COOPERSTOWN _ State Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dowd of Norwich heard arguments Friday in a case that Bassett Hospital lodged against the village of Cooperstown last summer.
At issue is whether the village Planning Board can limit who uses the hospital's proposed 61-car parking lot at Harrison House, a building near the corner of Beaver and Fair streets.
Harrison House is home to the hospital's fund development and corporate communications departments.
The Planning Board rule would allow the parking lot, located in a residential neighborhood, to be used only by the facility's employees, daily visitors and Bassett doctors. Restricting its use to these people will go a long way to assuring that cars come in and out during the day, not the middle of the night, said Joseph Catalano, who represents the village.
``The Planning Board has an obligation to make sure the parking lot does not upset the surrounding neighborhood and the health and safety of people who live there,'' Catalano said.
If visitors to the hospital were to use the parking lot at odd hours, the quality of life would be affected adversely, he said.
Attorney Matthew Hamlin, who represents Bassett Healthcare, told Dowd that restricting who can use the parking lot ``is beyond the Planning Board's purview.
``I thought the whole purpose of this parking lot was to get Bassett's employees' cars off the streets and into a parking lot,'' he said in asking Dowd to ``terminate this use restriction.''
Hamlin said that with usage restricted to Harrison House's ``12 employees and 20 to 30 visitors a day,'' the lot will be underutilized and won't accomplish its mission.
Beyond that, he said, the Planning Board does not have the authority to impose this restriction.
``There's no provision in zoning law that allows the Planning Board to restrict this use,'' he said.
Dowd questioned both lawyers and reserved decision.
On Friday night, Karen Huxtable, Bassett's spokeswoman, said the parking lot is ``on hold while we see what happens with this case.''
Harrison House currently has a very small parking lot, she said.
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