ANSONIA — An appellate court is considering whether to dismiss a lawsuit opposing the process by which an Olson Drive property was sold to a private developer.
If the court follows through, it will be the second time the claim has been tossed.
Resident Matt McGowan filed a lawsuit against the city in June 2022 arguing Mayor David Cassetti’s administration did not follow proper procedures on the state or local levels when the city purchased land on Olson Drive from the Ansonia Housing Authority and then sold it to a company owned by developer John Guedes.
McGowan was represented by Tom Egan, an Ansonia attorney now seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit in December 2022. The court said the city followed the proper procedure when it made an “8 – 24” referral to the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission for the purchase of Olson Drive from the Ansonia Housing Authority in September 2019.
McGowan appealed the decision, and the appeal is now pending in the state’s appellate court system.
On June 20 the appellate court issued an order telling both sides in the dispute — McGowan and the city — to submit written statements arguing why the lawsuit should not be dismissed.
The motion filed by the court states the dispute could be “moot because there is no longer any practical relief that can be afforded where the property that is the subject of the plaintiff’s writ of mandamus has been sold to a third party.“
The court’s motion is a reference to the fact that the Olson Drive property is now owned by Guedes, who received approvals from the city to build a private sports complex that will house a few businesses and serve as the home field for the Ole Soccer Club.
Guedes purchased the property in August 2022, three months after McGowan filed his first court action.
In a written document objecting to the court’s motion to dismiss the appeal, Egan (McGowan’s lawyer) argued that the case was initially tossed due to the “8 – 24” referral — but the lower court ignored other procedural flaws in the Olson Drive acquisition and sale process. The alleged violation of regulations should have rendered the sale null, Egan argued.
“The failure to follow local ordinances renders any sale a nullity and therefore makes this matter ripe for adjudication and therefore the court still has subject matter jurisdiction,” Egan wrote in his submission to the court.
However, Barbara M. Schellenberg, an attorney representing the city, argues that McGowan’s appeal should be tossed because there’s no “practical relief” for McGowan since the land was sold.
Schellenberg compares McGowan’s appeal to a 2004 appellate case — Champagne v. Champagne, a divorce case in which there was an argument over the method used to sell a house.
In that case, the court “effectively held that the sale could not be unwound to address the manner in which the sale had taken place.“
When the appellate court will take its next action isn’t known, but people can sign up for updates on the case by clicking this link.
The Olson Drive property across from the Naugatuck River was once home to the federally subsidized Riverside Apartments.
(Note: the original version of this article used the wrong first name for Tom Egan)
