Yorktown, winery headed back to court

YORKTOWN - Attorneys for the town and the Winery at St. George will be back in court next week as the town seeks to ban the embattled former church from hosting commercial events.

The two sides remain at odds two months after a federal judge threw out winery owner Tom DeChiaro's $30 million lawsuit against Yorktown and several officials alleging a pattern of corruption and discriminatory treatment. DeChiaro quickly filed an appeal, then later indicated he planned to withdraw it.

But with the town's recent efforts to stop the "open houses" and fundraisers the Mohegan Lake winery has hosted since the fall, DeChiaro's attorney, Andrew J. Campanelli, said he is ready to pursue the appeal once more.

DeChiaro said hostilities between the two sides were renewed when the town hired special counsel in early June to seek a restraining order against him. He said he thinks that was in response to the local political action committee he formed the month before.

"It apparently is a retaliatory move, and they're worried about the PAC," he said. "That's the way I feel."

Attorneys for Yorktown say the only motivation is to keep the winery from operating in violation of local laws.

The town obtained a temporary restraining order a week ago that bars DeChiaro from hosting commercial events with more than 25 people. That will remain in place until the sides meet Wednesday in state Supreme Court in White Plains.

"The issue is that the operator of the winery has been having events at the winery that conflict with the zoning of the property," said Daniel Pozin, a White Plains attorney representing the town. "He's gotten notice from the building department that he's not to have these events, and he continues to have them."

Violating a court injunction would carry heftier penalties for DeChiaro than simply violating town codes, Pozin said.

Long at issue is Yorktown's insistence that DeChiaro apply to rezone his property from residential to commercial. DeChiaro now says he plans to file an application early next month.