Bassett filed the suit in Otsego County Supreme Court Friday saying that the planning board was not empowered to either interpret the zoning law or prohibit a use permitted in the zoning law.

The suit claims the planning board unlawfully restricted the use of the new parking lot planned for Harrison House to: the staff at Harrison House, visitors to Harrison House, and physicians/staff at Bassett Healthcare.

Hospital spokeswoman Karen Huxtable said Monday afternoon that the hospital had made it clear to the planning board in a recent meeting that changes the board was making at Harrison House were not within its purview.

The suit was filed, she said, to ``clarify the limits of the planning board’s authority.’’

Huxtable said the Article 78 proceeding was not initiated out of ``anger or hostility.’’

Asked if the hospital would also like to have patients and patient visitors park at Harrison House, Huxtable indicated the proceeding is not aimed at defining which groups can use the parking lot, but rather is prompted by the board’s attempt to reach beyond its authority and define the use.

``It is Bassett’s legal position that the planning board cannot limit the use of the parking lot to a defined group(s) of individuals. To do so is beyond the scope of the board’s authority either under the SEQRA or Site Plan Review process,’’ she said.

The suit should not impact the overall parking project, she said.

Village planning board chairwoman Teresa Drerup said Monday that she was aware the hospital may be taking some legal action and that she had not seen a copy of the suit.

The board, she said, wanted some idea of who would be parking at the lot and what times of day they would most likely be arriving or departing. She it was an issue that spoke to concerns about neighborhood character and pedestrian safety.

Drerup said she believed the planning board was using the information the hospital had provided in its addendum to the draft environmental impact statement which said Harrison House staff and visitors would be using the lot.

During the meeting in which the site plan was approved, the board allowed, at Bassett’s request, an expanded use to include the physicians/staff of Bassett Healthcare.

``We thought we were giving into one of their demands,’’ Drerup said, adding that since the parking plan was first submitted in 2003 it has changed frequently.

``It’s been a moving target since then,’’ she said.

Planning board member Charlie Hill agreed with Drerup.

The parking plan was to fill needs of different groups at the hospital and those needs have changed over time, he said.

Hill said he had not seen the suit either, but the board was working with its planners and attorney from Saratoga Associates and would not have made the recommendations concerning the use of the lot if it was not appropriate.

Village attorney John Lambert was out of his office and said Tuesday afternoon that he had not yet been served, but was anxious to read the suit.

Judge Kevin Dowd will hear the case.