Dismissed board members point to votes against Costco plan
But county official notes perceived issues with decisions by 2 members, says leaving was their own decision
Two members of the Albany County Planning Board were suddenly dismissed from their positions earlier this month, leading to speculation about whether it is related to the board previously recommending against a Costco being built in the Pine Bush.
Dominic Rigosu, the Planning Board chair and a member for 13 years, and Enzo Sofia found out that the Albany County Legislature was moving to dismiss them from their positions at the end of last month. Some residents and the now-former board members are speculating that the dismissal may be retaliation for their strong opposition to the planned development of a 160,000-square-foot Costco in the historically Black Rapp Road neighborhood.
“My take of why myself and Enzo were let go is because of the Costco case. There’s monetary value with the Costco case,” Rigosu said. “The Costco case had a long history in the county, it was in front of us for two months, and during that time I received numerous calls from county legislators regarding this case.”
The Costco project, introduced by Pyramid, Inc., in 2019, was debated in Guilderland, as well as before the Albany County Planning Board, with citizens and nearby businesses filing a lawsuit against the project proposal. State Supreme Court Judge Peter Lynch ruled in favor of the citizens last November, criticizing Pyramid and noting multiple problems with the way the town planning board followed the state Environmental Quality Review Act, which requires local and state governments to consider the environmental impacts of development proposals.
However, Pyramid (which owns nearby Crossgates Mall) and the town of Guilderland won an appeal over the summer that ruled the town Planning Board’s review was adequate and overturned Lynch’s decision. The national warehouse chain still must get zoning and planning board
final approvals from Guilderland to proceed.
Rigosu said that the day after the 5-0 county Planning Board vote recommending against the project in May 2019, which he and Sofia pushed, all the board members received an email from the legislature’s office asking for their names, addresses and when they were appointed to the board. Rigosu said that hasn’t happened after a vote before.
“At that point we were all under the assumption that we were getting kicked off because of our decision on the Costco case,” he said.
Sofia said he doesn’t think the Costco vote is the only reason they were dismissed, pointing out that the other members who voted against the project have not been dismissed. There is also the fact that the Costco vote happened more than two years before they found out about their dismissals.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Sofia, who is a civil structural engineer. “We’re more technical people, we’re not looking at the political side. They’re trying to replace us with the people more politically minded to say, ‘Yes, sir.’”
The pair learned of their imminent dismissal when they received a call from County Legislator Mark Grimm, who was confused when he saw the plan in an agenda item ahead of a September meeting.
“It wasn’t handled properly, no reason has been given, and that’s what I think is inappropriate,” Grimm said.
Upon hearing the news from Grimm, Rigosu and Sofia decided to resign from their positions instead, reasoning that it was “more ethical,” Rigosu said.
Albany County Legislature Chairman Andrew Joyce says that the Costco vote has nothing to do with the decision to remove Rigosu and Sofia from the board.
“There’s a mistaken impression out there that we’re replacing these two guys because of the (Costco) vote that they did in 2019, which could not be any farther from the truth,” Joyce told the Times Union. “There have been issues with some of the decisions they’ve made over the course of several years … and kind of acted on their own accord.”
Joyce brought up Rigosu and Sofia’s opposition to a proposed yearlong moratorium on development in Bethlehem, which Joyce supported. Rigosu said they opposed the moratorium because it would have halted an affordable housing project that had been in the works in Bethlehem (as well as any other affordable housing project).
Legislator Matt Peter also alleged in a meeting that he’s received complaints from constituents about the pair but did not offer details.
Grimm was one of numerous political players across both aisles, as well as residents, who have been vocal in County Legislature meetings this month about their concerns regarding the decision, and wanting clarification over what happened.
“What they did is they held the principle of protecting the Pine Bush,” Lynne Jackson, a longtime volunteer with Save the Pine Bush, said during a County Legislature meeting last week. “People should not be replaced on the Planning Board because of their vote.”
After numerous complaints from meeting attendees, Joyce agreed to take the issue to the legislature’s personnel committee. The meeting is scheduled for Oct. 28.
“As a county Planning Board, we only provide recommendations to the local municipality,” Rigosu said. “If they don’t like our recommendations … they could easily override us. It’s sad that it would come down to this.”