Cortlandt town officials have drawn the blueprint for how they want to convert into apartments, shops and offices the current contractor yards that line Route 9 north of Annsville Circle.

However, it appears they aren’t waiting for that conversion to happen. Instead, lawsuits against several property owners filed by town attorneys in Westchester County court are demanding that the existing businesses be cleared away, claiming they are operating illegally.

“They’re all out of compliance even before the new zoning,” said Cortlandt Town Attorney Thomas Wood. “None of these guys have any approvals.”

Cortlandt officials began the process to redevelop the area in 2022, rezoning the existing “Highway Commercial” zone to a new Annsville Waterfront Enhancement District (AWE) of mixed-use development. The rezoning now allows housing, retail and commercial development in four zones.

After the rezoning was in place, Cortlandt assembled a $40 million infrastructure package to redesign the Annsville traffic circle, eliminate the constant flooding it suffers, and build a new sewer system in the Annsville and Continental Village area.

The new sewer district will run from Annsville Circle and Table 9 restaurant north to the “rock cut” on Old Albany Post Road, just north of  Cortlandt Colonial restaurant.

“For Sale” signs are posted on several of the properties along the Route 9 corridor just north of Table 9. 

Town Sues, Property Owners Respond

Town of Cortlandt attorneys filed lawsuits against four properties this July, claiming the businesses that operated there were violating the town’s zoning codes.

In the lawsuit, the attorneys state that the new Annsville Waterfront Enhancement District calls for commercial and water-dependent and water-enhanced business uses, development of residential uses including affordable housing, and encourages “… high-quality development, fitting for this important gateway to the Town.”

The lawsuits were filed against George Liaskos, GLPT Land Corp., ASF Construction and Excavation Corp. and DECO Land Holding Corp. Liaskos owns three parcels on Old Albany Post Road. ASF owns 37 Roa Hook Road and its CEO is named as Andre M. Renha-Fernandes. Deco Land owns a property on Roa Hook Road and its CEO is Richard J. DeCola.

ASF is a major concrete contractor in the tri-state area with locations in Stamford, Conn. and two sites in Peekskill – 37 Roa Hook Road and 1223 Park St. DECO is a mining company producing sand and gravel.

There are 40 parcels in the district and numerous other businesses are operating there now, including several contractor yards, junk yards, a bus garage, a methadone clinic and a truck sales and repair company.

Martin Rogers, former Cortlandt director of code enforcement, conducted field inspections of the four properties in May and issued numerous code violations. Attorneys for the town are asking a judge to declare the businesses in violation of the Annsville Waterfront Enhancement District use regulations.

“Cease all 
operations. Remove all vehicles, storage containers, material and equipment from site and 
clear site of all other debris. Restore Site to prior conditions as vacant land,” the court papers state. 
The judge did not grant that immediate relief to the town and the cases will proceed in court with all sides presenting evidence and making legal arguments.

Lawyers for Liaskos responded to the allegations in court papers. “Petitioner may not like the contractor’s yard use. Petitioner may not like the tenants [that] Respondent allows to use his Property. Petitioner may have grand visions for the Property’s potential redevelopment – for the Property to become a destination location or housing under the newly enacted AWE zoning. 

“But the Town’s musings about what it would prefer to see on Respondent’s Property is not a legal basis to shut down a local family business that has been legally operating for decades before this issue can be fully litigated. Respondent has a constitutionally protected right to continue to operate the legal nonconforming contractor’s yard and the Town should not be able to circumvent that right through its baseless and premature preliminary injunction application.”

Claims of approvals, or grandfathered in

In court papers, Cortlandt’s attorneys claim that ASF is operating a contractor’s yard without a site plan, processing materials for manufacturing concrete onsite, and constructing a membrane structure without approval and permits. 

“The uses listed above are also not permitted in the HC Zone, which is what the parcels 
listed in the Complaint were zoned as prior to being zoned as AWE,” the court papers state. 


In response, Robert Corke, ASF’s lawyer, states “Defendant’s use of the subject premises is consistent with the approved ZBA designation of Defendant as a Specialty Trade Contractor. 

ASF Construction & Excavation Corp. has been utilizing the site in the same manner since the approval of its zoning application in March of 2016.” 

Regarding DECO Land Holding Corp., Town Building Inspector Rogers reported the company was operating a contractor’s yard, constructed a building without a permit, and stored goods in containers.

“Rogers determined that a Contractor’s Yard was operating on site due to the presence of commercial vehicles and commercial contracting equipment, such as excavators and a loader,” the court papers state.

DECO Land Holding’s attorney states that Cortlandt issued a certificate of occupancy in July 2012 for the mining and removal of sand and gravel, and that the materials and equipment are there for that approved purpose, in addition to a temporary storage building.

The complaint against Liaskos and his company GLPT Land Corp. claims a contractor’s yard, a junkyard, the storage of goods in 
trailers and box trailers and cutting stone and stone products are on the site, all in violation of zoning rules.

The Liaskos property, located just beyond the parking area at the family’s Cortlandt Colonial restaurant, is a large empty lot where numerous trucks belonging to Griffin’s Landscaping are parked. The property is screened from view along Old Albany Post Road by a solid fence. Several developers have reportedly expressed interest in building townhouses on the Liaskos property.

In her response, Liaskos attorney Christie Tomm Addona writes in court papers that the uses on the property are a legal, non-conforming use as a contractor’s yard that has existed since the 1980s.

“But all of a sudden it is a dire issue that must be ceased immediately without any legal basis” Addona stated in court papers. “The use has been existing for 40 years. The new zoning has been in place for over two years. But yet all of a sudden, in the course of two months, this small, removed area where vehicles park is so problematic that the Town is seeking a permanent injunction. 

“This [case] demonstrates that there is a long history of Petitioner unsuccessfully attempting to stop Respondents’ lawful and constitutionally-protected use of their Property as a contractor’s yard. This litigation is just Petitioner’s latest attempt to bully Respondents into ceasing operations, despite having no justification to do so,” George Liaskos’s son Evan wrote in court papers. 

However, attorneys for Cortlandt state that Liaskos never had such approvals from the town. ” Respondent/Defendant cannot point to any approvals issued by the Town to operate a Contractor’s Yard; that it has been used as such for “decades;” or present case law to support argument that allows the operation of a contractor’s yard in violation of lawfully passed zoning regulations because they rent space to local contractors or once had an approval to operate a facility for concrete recycling.” 

George Liaskos and the town of Cortlandt have been involved in numerous court battles over the years, including his attempts to build a Holiday Inn on his property. He ultimately built the hotel on John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill.

Representatives from Cortlandt and the Liaskos family are tentatively scheduled to conduct an inspection on the property during the week of Sept. 29.