Governor vetoes KJ annexation legislation

ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed two bills that would have required more oversight in the annexations of large parcels of land.
The measures, which were drafted as a result of the effort to annex 507
acres from the Town of Monroe into the Village of Kiryas Joel, were sponsored
by Assemblyman James Skoufis (D, Woodbury) and Senator William Larkin
(R, Cornwall-on-Hudson).
The governor said the one bill that would require the DEC commissioner to consider compliance with federal and state environmental laws, regulations and permits when resolving disputes between municipalities was “overbroad, in that it applies to any dispute between municipalities, not merely disputes in which past environmental compliance is a relevant factor.”   He said the bill was also duplicative as the DEC already has authority to consider past environmental compliance in cases where it is warranted.
Cuomo also said the bill could “potentially penalize a municipality for environmental compliance problems far in the past and attributable to prior administrations, regardless of whether the current administration is in full compliance with the law.”
The governor also vetoed a measure that would have required the referral of certain annexation petitions to the county planning agency or regional planning council.  He cited the state constitution as stating a county’s consent to a local annexation petition “shall be required only where a boundary of the county is affected.” The measure would have given counties control over local annexation petitions that would not impact county boundaries, contrary to the constitution, he said.
Skoufis said he was “extremely disappointed that Governor Cuomo has decided to play politics with the Hudson Valley” by vetoing the bills. “This bipartisan legislation would have provided significantly increased scrutiny of the current Kiryas Joel-initiated bids as well as all future controversial annexation proposals throughout the state.”
Skoufis said the governor ignored “the voices of thousands of residents
from every municipality in Orange County.”
“I am extremely disappointed that Governor Cuomo vetoed both annexation
oversight bills,” Larkin said Thursday. “Moving forward we must
work together with all parties to find real solutions to the problems
we face. ”