to carry out its fiduciary responsibility by maximizing the price for the property. Taubman claims the town should have held a formal bidding process with proper notification or listed the property for sale with a real estate broker and then accepted the best offer, which the company says would have been made by Taubman.

Meanwhile, there is another temporary restraining order blocking the town from moving ahead with a referendum on the sale.

On Monday, residents opposed to the mall filed a lawsuit to block the referendum, saying some signatures on a petition seeking the vote are invalid and were fraudulently obtained.
Justice Dana Winslow in State Supreme Court in Mineola issued a temporary restraining order stopping the town and Nassau County Board of Elections from proceeding with a referendum before another hearing July 9.

That restraining order is not expected to impact the referendum process or sale of the property, either. The town already had asked the board of elections to schedule the referendum on the sale of its public works complex for Aug. 20, and the legal challenges are expected to be settled by then.