Charges against 2 shops halted

FORT COVINGTON — Criminal charges against two native-owned businesses have been dropped in Town Court, but the complaints against them have not disappeared.

The Town Council is considering filing charges against Twin Leaf Express, a gas station, convenience store and diner on the west side of town, and East End convenience, a convenience store and smoke shop, on the east side of town, according to town attorney Andrew J. Leja.

"The matter is not dropped," the Syracuse attorney with the firm Hiscock & Barclay said. "The criminal charges have been withdrawn. The matter has not been discontinued."

Late last year, the town filed criminal charges against the two businesses. The court date was postponed three times; once because Mr. Leja was not available and twice because the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and town board were discussing their options.

Mr. Leja declined to say why criminal charges were filed in the first place, because he was not on the case at that time.

"I was brought in and I looked it over and gave my recommendation to the town board," he said. "Now the criminal charges have been withdrawn and that leaves a civil path, and that's what we would do against anyone."

The complaints stem from failures on the part of both businesses to file for building permits with the town and to obey stop-work orders.

The business owners contend that their businesses are on tribal land and, for that reason, they do not need to file for town permits.

The debate about what is tribal land is not new. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council and its lawyers cite a 1796 treaty that sets the boundaries of the reservation to include portions of Massena, Fort Covington and Hogansburg.

"They are tribal members, they're tribally licensed and they're tribal landowners and they are open on Mohawk land," said Lorraine M. White, lawyer for Twin Leaf Express and a former tribal chief.

Fort Covington, on the other hand, argues that because there is a land claim winding its way through federal courts, those boundaries are not set in stone. One form or another of the dispute has been bogged down in the courts for decades.

Both of the businesses filed and received building permits from the tribe.

Twin Leaf Express has been open for more than a year, but recently installed more gas storage tanks. East End Convenience was built on vacant land.

The owner of Twin Leaf, Kimberly Terrance, filed and received building permits when the building was being renovated for the store and diner, according to Mr. Leja.

"We're not willing to cede authority to the tribe when we have our own code enforcement officer," he said. "Just because a tribe buys land outside of its territory, that doesn't mean a tribe can come in and set up tribal law."