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Orange County’s Review Of Kiryas Joel Annexation Outlines Concerns

Daniel Case
/
Wikimedia Commons

 

A comprehensive assessment of the proposed annexation of 507 acres of privately owned land into the Village of Kiryas Joel has been completed by companies hired by Orange County in conjunction with its planning department.

The report outlines a number of concerns about the proposal, but concludes that growth of the Hasidic community will continue.

By 2040, the projected population of the village will be about 96,000, the consultants figure. “It is this potential for explosive growth that feeds much of the concern within neighboring communities.”

Among the county’s concerns is the impact it would have on the county’s water and sewer infrastructure.

“The rights of Orthodox Jewish landowners to develop their land in housing are no more nor less than the rights of other landowners,” the county study said. “The rest of the county has the right to ensure that this process of development is sustainable and is consistent with community standards, as reflected in environmental and land use law and precedent.”

The report said, “Members and supporters of the community plus landowners willing to develop or sell land have undeniable rights in their property that includes ability to develop that property for housing – within established legal limits,” the CGR report states.

The leadership of Kiryas Joel is entitled to pursue its obligation to provide housing for its new families. “But that right is not unlimited just because this is a religious community,” the report continues. “While it can choose to be set apart culturally, Kiryas Joel and the larger Orthodox Jewish community still must comply with laws passed by Orange County and the State of New York that are intended to ensure that growth is substantial and balances the interests of all of the region’s residents. These conflicts can and should be settled through negotiated agreements, not through the courts.”

The county-funded report says public assistance among the village’s residents is high, at 21 percent, is the largest share of Medicaid spending in the county and it says other public assistance benefits to the village are “well above the village’s six percent share of the population.”

The report also says the Kiryas Joel Union Free School District is a major recipient of federal Title funds receiving nearly $7 million as compared to the $1.3 million the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District receives.

The assessment also says that the village does not comply with state land use laws, changes in zoning ordinance, issuance of special use permits, site plan and subdivision approvals and use or area variants to the county planning department as required by state law.

It says the village fire department relies heavily on mutual aid from other fire companies and expansion of the village would exacerbate that problem.

Court battles between the county and village have cost county taxpayers $1.9 million for outside counsel and over $2 million for Kiryas Joel over the past five years.

“These conflicts can and should be settled through negotiated agreements, not through the courts,” the county study said.

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