New York State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Spinner issued a decision earlier this week regarding Syosset's Cerro Property, ordering the Town of Oyster Bay to issue a special use permit to the Taubman Company to build a 750,000 square foot mall on the property.

"The point has been reached where this court must act to resolve this matter, directing respondent [the Town of Oyster Bay] to issue a special use permit for a 750,000 square foot retail shopping mall; directing Petitioners' [Taubman Company] to submit a fully revised site plan for such a project; this court retaining jurisdiction over these proceedings," the decision states.

The Taubman Company was ordered to submit a site plan for the 750,000 square foot mall as the previous plan that was submitted to the town was for an 860,000 square foot mall.

The decision also directs all parties to appear and report to the Supreme Court on the progress made in complying with all of the decisions of the courts involving this matter at 90-day intervals.

The next step for the Town of Oyster Bay is an appeal, according to Town Supervisor John Venditto.

"As the supervisor and as a lawyer, I kept an open mind in anticipation of this decision. I was hopeful that we would prevail. I was also hopeful that if we did not prevail that the court would demonstrate that the Town of Oyster Bay did something wrong here and I still don't see that," said Venditto. "In fact, I am back to where I began many years ago with this - in my opinion, we have a court that is attempting to substitute its judgment for that of the dually elected Oyster Bay Town Board and that can't stand - not only in the present matter, but in the interest of how it can impact this town board and other town boards in New York with future decisions. I have an obligation to immediately appeal this decision."

According to information released by the Taubman Company, "if the town files an appeal, Taubman will immediately request that the Appellate Court expedite the appeal." They also estimate that the potential length of the appeal would range from seven to 12 months depending on the court's determination of the motion to expedite.

Morton Weber, attorney representing the Taubman Company, welcomes the ruling.

"The Court has now definitively ruled that there is no legal basis for the Town to further delay the mall," said Weber. "We're very pleased with the judge's ruling and are very proud of our litigation team of Sy Gruza and Garret Gray. Taubman is prepared to begin construction on the Mall at Oyster Bay pending the Town complying with the Court's decision."

The Cerro Wire Coalition remains committed to the fight against the mall. "We are still united as the coalition and we are still going forward in opposition to the mall project," said Todd Fabricant, chairman of the Cerro Wire Coalition. "We have proposed and will continue to stay focused on alternative development for that property."

In 2001, local civic associations, including the Birchwood Civic Association, were granted intervenor status in this lawsuit by state Supreme Court Justice James M. Catterson. In his recent decision, Judge Spinner states that "petitioners [the Taubman Company] have consistently taken the position throughout these actions that said civic associations are merely a 'front' for Simon Properties, the owner of two competing shopping malls in the region, that Simon Properties is funding said opposition, and that the members of these associations are not homeowners immediately adjacent to or abutting the parcel. While taking no position on the other matters, the court finds the participation of these intervenors to be both curious and unusual, in that they are clearly not within the zone of interest, and therefore lack standing to participate herein, but same having not been appealed, their inclusion remains the law of the case. In the instant proceeding, intervenors have contributed nothing additional to the arguments herein other than the parroting of some of respondent's [Town of Oyster Bay's] positions..."

In an attempt to contact Justice Spinner for comment regarding the language in the decision concerning the local civics, Cheryl Zimmer, court spokesperson for the Suffolk County Courts, 10th district, said, "since this matter is pending, we can't comment at this time."

"As a civic leader, it is unfortunate to think that as residents we would not have a say in the community that we raise our children in and that a sitting judge is going to dispel the fact that residents have a right to really care about what goes on in their community," said Fabricant. "He should be more in touch with his location since several of the affected civic groups are very much adjacent to the property. It is a shame that the judge accused civic-minded individuals of being a front for the Simon Corporation. It has been public knowledge for years that Simon has been one of many benefactors and supporters throughout the years."

Craig Snyder, president of the Birchwood Civic Association, said that the BCA will continue to fight on behalf of the community against the mall.

"Judge Spinner's comments regarding the BCA are not supported by fact or law, and are certainly indicative of the flawed and questionable reasoning which permeate throughout this decision," said Snyder. "Certainly, our community, which would be in the shadow of the proposed mall and would be significantly and adversely impacted by same, has the standing, right, and obligation to advocate on behalf of our community's interests. This mall would constitute a direct threat to our quality of life. This is yet another stage in our ongoing 13-year battle against construction of the mall."

"It would be inappropriate for us to offer comment on any aspect of the judge's ruling," said Gary Lewi, a spokesman for the Mall at Oyster Bay. "The language is quite clear and the reader can come to his or her own conclusion. Suffice to say, this project will move ahead based on the law and the merits of the case brought before, and deliberated by, the court."

Howard Avrutine, co-counsel for intervening civic associations, echoed the sentiments of the civic leaders. "The civic associations think that this decision is completely in error and we are going to pursue our Appellate right and we are going to fight this decision. We believe the town was right all along and their decision was based on the record," he said.

According to the Taubman Company, depending on the appeals process, they hope to open the Mall at Oyster, which is set to be anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Barney's New York, in the fall of 2010.

To read the full decision, click here.