"There seems to be a certain personal animus, some kind of antagonism underlying this whole thing."

Those were the words of J. Phillip Zand, the attorney representing Mr. and Mrs. Kuwayama in the eminent domain proceeding that the Ellenville Journal reported on last week, when asked how he would characterize negotiations with the Village of Ellenville.

Mr. Zand knows something about the use of eminent domain. As attorney for the Village of New Paltz for 31 years Mr. Zand has been on the "other side" of the negotiating table many times. But he claimed that, in his experience, such proceedings, "have never been contested with the same vigor that this case will be."

The case, which involves the parcel of land located to the west of the building located at 88 Canal Street in Ellenville, NY, has been the subject of negotiations for the past several years. Feeling as though they had no other options and intent on following through with the "pocket park" known as Resnick Park which sits in a significant portion of the Kuwayama's land, the village board felt that it had to move to the eminent domain proceeding.

In an effort to further the proceeding, the board met on Friday, January 19 for the sole purpose of discussing what other measures the municipality could employ to regain the property lost in the Kuwayama sale.

The board not only passed a resolution to continue with the eminent domain proceeding but also authorized Village of Ellenville attorney Phil Cataldi to explore means of recovering the property through "mutual mistake".

Loosely, what this means is that the village might explore the avenue of showing that the Village of Ellenville was unaware that the 40-foot strip of land west of the building at 88 Canal Street was included in the building's sale and that the Kuwayamas were also unaware of that fact. Therefore, since the village was mistaken about exactly what it was selling and the Kuwayamas were mistaken about were they were buying, the sales contract would be annulled.

However, the Kuwayamas are adamant that they knew exactly what they were purchasing at the time of the sale. Furthermore, they claim that the parking area was integral to their purchasing of the building. Mr. Zand stated, "This parking lot is an integral part of the property. It is necessary for what he [Kuwayama] is doing to have parking adjacent to the building."

Zand went on to say that the village is, "making this up as they go along. They're shopping around and they don't know what they want…Whether they [Village of Ellenville] meant to sell it or not, that's what was sold to them [the Kuwayamas]".

The Journal, despite several attempts, was unable to speak to the village's attorney as of press time.

If the village continues with the eminent domain proceeding, Zand has said that he will argue whether or not there is sufficient public need for the condemnation of the property. The issue of public need seems important as most uses of eminent domain are used to complete public projects on a larger scale, i.e. roads, water and sewer, and public buildings.

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