Developer Fred Rainaldi's Rite Aid project for Monroe Avenue and South Goodman Street has hit another snag. The city's Zoning Board and Planning Commission approved the project earlier in the spring, but on May 15, a community group called the South East Arts Development Corporation filed a suit in state Supreme Court against the city and Rainaldi. SEAD's contention: that the city approved the plan without proper review.

Although SEAD members object to the entire project, the suit focuses on the old Monroe Theater building, which now houses Show World Adult Videos. Last week, state Supreme Court Judge Steven Lindley issued a restraining order, which prevents Rainaldi from moving forward with demolition of the theater. The order remains in effect while Lindley studies the case. The parties in the case will be back in court on June 15.

Rainaldi wants to build a large Rite Aid store on the land currently occupied by a 20-unit apartment building. That building and more than half of the theater would be demolished to make room for the Rite Aid store and a parking lot. Rainaldi plans to keep the theater's façade and use the remainder of the building for offices or retail space.

Neighborhood groups such as SEAD and the Monroe Village Task Force have waged an aggressive campaign to stop the project. "It's not just the theater's historical significance that concerns us," says Vicki Ryder, a spokesperson for SEAD. "It's the project and the process of how it was approved. We don't believe that the city has shown justification for their decision to grant the necessary variances."

Rainaldi has been trying to develop the site for well over a decade, and no other developers have come forward with plans. But Ryder says she is convinced that smaller developers with mixed-use proposals exist but don't have the money to develop the entire parcel.

At one point, SEAD received a grant to explore buying the theater, but it wasn't able to get further investment. The debate over the future of the site has gone on for so long that in the ensuing period, some of the neighborhood critics, including Ryder, have moved out of the city.

SEAD's attorney in the lawsuit, Mindy Zoghlin, says that in its review of Rainaldi's current proposal, the city didn't handle the Environmental Impact review properly. City officials determined that the Rite Aid project would not have a negative impact, says Zoghlin, but on two previous occasions, the city found that other versions of Rainaldi's proposals would adversely affect the area.

"Both of those projects were smaller than the current Rite Aid proposal, which they have stated has no impact," says Zoghlin. "Something isn't right."

The public has the right to know why the Zoning Board is granting variances to its zoning regulations, says Ryder, especially when the request is for an extreme exception. The Rite Aid building will be more than twice as large as the zoning ordinance permits.

"This project has gone through all the right channels, all the right procedures, and all the right hearings," says Gary Walker, a spokesperson for the city. "There have been eight meetings with the [Zoning] Board of Appeals, a review by the Monroe County Department of Transportation, and four public hearings. The review of this project has been substantive."

"In any land-use issue, you have a lot of people for it and a lot against it," Walker says. "We take a balanced, deliberate approach. We want healthy, vibrant neighborhoods, but we also want and the city needs new development."

Calls to Fred Rainaldi for this article were not returned.