Cafaro Co. wants vote

SANDUSKY — Negotiating committee? What negotiating committee? That's what an attorney for the owner of the Sandusky Mall is asking Erie County commissioners about the holdup getting a pending tax abatement agreement finished for a construction project near the iconic shopping center. "The negotiating committee is a fictional sham, such that committee members did not even know existed," states a Nov. 24 letter to commissioners and the Erie County prosecutor's office from Quintin Lindsmith, an attorney with the Bricker & Eckler law firm in Columbus. Lindsmith's five-page letter details numerous areas of concern with a resolution commissioners approved 32 years ago regarding enterprise zones and tax abatements. The county prosecutor's office has recommended that Cafaro Co., Perkins Township trustees and the Perkins school board restart the process for approval to comply with the resolution. But the resolution is unenforcible, incomplete and is being cited by the prosecutor's office inappropriately, according to Lindsmith. Trustees and school board members previously voted unanimous support for the agreement and have reaffirmed that support for the abatement. Trustee Jeff Ferrell and school board member Ted Kastor both told the Register last week that the same process was followed for this agreement as was followed in the past for other tax abatements. "If the law is what the county says it is, then other abatements granted are illegal," Lindsmith wrote. Cafaro Co. in partnership with a management company plans to build 126 residential apartments on property near the parking lot of the old Sears store. Trustees and the school board agreed to a 100% abatement of new property tax for the first 10 years and 50% for five more years. Anywhere from $3 million to $5 million will be abated during the contract period of the agreement. No current tax money is being abated under the agreement, and Cafaro & Co. will continue to pay more than $700,000 annually in real estate taxes on the mall property. The resolution cited by the prosecutor's office did not establish a negotiating committee, according to Lindsmith, and state law would prohibit such a committee. And, even if it could be construed to have been established, it could not be authorized to have veto power over an agreement, according to Lindsmith. County assistant Prosecutor Gerry Gross earlier this month advised commissioners, Cafaro & Co., township trustees and the school board the process leading up to votes by the school board and trustees was flawed and could be challenged in court because it did not comply with state and local regulations governing abatements. Gross reiterated that in a 7-page memo to the Lindsmith, also dated Nov. 24. outlining the "procedural deficiencies." "We also assume you would not deliberately counsel your client to ignore small, but significant deficiencies, clearly open to legal challenges, simply as a matter of expediency," Gross wrote. Gross also said the law, by his read, excludes a residential community from being eligible for an abatement. "The agreement shall require the enterprise to agree to establish a facility," Gross wrote, explaining the exemption. The definition of facility provided in the Ohio Revised Code is "a place of business in a zone, including land, buildings, machinery, equipment, and other materials, except inventory, used in business." The agreement likely would have to be re-worked so that it is directly related in the contract to renovating or redeveloping the mall to be in compliance, officials said. Anthony Cafaro Jr. Cafaro Co. Anthony Cafaro Jr. co-president of Cafaro Co., told the Register last week that the company just wants to move forward with the plan that was agreed to in good faith by all known rules and with all the responsible parties. He wants commissioners to execute the agreement. Lindsmith stated largely the same in his letter exchange between prosecutor Gross and the company. "In closing, it is unfortunate that such a letter as this has to be sent, but the unlawful behaviors that have been exhibited to date are shocking and inexplicable," he wrote. "My client still hopes that matters can return to a legal process as required by Ohio law and remains open to discussion. Lindsmith continued: "But it cannot accept being made the subject of an illegal process that, for some undisclosed reason, has been uniquely targeted against it. The Cafaro organization has been a good citizen of Erie County. It deserves better. More importantly, the citizens and taxpayers of Erie County deserve better." Anthony Cafaro Jr.'s grandfather developed the mall 50 years ago. In recent years the mall lost anchor stores Dillards, Sears, Macy's and other retailers as the retail industry worldwide shifted more to digital sales. The company has spent millions in reconstructing the mall property, adding other retailers such as Hobby Lobby and moving the T.J. Maxx story to a front-facing anchor spot. Ross Dress for Less, another discount retailer, also recently signed a contract to open at the mall, Cafaro said, and the company continues negotiating with other retailers and other companies as it re-envisions the mall for the future. An artist rendering imagines what residences could look like at the Sandusky Mall property Provided image/PERKINS TOWNSHIP The residential apartment project — The Villas at Sandy Creek — is designed to support the mall as part of that re-invention, he said. "We stand ready to move this project forward. We have relied upon the direction of the County's Planning Commission throughout the months' long process," Cafaro told the Register on Friday. "There are no legitimate reasons for further delay."