Glen Cove Waterfront Property Faces Condemnation

For over 13 years, John Doxey said he's fought the City of Glen Cove over control of his company's one-acre waterfront property.

Doxey said that while the city wants him off his property at 10 Garvies Point Road, they refuse to pay him.

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The city has obtained an order from State Supreme Court to remove his salvage business, Doxside Industries, from its site at 10 Garvies Point Road so it can use the property as part of its long-planned waterfront revitalization project," said Doxey's lawyer, Bruce Levinson in a press release.

The city released a statement stating that it needs immediate possession of the property for a timely remediation of the brownfield contamination on the property, and to return it to the tax rolls: "If the city is not able to move forward with the site, officials fear losing over $1 million in federal and  county grant money for remediation of the property," the statement said.

"This has been a long expensive process for the taxpayers of the City of Glen Cove and has drastically impeded the progress and combined efforts of the City, Nassau County, NYS, and Federal governments and their agencies," the city's statement said.

Doxey questions the timing of the city's actions: "the city's been trying to get this land, which my family bought in 1993, since 1998 when then-Mayor Tom Suozzi offered a land swap. The land offered by the city, however was part of a federally designated 'Super Fund' site and the deal was dropped at the closing," he said.

Through eminent domain, the IDA initiated condemnation proceedings in 2005. In 2006, the IDA was awarded the title to the site through a court order, approved by State Supreme Court Justice Steven M. Jaegar. In October 2010, acting State Supreme Court Justice Thomas A. Adams ordered the city to pay Doxey under the condition Doxey left the site, according to the statement.

"For more than four years, 10 Garvies Point Rd., more commonly known as the 'Doxey Property', owned by John Doxey, has operated an illegal and contaminated scrap yard on one of the sensitive environmental areas of the City of Glen Cove, the Creek. The City acquired this one-acre parcel in June 2006, through eminent domain, as part of Glen Cove's efforts to remediate contaminated properties along the waterfront impacting the ecosystem and health of Glen Cove Creek, Hempstead Harbor, and Long Island Sound," according to the city's statement.

While Doxey's party has filed several lawsuits in attempt to delay turnover of the property to the City as ordered by the courts, he recently brought several large sanitation trucks  onto the property, without any proper environmental safeguards or permits.

The city claims that due to illegal activity and failure to pay franchise and real property taxes, Doxside has been legally dissolved by the State.

“Doxey has known for months, if not years, that the day would come when it would be required to relocate his business," reads the city's statement. "Instead of making appropriate plans, he has continued to operate illegally and pollute the site, making a profit, paying no taxes and ignoring all previous court orders.

Levinson said that the city has not taken steps to move forward in releasing the $1.3 million it promised as a minimum advance payment: "According to court papers, the money has been held in escrow by the Nassau County Treasurer's office," he said. "State law requires both an advance payment and that disputes over the ultimate amount of the award be determined later in court."

Doxey's party said that they have appealed to the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn for a restraining order against the city.

"Doxey and Levinson claim the $1.3 million offered by the city is a pittance, and that the city's Industrial Development Agency, which is handling the condemnation, has not made its appraisals available to them as required by law," according to Allen J. Wax of WaxWords Inc. "Levinson said the land itself is worth almost $7 million and that property Doxey is unable to remove from the site, such as fixtures and buildings, are worth another $5 million."

According to Doxey, the city has offered approximately $350 thousand for relocation expenses. However, Doxey said the actual cost would require millions for disassembly, transportation, special permits, and reassembly. Additionally, Doxey said the site, "is a salvage yard" and  "it may need some housekeeping attention."

"The city broke every rule in the court proceeding valuing the property," said Doxey. "The city initiated eminent domain proceedings without an approved revitalization plan."

City officials hope Doxey's property will finalize remediation at the waterfront. 

"All the respective governments have worked together for decades, and have spent in excess of $100 million to convert this highly contaminated Brownfield into an economically thriving waterfront destination on the gold Coast, and this is the last property to be remediated in the Waterfront Revitalization Area," the city said.

The City says this last property will cost approximately $2 million.

Still, John Doxey says his company won't move unless his company receives the $1.3 million that the city has placed in escrow with the Nassau County Treasurer’s office. “Give us the $1.3 million and we’re willing to cooperate,” Doxey said.

"We have complied legally," Mayor Ralph Suozzi said at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. "The city has deposited $1.3 million, which is now being held by the Nassau County Treasurer's Office.

Suozzi said that Doxey will receive the first $250,000 shortly.

"I just don't understand why the city has had to kick out a taxpaying business," Doxey said. "We don't operate behind smoke and mirrors."