Westchester County claims that two businesses are squatting on county-owned property in Cortlandt that is needed for a flood control project.
The county petitioned Westchester Supreme Court on Oct. 29 to evict ASF Construction & Excavation Corp. and Deco Land Holding Corp. from a parcel along U.S. Route 9 near Annsville Creek.
ASF is “storing numerous pieces of equipment, supplies, heavy machinery, metal scaffolding, trailers, assorted other vehicles, sheds, containers and debris,” the petition states, “without justification or the county’s permission.”
ASF operates a concrete contracting business on Roa Hook Road, east of the country’s property, according to the petition.
Deco was dissolved in 2010, the petition states, but has continued to operate. It owns property west of the county’s land, but the county did not describe how it is allegedly trespassing.
The county acquired the property from New York State in 1942 and the state Department of Transportation retained jurisdiction for maintenance work.
In 2023, Westchester notified ASF that it was not permitted to use the property, and if it didn’t stop the county would take legal action.
Ossining attorney Robert Corke replied that ASF and Deco were establishing legal title to the parcel. He claimed that the county had abandoned the site for “highway purposes,” and that the land had to be returned to the previous owner.
The allegation that the property was abandoned for highway use is false, the county says, because Route 9 cuts through it.
On May 29, the state Department of Transportation notified Corke that Deco was using the property without its approval.
The DOT said it needed the land to stage the Annsville Circle project, a $26.1 million flood control project on nearby Route 202. The agency also demanded that Deco plant trees and rebuild earthen berms that were allegedly removed to create access to the county property.
Westchester formally notified the businesses this past summer to vacate the property, according to the petition, but their attorney has continued to insist that the county abandoned the land.
Westchester is asking the court to award possession of the property to the county and to evict ASF and Deco.
ASF did not reply to a message asking for its side of the story. Efforts to contact Deco and attorney Corke were unsuccessful.
Westchester Supreme Court Justice Paul I. Marx has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 21.
